Frank Howard is one of the overlooked players of his era, and I say this because I didn't know who Frank Howard was until 2023. He may be the best example of a giant human who came into baseball and had great success doing the one thing you'd imagine he could do when you looked at him.
I think we'd have to commit to it years before we had any idea how well it would work, so pitchers today are probably safe. It's interesting to think about balls not as mistakes but as tools a pitcher has in putting together an out. I think fans today appreciate this and we've seen other less drastic pace-of-play changes help move things along. Offense is still an issue, but the three-ball walk was clearly a hammer when a scalpel was called-for.
Charlie was a smart dude. I see no harm in trying out new ideas in the Spring. I realize changing lifelong rules isn’t easy; even for me but Charlie deserves the credit for trying.
I completely agree with you. If he'd had a different personality, I think his legacy might be different. He was willing to break stuff and that doesn't always work out but in the end that's the attitude that results in meaningful positive change.
In little league we played with a starting 1-1 count. Perhaps the experiment would've had the intended results if they not only went with 3 balls but also 2 strikes.
It really speeds up the game (assuming that's the primary goal).
Yes, there was some confusion as to why Finley was not reducing both totals. The hitters said they liked it as it had been implemented because, from their perspective, it was like starting with a 1-0 count. Finley wanted pitchers pitching more defensively, in the strike zone, believing this would generate more offense. In reality pitchers just refused to change their approach, leading to the eye-watering walk totals. Reducing both totals likely would have sped things up--this was the Frank Lane objective, but he and Finley were interested for different reasons.
There was an interesting mention re: the Orions. Apparently that team had signed a runner/sprinter type guy to act as the designated pinch-runner. Not much other baseball skill. This was something Charlie Finley later tried this, signing a sprinter named Herb Washington in 1974--he may have gotten the idea from this NPB team.
Finley was something - quite the iconoclast! Also, I loved Frank Howard - that guy was enormous.
Frank Howard is one of the overlooked players of his era, and I say this because I didn't know who Frank Howard was until 2023. He may be the best example of a giant human who came into baseball and had great success doing the one thing you'd imagine he could do when you looked at him.
Great piece to read! Who knows what the game would be like today if a three ball walk rule had been accepted? I for one am glad it wasn’t.
I think we'd have to commit to it years before we had any idea how well it would work, so pitchers today are probably safe. It's interesting to think about balls not as mistakes but as tools a pitcher has in putting together an out. I think fans today appreciate this and we've seen other less drastic pace-of-play changes help move things along. Offense is still an issue, but the three-ball walk was clearly a hammer when a scalpel was called-for.
Charlie was a smart dude. I see no harm in trying out new ideas in the Spring. I realize changing lifelong rules isn’t easy; even for me but Charlie deserves the credit for trying.
I completely agree with you. If he'd had a different personality, I think his legacy might be different. He was willing to break stuff and that doesn't always work out but in the end that's the attitude that results in meaningful positive change.
I had never heard of this before now.
In little league we played with a starting 1-1 count. Perhaps the experiment would've had the intended results if they not only went with 3 balls but also 2 strikes.
It really speeds up the game (assuming that's the primary goal).
Yes, there was some confusion as to why Finley was not reducing both totals. The hitters said they liked it as it had been implemented because, from their perspective, it was like starting with a 1-0 count. Finley wanted pitchers pitching more defensively, in the strike zone, believing this would generate more offense. In reality pitchers just refused to change their approach, leading to the eye-watering walk totals. Reducing both totals likely would have sped things up--this was the Frank Lane objective, but he and Finley were interested for different reasons.
Fun piece of history!
There was an interesting mention re: the Orions. Apparently that team had signed a runner/sprinter type guy to act as the designated pinch-runner. Not much other baseball skill. This was something Charlie Finley later tried this, signing a sprinter named Herb Washington in 1974--he may have gotten the idea from this NPB team.