Regulating baseball shifts would be an affront

Shifts? Depending on what model vehicle you drive, you can find it behind the steering
wheel, between the driver and passenger seat. If you have a 1960s model car, the shift could
be “three on the tree” or “four on the floor.”

Shifts can also be used to describe a block of hours in which you work. Shifts are also
frequently used as a sports strategy, such as moving your offense or defense to help a team
gain a matchup advantage.

The type of shift that has been a hot button issue is the defensive variety in baseball. For
those who do not ardently follow the sport, a shift defense against a left handed batter has
the first baseman heavily guarding the foul-line. The second baseman shifts even closer to
first base than normal or even into short right-field. The shortstop is either directly behind
the bag at second base or a few feet on either side. The third baseman is somewhere near
where the shortstop would be or sometimes directly behind second base. Conversely, the
shift defense against a right-handed batter involves the third baseman, shortstop and second
baseman lining up between second and third base. Meanwhile, the first baseman stays on the
right side of the infield in order to record a potential forceout at first base on a groundball.

The premise behind this defensive alignment is because the analytics show that said hitter
seldom, if ever, hits to the opposite field. For those not in-tuned with baseball, the term
opposite field hitting means a right-handed hitter putting the ball in play to the right side of
the diamond. Hitting to the left side for a right-hander is known as pulling the ball. For
left-handed hitters, simply switch sides of the analogy.

The defensive alignment was used several decades ago by the Cleveland Indians against Ted
Williams, one of the best to wear a Major League Baseball uniform. With shifting defenses
becoming a heavy norm in recent years, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred
said recently that there is growing momentum to regulate the strategic move. While the
change is being considered there is no imminent change forthcoming. Nonetheless, the
discussion has raised the ire of many people.

As I was listening to sports talk radio on Wednesday while on route in Martinez and
Pleasant Hill, CA, there were two arguments I heard in favor of regulating the shift. The
first was seeing batters get rewarded for hits that would normally be hits. The second was
that “baseball was not meant for a second baseman to play in short right-field.”

Many people in baseball fear that defensive shifts have simply made it too difficult to get
hits, even as home runs increased in recent years. Currently, there are no rules dictating the
placement of defenders other than the pitcher and catcher. But in the future, new rules could
restrict the movement of defenders on either side of second base.

Having said, that, I have one request, Mr. Commissioner, please don’t. If you do so, it will
be an affront not only to baseball but sports in general.

The whole purpose of sports is winning the game. Sorry to giving a peerless insight into the
obvious but I digress. Winning games also involves putting your team in the best possible
position to win whether that strategy involves maximizing your team’s strength and
minimizing your weakness. Conversely, it also involves maximizing your opponent’s
weakness and minimizing their strength. Last time I checked, teams are judged on their
win-loss record.

The shift in baseball is no different than say using a zone defense in basketball against a
subpar perimeter shooting team. It’s no different than a defense in football facing a team
with a pedestrian passing game. What might that team do? Crowd the line of scrimmage to
stop the run, play their cornerbacks in press-man coverage and put their safeties within 6-8
yards of the line of scrimmage and dare the quarterback to throw the ball deep. I could give
an enormous list of comparisons but in the interest of space, I won’t.

As for baseball not being meant to have a second baseman in short right field, I can shoot
that argument down in a few ways. Football was not meant to have a defensive lineman drop
into coverage while a defensive back blitzes. It happens, they call it the zone blitz. Football
has also evolved from Vince Lombardi’s power sweep to Paul Brown’s West Coast Offense,
popularized by Bill Walsh. Basketball was not designed for point guards like Tim Hardaway
and Mark Jackson to post up while 7-footers like Dirk Nowitski and Kevin Durant are
shooting 3-point shots. It happens anyhow.

The root of the increasing number of shifts is because about ⅓ if not more of the at-bats in
Major League Baseball finish in either a home run, strikeout or walk. Translation, the art of
small-ball, which is described as moving runners up a base through either bunts, hit-and-run
or sacrifice fly, has been de-emphasized. The art of hitting to the opposite field, which can
move a runner on second base to third with either a groundball to the right side of the infield
or a deep flyball, has also diminished.

The problem is not so much power hitters having high strikeout totals, that has always been
normal. The problem is, you have too many small in stature hitters trying to hit home runs
when they are not power hitters. In baseball, you have two different kinds of players. Your
middle of the order hitters (3-6) are trucks. The rest are trailers. The trucks carry the team.
The trailers put the trucks in a position to carry the team.

The coaches and players at the minor league level need to figure out if they are fortunate
enough to reach the big leagues, what is going to be their role? Are you a truck or a trailer?

If you want to eliminate a shifting defense, then learn to be a more complete hitter. There is
a reason why defenses never shifted against Rod Carew, Pete Rose, Tony Gwynn or Paul
Molitor to name a few. If they did, they would have about 6,000 career hits each.

If you want teams to shift their strategy, then shift your game into being a more complete
player. One of the inherant beauties of any sport is watching players evolve. Opponent takes
away a player’s strength and forces him into weakness. The player works on that weakness
and improves enough to be a more difficult opponent to beat.