“Larry are you ok, are you ok Larry, Larry are you ok, are you ok Larry, Larry are you ok?” The soon to be 85-year-old legendary talk show host was noticeably missing from his front row, slightly behind home plate seat during Game 5 of the 2018 World Series. Blame ANALytics!
King sat through Game 4 which was played in 7 hours and 20 minutes to a tune of 18 innings and hasn’t been seen since. Larry are you ok? What fans are seeing is a game getting ruined by ANALytics, where strike outs and batting averages don’t matter. Bunting, the hit and run, and the stolen base are not part of this brand either.
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts will forever be known for his “stolen base heard round the world,” which led to the 2004 Boston Red Sox first championship since 1918. A stolen base or even a sacrifice bunt could have ended Game 4 much quicker than 3:30 AM eastern time.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who owns one of the most prolific at bats in the history of baseball, when he homered on the 18th pitch of a single plate appearance while playing for the Dodgers in 2004, isn’t buying the ANALytic theory of strikeouts are acceptable.
It’s obvious that both managers were paralyzed from making their own personal decisions by their own team’s ANALytic experts. They also have to take the bullet after every game and answer to the media and fans head scratching. In reality, the eyes and gut feelings that are possessed by todays skippers are put to mute by those ANALytic experts.
Defensive shifts and constant calls to the bullpen for computer-controlled pitching matchups have led to the destruction of this once great game. Don’t get me started on instant replay challenges.
Commissioner Rob Manfred, whose signature graces the baseballs that are used on the field, needs to stop playing with his balls and address the issue of ANALytics ruining “Americas Pastime.” It’s not the batters taking their time to step into the box, it’s not the pitchers taking forever to deliver the pitch, it’s the ANALytics that are keeping Larry King and everyone else away.