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[Robert Fischer]

They made some interesting arguments against ground balls to short(for leftys) and ground balls in general.

I understand that hitting a ball off the wall in left center is foreign to some of these left-handed pull hitters. They've spent their life's work trying to pull right-handed pitching into the right field porch.

But at some point, if extreme action is taken against you in one direction, you have to embrace adaptability...

Shoot, if I love My Boy Jack at 20-1 or whatever the Kentucky Derby morning line says, and come the day of the race he's 5-1 on the board... I'm adapting. I'm not riding my lemming off the cliff.

"The tactical result of an engagement forms the base for new strategic decisions because victory or defeat in a battle changes the situation to such a degree that no human acumen is able to see beyond the first battle. In this sense one should understand Napoleon's saying: "I have never had a plan of operations."
Therefore no plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first contact with the main hostile force." - Helmuth von Moltke the Elder (expounding upon Napoleon Bonaparte).


Some smart guy decided you wouldn't adapt. And they (over)shifted. And then a bunch of teams started following suit, until it has become an interesting fad in today's game of baseball.
They shift and it dictates that they feed you hard stuff inside. They want you to pull the ball on the ground. They want it it to be difficult to drive (or even to simply get good wood on the ball) to the opposite field.

So if you back away from the plate a bit, perhaps close your stance a touch from normal... You are now putting the pitcher in a bad situation. If he tries to paint the outside corner; then he's pitching to the shift's weakness. Of course this isn't going to work against a Greg Maddux who can cut the ball both ways from a pitch that looks the same initially, but you are facing a lot of big horses who come in out of the bullpen and throw 95+fastballs and a slider. These guys are kicking in your door on the inside part of the plate.