Dumping Them Out: GIF Strikes & Balls

John Rich4/19/2026 9:24 PM

Welcome back to another episode of Dumping Them Out. Apologies for missing last week. The GIFs went on strike. Crazy I know I didn't think that could happen either. Doesn't really make any sense. Not even for a joke.

Note: After I said I thing about the GIF's going on strike, I went to my main GIF source and the server is down. Don't worry, I'll still find some. But it does appear that some Boob GIF's are literally on strike right now.

I'm trying to do this thing where I watch the extended highlight of every Major League Baseball game this season. I don't necessarily have a reason for it other than I haven't really paid attention to baseball in over a decade, and wanted to give myself a crash course in getting caught up. It's quite enjoyable, but incredibly time consuming. It's a good 2-3 hours per night in highlights. Taking notes on every game too. Anyways, my point is, this episode is about baseball.

Is it just completely impossible for outfielders to hear each other over the crowd when calling for fly balls? Because for the highest level of the sport, it seems like there are way too many collisions/near collisions than there should be. That's one of my main takeaways from all this highlight watching – the communication between teammates on inbetween fly balls is abysmal. It's like they can't even begin to hear each other. If noise is the issue, that makes sense. It would be very hard to go back on the ball as a shortstop, and communicate with the center fielder if you truly can't hear them. But I don't think that's a valid excuse in all ballparks. Not to victim shame, but yell louder guys.

Challenging balls and strikes seems like a great thing for baseball, but if I could make one change, I don't think catchers should be able to challenge balls if they don't catch the ball. Historically, when a ball is on the edge of the zone, and the catcher drops it, the umpire is probably going to call a ball. The catcher has to help out the umpire a little bit. If you want the strike, then catch the damn pitch. I always thought that was a fair unwritten rule of baseball. I wouldn't hate if the defense lost their ability to challenge on dropped pitches.

I don't necessarily dislike intentional walks, but has anybody ever considered a rule that allows batters to decline them? Like if instead of taking ball four, the batter had the option to reset the count. Or even just keep the same number of strikes and continue the at bat. In any sport, I always think it's a little stupid when the offense is forced into accepting the consequences of something the defense does "wrong". Like fouls at the end of a game in basketball. If the defense can't get the ball back, why should they get to stop the clock? You could kind of apply the same thing to walks in baseball. It only seems fair that the offense should get a chance to decline.

Is there a reason batting helmets fall off of runners heads so easily? Does the batting helmet company just make them that way because it looks cool when a helmet flies off during a big play? It's absurd how often it happens. Any time a runner slides, or even reaches a full sprint, the helmet is on the ground. Same with every time a batter whiffs big on a swing. I would just think that by 2026, we'd have the technology to make a comfortable lightweight batting helmet that doesn't need to be retrieved from the middle of the field at the end of each play.

The gigantic Monster logo on the side of the green monster at Fenway Park, I find that incredibly tacky. I get it from Monster Energy's standpoint, but frankly, I thought the Red Sox were above that. Monster Energy doesn't scream baseball to me. Which is maybe a little ironic, considering green energy pills (greenies, i.e. adderall) were a staple of baseball in the 70's. Shoutout Dock Ellis. But Monster Energy is about dirt bikes, and rally cars, and monster trucks. It's too extreme for the most historic left field fence America's greatest pastime has to offer. Also, the neon green clashes with the Fenway green. I don't like that either. Doesn't quite fit the vibe.

I learned about umpire's interference for the first time this year. Which is pretty bad of me, considering I umpired little league baseball forever. But I never once had a situation where a catcher went to throw the ball to second, and he hit me with his arm.

Maybe catchers should just start throwing themselves backwards into umpires. Especially considering how easily players steal second base these days. You couldn't do it every time, but if you're a catcher it's not the worst move to have in your back pocket.