Ruben Amaro Jr. co-founds new game geared toward situational hitting

Ruben Amaro Jr. was the Phillies’ general manager from 2008-15. (Grace Del Pizzo/Phillies Nation)

Baseball has changed quite a bit since Ruben Amaro Jr. left his post as Phillies general manager almost a decade ago. The game’s shift toward launch, home runs and the three true outcomes — whatever your stance on that new offensive approach — is clearly one of those ways.

Sluggball is a response.

The game, co-founded by Amaro Jr. and his brother, David, is described as “baseball’s version of Topgolf” and emphasizes bat-to-ball skills and — well, the opposite of “slug” in the conventional sense. It’s a four-round competition, with Round 1 tasking players to pull the ball, Round 2 requiring them to go up the middle, Round 3 demanding they go the opposite way and Round 4 asking them to spray the ball all over the field.

There’s no running, fielding, throwing or catching. Just hitting.

“What is better than making contact on the barrel, with a baseball, and bringing back those old roots and those things that you did as a kid,” Amaro says in a promotional video for Sluggball, “and doing it in a competitive environment — but in a really fun one?”

Sluggball was created not just as a way to emphasize the fundamentals of hitting, but also as a competitive outlet for advanced baseball players who didn’t quite make it to professional ball — in a format that draws upon real baseball skills more than, say, beer league softball.

“In the big leagues right now, it’s home run or strikeout, it seems like. This is the — you’ve got to be able to control the bat a little bit,” says Phillies Wall of Famer Larry Bowa, also featured in the video. “I love it. It’s basically old school baseball. Situational hitting. Do you know how to handle the bat?”

Sluggball will debut on May 10 in Trenton, N.J. at Trenton Thunder Ballpark. Amaro has confidence it can quickly grow in popularity — and perhaps remind people of the fundamental, contact-oriented “beauty of the game” that Sluggball’s creators believe baseball needs to find again.

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