Take them out of the ballgame

 

Yes, I am a dinosaur. This makes me no less cute, adorable or fossilized, and yet, no more, either. I like things the way they are and am a proud Crabby Old Man.” TM, no doubt.

The object of my most recent cantankerousness (ness) is baseball.

I’m a fan of the game and if you read Shoeless Joe by Kinsella, you will understand why. The geometry of the game with its foul lines heading off into eternity. The exactness of the distances and yet the variability of the various fields. The marathon which is also a sprint of a season, with each pitch being both ultimately inconsequential and yet having the entire season riding on it. The fact that seasoned vets, having watched thousands of games over the years still say, at least once each season “I’ve never seen that before.”

I know that some rules have changed. The height of the mound, adding more games to the season, night games, and reducing the number of balls leading to a walk from 9 to 4, yes, the game has evolved but there are some rule changes that have been introduced recently, and some which are on the horizon, and I don’t like ‘em by gum! So, I shall take a moment to list and explain why they are stupid and should be eliminated. [for the record, I’m against the designated hitter in both leagues – the 9 players on offense play defense and vice versa, also, no aluminum bats…I just hate ‘em]

COVID introduced 2 rules that I can recount off the top of my head:

1.   1.   Double headers are 7 inning games – this was to keep players off the field for the 8^th and 9^th innings of double headers, historically known as “the widowmaker innings.” No, they weren’t and the rule makes no sense. Fortunately, now that we are only wrestling with a variety of other diseases, games are back to the full 9 inning complement.

2.  2.   The automatic runner starting each inning in extra innings – a horrible rule. It screws with every bit of integrity in baseball. There are many ways to get on base in baseball. Why are we adding another one? To speed games along by introducing dishonesty? It puts pressure on the pitcher and means that 2 well placed sacrifices get a run across with no real success and effort by the team to get the guy on second. There are many other problems with it that I’m sure the pundits have pontificated about and I leave it to them, on the condition that they agree with me. I hate this rule and the horse it rode in on. I hope it goes the way of the 7 inning game.

Here are some others I have heard – some may be actually on the way and some might just be rumors and suggestions.

3. 3.   Not allowing the shift (or some other defensive configuration). I have never fully understood rules about illegal formations in football so I haven’t developed a suitably angry response, but when it comes to baseball, a team should have the right to put its players wherever it sees fit. Stacking the right side opens of the left and that’s a risk the manager chooses. Playing a short outfield based on scouting is perfectly reasonable. If you want to get a hit, teach your hitters to hit against type.

4. 4.   Rules about the number of batters a pitcher must face. This is designed to stop managers from putting a pitcher in for a single batter. But what’s wrong with that? You put in the guy you need to get this out and then you put in someone else if you want. The roster is yours to use however you want and if that means that in the 14^th inning, you have a position player come in and pitch or you run out of players because you burned through pinch hitters, then so be it. The question about whether you can flip a pitcher with a position player who also is a pitcher and then back (repeatedly?) in order to exploit the righty-lefty issue with batters is an interesting wrinkle. It means 2 pitchers having to bat, and the possibility that either one, on the mound or in the field is a weak link. That’s the game.

5.5.   The automatic intentional walk. You declare that you want to walk the batter and off he goes. This eliminates the risk of wild pitches, surprise steals, poorly thrown pitches that the batter can reach. It destroys playing the game and pretends that there are foregone conclusions. There aren’t.

6.   6. I have heard that the minor leagues are futzing with rules about how many times a pitcher can throw over to a base to check a base runner. After a couple of throws, any throw which doesn’t get the runner out either leads to a free base or a ball for the batter. Dumb. Baseball is often about unforced mistakes. If the pitcher keeps throwing over and then muffs a throw, that’s the risk. If a batter is finally kept closer to the bag so he can’t go first to third, that’s the game. There is a psychology to holding runners (and baiting pitchers). No foregone conclusions. Let the game happen.

7.   7.  A pitch clock. Baseball isn’t a game on a clock. Does this mean that things can lag? Yes, but some pitchers need the moments between pitches to compose themselves, rethink the situation or agree on a sign. Giving an automatic ball to the batter is ridiculous – it isn’t earned. This isn’t speed chess. And conversely, a batter who steps out too often, or stays out might get an automatic strike added. Uncool. The tempo is part of the mind-game.

 

I don’t know if there are other rules that I have missed or that are pending but I have no doubt that I don’t approve of them.