Is This the New Baseball???
Date: Tuesday, April 27, 2021
Author: Scott Davis
Author: Scott Davis
“The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game -- it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again. Ohhhhhhhh, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.” As James Earl Jones character stated in the movie “Field of Dreams”. MLB is running adverts with this same quote being used but is Rob Manfred’s baseball the one constant through the years?
In years past we’ve seen changes to baseball, some little some big, but we’ve really never seen changes that have affected the stats of a game like we’ve seen over the past two years. There are several rules in baseball that I really don’t like, Balk, Infield Fly Rule, and Blocking the plate to name a few, but none are more despised than the Manfred Rules. Some of the choices make a smaller impact on the game, some have done nothing to ultimately reach the goal of improving baseball, and some make massive changes which have a direct impact on players stats and historic events in baseball. I think we need to sit and discuss some of these Manfred rules which are being thrust upon the fans over the past two years without the fans having any choice in the matter.
While all these other rules were implemented for several different reasons, Safety, Fairness, or just to screw with a pitcher, the Manfred rules were made to shorten games. Let’s look at the two Manfred Rules that have been implemented over the past two year and see how different the rules are. Last year we saw the implementation of the runner automatically put on second base in extra innings. I watched in anticipation with this rule and with one of the first implementations of it, my feelings were completely proven. Second day of the season, Cleveland Indians vs the Kansas City Royals. The game goes into extra innings, the Indians play the extra innings the old fashion way and get nothing in return, Kansas City plays smart with base stealing and ingenuity, what do they get, a win. Does this rule do what it was meant to do, well yes it does. We will never see fifteen innings again. Unfortunately, that one positive does not negate the negatives that we get from the rule. One a pitcher can now show a loss for a no hitter. No need for a walk off home run anymore when I can sacrifice fly a guy in to score. Another example is Colomé, Minnesota Twins, 2021, has a loss as the closer yet no runs charged to him for that batter. Great no runs but yet he still has a loss on his record. A pitcher should have a loss when he earns a loss, not because of a freebee rule. Personally, as a fan, I don’t want to be cheated out of extra innings when I go to a game. Those are special moments for a fan and shouldn’t be taken away.
Now with the second rule, not to mention the rule I hate the most, the seventh inning double header rule. Yes, another Manfred rule made to shorten the game. We went through our first double header this season already and the rule went about as well as a keg at an AA meeting. So, with seven innings per game, we should see a whole bunch of no hitters, right? Wrong! We are now officially changing the game of baseball, the historic stats, the ability for a pitcher to achieve something that in my entire career as a baseball fan, was taught that is one of a pitcher’s special moment, that no hitter. I’m Still confused as to how you can say a seven-inning game is a game all except for the stats for the pitcher. I mean the batters can hit a grand slam home run and it counts but pitching a full Major League Baseball Game with no hits is not considered a no hitter. Does anyone else see the ideocracy in this?
Why is this happening, well its two-fold. First, for some reason, MLB thinks that the game is losing stature with the American public. Ticket sales have dropped, the revenue is just not what they want it to be. That may well be true but is that the real reason. Shortening the game will not improve making the game more exciting. they know that as well. Which basically leaves three other reasons as to why we are really trying to make these games shorter. One, team owner pressure due to lost revenue for labor during games. Two, Corporate pressure to improve financial gain for their investment. Finally, three, broadcasters pressuring due to the length of the games in comparison to commercial time. Either way none of those reasons are there to make the game better for fans. Since when did baseball, an American institution, become more important for the corporations rather than the fans? Nike has been here in baseball for what ten maybe twelve years, my friends as well as myself have been here for fifty plus years, tell me whose more important? I personally think that both are just as important but you can’t alienate the fans by changing what this game is supposed to be.
The one constant through all the years has been baseball. A sport that I have loved ever since my first game. Rob Manfred started this crisis in baseball, and yes, I’m calling it a crisis. The fans, players, and managers alike have made it clear that these rules have no place in baseball. I hope Mr. Manfred hears what’s being said and thinks about all of this prior to the negotiation of the CBA for the next season and beyond. Nobody wants a 1996-7 again.
In years past we’ve seen changes to baseball, some little some big, but we’ve really never seen changes that have affected the stats of a game like we’ve seen over the past two years. There are several rules in baseball that I really don’t like, Balk, Infield Fly Rule, and Blocking the plate to name a few, but none are more despised than the Manfred Rules. Some of the choices make a smaller impact on the game, some have done nothing to ultimately reach the goal of improving baseball, and some make massive changes which have a direct impact on players stats and historic events in baseball. I think we need to sit and discuss some of these Manfred rules which are being thrust upon the fans over the past two years without the fans having any choice in the matter.
While all these other rules were implemented for several different reasons, Safety, Fairness, or just to screw with a pitcher, the Manfred rules were made to shorten games. Let’s look at the two Manfred Rules that have been implemented over the past two year and see how different the rules are. Last year we saw the implementation of the runner automatically put on second base in extra innings. I watched in anticipation with this rule and with one of the first implementations of it, my feelings were completely proven. Second day of the season, Cleveland Indians vs the Kansas City Royals. The game goes into extra innings, the Indians play the extra innings the old fashion way and get nothing in return, Kansas City plays smart with base stealing and ingenuity, what do they get, a win. Does this rule do what it was meant to do, well yes it does. We will never see fifteen innings again. Unfortunately, that one positive does not negate the negatives that we get from the rule. One a pitcher can now show a loss for a no hitter. No need for a walk off home run anymore when I can sacrifice fly a guy in to score. Another example is Colomé, Minnesota Twins, 2021, has a loss as the closer yet no runs charged to him for that batter. Great no runs but yet he still has a loss on his record. A pitcher should have a loss when he earns a loss, not because of a freebee rule. Personally, as a fan, I don’t want to be cheated out of extra innings when I go to a game. Those are special moments for a fan and shouldn’t be taken away.
Now with the second rule, not to mention the rule I hate the most, the seventh inning double header rule. Yes, another Manfred rule made to shorten the game. We went through our first double header this season already and the rule went about as well as a keg at an AA meeting. So, with seven innings per game, we should see a whole bunch of no hitters, right? Wrong! We are now officially changing the game of baseball, the historic stats, the ability for a pitcher to achieve something that in my entire career as a baseball fan, was taught that is one of a pitcher’s special moment, that no hitter. I’m Still confused as to how you can say a seven-inning game is a game all except for the stats for the pitcher. I mean the batters can hit a grand slam home run and it counts but pitching a full Major League Baseball Game with no hits is not considered a no hitter. Does anyone else see the ideocracy in this?
Why is this happening, well its two-fold. First, for some reason, MLB thinks that the game is losing stature with the American public. Ticket sales have dropped, the revenue is just not what they want it to be. That may well be true but is that the real reason. Shortening the game will not improve making the game more exciting. they know that as well. Which basically leaves three other reasons as to why we are really trying to make these games shorter. One, team owner pressure due to lost revenue for labor during games. Two, Corporate pressure to improve financial gain for their investment. Finally, three, broadcasters pressuring due to the length of the games in comparison to commercial time. Either way none of those reasons are there to make the game better for fans. Since when did baseball, an American institution, become more important for the corporations rather than the fans? Nike has been here in baseball for what ten maybe twelve years, my friends as well as myself have been here for fifty plus years, tell me whose more important? I personally think that both are just as important but you can’t alienate the fans by changing what this game is supposed to be.
The one constant through all the years has been baseball. A sport that I have loved ever since my first game. Rob Manfred started this crisis in baseball, and yes, I’m calling it a crisis. The fans, players, and managers alike have made it clear that these rules have no place in baseball. I hope Mr. Manfred hears what’s being said and thinks about all of this prior to the negotiation of the CBA for the next season and beyond. Nobody wants a 1996-7 again.
