Timothy Birdnow

The rule changes approved for Major League Baseball suck. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/34556355/major-league-baseball-passes-significant-rules-changes-including-pitch-clock-banning-defensive-shifts

They are all intended to ramp up the scoring and will remove much of the strategy of the game.

 The changes include a pitch clock - to make pitchers throw faster and thus allow batters a greater chance of getting a hit, "defensive shift changes" in the field are now outlawed (moving fielders around), the bases will be bigger (making it easier to get on) and closer together, and pitchers will only be given two pickoff attempts per at bat. Oh, and a team will be allowed to bring a pitcher back in the game if the bullpen is exhausted.

The players opposed the changes. But MLB wants the big scores and wants to limit the length of games (and thus save money) so it's becoming a reality.

All sports keep pushing for high scoring. Yes, that is exciting, but it takes the strategy out of the game in almost every sport. Basketball has NO strategy any longer once they implemented rules that protected the high scorers. And football has been following that path too. You can't make incidental contact on a passing play any longer, or hit someone too hard.

It's all part of the pacification of sports. But baseball was always a pretty passive game. However, there were a few spills when sliding into base. Now, with a larger base, that will happen less.

I tire of the powers that be always monkeying with something that isn't broken.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 12:02 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 258 words, total size 2 kb.