Baseball's New Rules

In this episode – Baseball's New Rules . . .

In the final out in a Major League Baseball (MLB) spring training game on Saturday, February 25, 2023, the Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox ended in a 6–6 tie after Braves player Cal Conley struck out for not getting set in the batter's box "in time."

Yes, baseball is back. Spring training began on February 24, 2023, with a few new rules. Let's face it - it's a game, and don't you adjust the rules when you play a game to suit the players? Major League Baseball did this year for a few good reasons.

Look at the end of the first paragraph of this post, "In time." That's not a phrase you often hear connected with baseball; get used to it because baseball has entered a new era this season. Overly concerned it's getting overshadowed by faster-paced sports. This year's goal is to speed up the game and generate more offense. These rules include the following;

A pitch clock so pitchers (and hitters) can't lollygag between pitches. Pitchers will have 15 seconds to throw a pitch with empty bases and 20 seconds with a runner on base. Hitters must be in the batter's box with eight seconds on the pitch clock. How will this be enforced: If a pitcher has not started "the motion to deliver a pitch" before the clock's expiration, he will be charged with a ball. If a batter pauses too long before entering the box, he will be charged with a strike.

Number two; The elimination of extreme defensive shifts to encourage more offense. This one was way overdue! The radical defense shifts in the past few years because the millions of stats recorded on each player were bogus. Without this shift, players will be "engaged" - their athletic ability will be fully displayed! Watching a third baseman shift to a position between second and first base was ridiculous. They left a gaping hole at the 5.5 positions that hitters could not find! Last season watching Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers get base hits through that hole was hilarious. At the same time, most batters grounded out into the shift. Were they blind, stubborn, or just victims of poor bat control? With the defense perfectly positioned, players just stood there, raised their gloves, caught the ball, and threw out the batter - simple. How boring was that! You gotta love this quote: "My biggest complaint about the shift is, how do you explain it to kids?" Phillies reliever David Robertson said. "What's the point of having a shortstop if he can't play shortstop?"

Number three; Bigger bases to increase the number of stolen bases. The size of the bases has been increased from 15 to 18 inches. Common . . . it's speed, desire, and cunning that defines a stolen base leader. Rickey Henderson holds the MLB career stolen base record with 1,406. He's the only MLB player to have reached this 1,000 stolen bases milestone. Let's ask Rickey about the size of the new bases.

Finally, Limit the number of mound "disengagements" as pickoff throws. Pickoff throws, huh some pitchers approach pickoffs like an elephant crossing a road, slow and deliberately. Pitch the ball, for heaven's sake, don't just stand there!

Yes, I'm sure it will take some getting used to, and there will be a lot of critics. On Friday, San Diego Padres star Manny Machado became the first MLB player to begin an at-bat down 0–1 in the count for stepping into the batter's box "too late."

According to ESPN, the big picture: Fans who love baseball but can't justify spending three-plus hours watching it, these could be welcome changes. Oh, that same Padres–Mariners game on Friday took just 2:29 minutes to complete—about 40 minutes shorter than last year's regular-season average.

It's a new season with 162 games to play – let's see how all this shakes out.

I'm Patrick Ball; thanks for listening; see you in the next episode.

Comments

Mom Was Right

In this episode: Mom Was Right (Again!) . . . Remember that old saying, "Mom knows best?" Well, this week, it resonated profoundly. I vividly recall my mother's steadfast remedy for the common cold, which was ingrained in my 1960s childhood: "Rest in bed, drink plenty of fluids, and take aspirin to reduce pain and fever." . . . Or now that I think about it, this may have been a Bayer aspirin commercial–Simple . . . Fast-forward to the age of AI and endless medical information at our fingertips, and guess what? Not much has changed. Yet, somehow, this week, Lori and I were blindsided by a cold—the first in over five years. My incredulous "How could this be?" quickly morphed into a dawning realization. Our company's annual meeting, a melting pot of colleagues from Illinois, Texas, Vietnam, Colorado, Northern California, and the Central Valley, was a veritable petri dish of germs. And, oh, the germs found me! Getting sick, especially after a long str...

Whispers of Spring

In this episode, Whispers of Spring . . . Spring has a way of sneaking in when you’re not looking. One day, you’re shaking off the last chill of winter, and the next, you realize the light has shifted, stretching shadows just a little longer. It didn’t make a big fuss about it—no dramatic entrance, no trumpets—just a quiet unfolding, like an old dog settling into a sunny spot on the porch. Last week, Daylight Saving Time kicked in, which meant we all fumbled with our clocks, grumbled a bit, and then, like frogs taken aback by a warm rain, leapt forward into longer evenings. The sun now lingers, in no rush to set, hanging in the sky like a tossed coin that refuses to fall. With the extra daylight, we find ourselves drawn outside once again, migrating to the back patio like folks are drawn to a warm campfire. The lawn chairs are right where we left them, waiting like old friends. The air hums with wind chimes, their tuned cylinders catching the breeze and weaving together something that...

Special April Fools' Edition: Did You Fall For It?

In this episode: Special April Fools' Edition: Did You Fall For It? (And a Little Baseball Nonsense) Welcome, fellow baseball aficionados and purveyors of the peculiar, to a very special, dare we say unpredictable, issue of On the Fly! Today, the air is thick with . . . well, probably just regular air, but a specific mischievous something is buzzing around. Can you feel it? Does that tingling sensation make you double-check your shoelaces and suspiciously eye any unusual packages? Yes, dear readers, it’s April 1st! A day steeped in mystery, shrouded in playful deception, and frankly, a day where you shouldn't believe anything you read (except maybe this . . .maybe). But before we descend into a whirlwind of whimsical falsehoods (don’t worry, we’ll mostly keep it light!), let’s take a quick, slightly wobbly, historical flight through the origins of this most unreliable of holidays. Whispers from the annals suggest a few intriguing possibilities for why we dedicate this particula...

At 92–Don's Digital Daydream

Listen to the audio here. In a world of his own–lives, ole' Doctor Don, Not one world, but three, 'til the setting of the sun! There’s his Blog-World , so bright, with words all a-whirl, And Book-World , with stories of boy and girl! Then, Day-World , where legs didn't leap, didn't run, Just shuffled and creaked 'til each day is done. But his brain, oh, his mind, it’s zippy and keen, A most curious fellow that ever was seen! At ninety and two, with a twinkle so bright, He met Chatty and said, "What a strange delight!" This box with the answers, so quick and so bold, Of theology and stories, new truths to unfold!" "Integrity, relationships, where do they fit? This thing makes me wonder, bit by bit!" He ponders and pokes with laughter and a grin, "Til POOF! he has gone to a world from within! A world made of words, a fantastical place, Where limits of the body, left not a trace! He Soares, and he zooms, with a thought and a rhyme, Trans...

On The Fly

Search This Blog