When I was the host of my first call-in radio talk show, I had a caller who said, “I think the rules in baseball are dumb.” And I asked, “What do you mean?” The caller responded, “Well, in baseball they say that if you have four balls you walk, right?” I said, “Yes.” The caller said, “Well that is dumb. How can anybody walk with four balls?”
Regardless that that caller was a crank caller…and he was just trying to get me off my game…which he did as I was unable to maintain my composure for some time afterwards…all these years later…he would be right. The rules have become somewhat odd, to the point where it is hard to recognize the national pastime.
The 2020 season, using Covid-19 as an excuse, became a testing ground as Major League Baseball decided to alter the game, modify it, even more than they have over the last few decades.
Rules have been changed over the course of the game, and the game has evolved over time. The bases being 90 feet apart has remained constant, at least since 1857. The 90-foot basepath was conceived after trial and error, beginning in the 1840’s and early 1850’s.
The pitching rubber was not always 60 feet 6 inches from home plate. In 1888 overhand pitching was allowed for the first time and that gave the pitchers a big advantage, since they were throwing it from a 50-foot distance. Prior to 1888 pitchers were actually throwing underhanded, softball style. And, up until 1856, the job of the pitcher was not to deceive the batter, but to put the ball where the batter indicated. Believe it or not, a batter would come to the plate and, using his hand, show the pitcher where he wanted the ball to arrive. And later on, about 80 years later on, the mound was lowered after pitching so dominated the hitting during the 1968 season.
So there have been changes even to the basics that we all believed to always be the rules.
The Designated Hitter was brought to the American League in 1973. I have never been a fan of the DH although some of my favorite players were able to “hang on” thanks to that slot in the lineup. However, it just seemed like there was something not right about it. Each player on the field has a job to do. And once they come off the field, they also have a job to do – hit. True, pitchers are traditionally the weaker hitters in the lineup. But, then, there have been position players who, too, have been “automatic outs.” The Mets have had pitchers like Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz, etc., who are more reliable hitters than some of the position players available. I have more confidence in them than I do, say, catcher Tomas Nido.
Having the DH in one “league” and the pitcher hit in the other, gave us the best of both worlds. But I do understand how it becomes a disadvantage to the American League team when they are playing in a National League ballpark, often taking their top hitter out of the lineup. And seeing the DH used universally during the 2020 season has almost – almost – convinced me that it may be time to bring it to the NL on a permanent basis.
But there are other rules implemented for the 2020 season that I just couldn’t stand. Specifically, starting an extra inning with a runner on second base, although used in the amateur ranks makes no sense to me on the Major League level, as well as the three-batter minimum for a pitcher.
I absolutely hate the “K” or “HR” philosophy of today’s players. If the game was played like it used to be, with putting the bat on the ball, getting on base anyway you can, there would be no need to start an inning with a runner on second base. Because the reasoning behind it seems to be…it takes too damn long for someone to hit that home run to send us all home.
I also hate that specialist who comes in to face a single batter. Why? When I was growing up, “relief” pitchers threw multiple innings let alone to multiple batters. Pitchers got the ball from their catcher, got the signs, and pitched. Hitters dance around the box. Pitchers go through gyrations. Pitch the ball…hit the ball. Stop the nonsense. You want to speed up the game? Stop worrying about the walk-up music, the egotistical crap that goes on between every pitch. You wouldn’t need a three-pitch minimum to speed up the game.
No blocking home plate. No barreling into a catcher. No taking out a second baseman. Avoid throwing on the inside corner of the plate. Doesn’t matter…they wear body armor anyway. Damn rules. Worried about safety? How about adding the red bag on the OUTSIDE of the first base line like the amateur leagues? I never understood why you had to run in that “lane” outside the baseline only to cross back into the field to step on the bag. It never made sense to me. Adding the bag on the outside of the line would prevent dangerous collisions and avoid the “subjective” and controversial “out of the baseline” calls that never seem to be called correctly. Now THAT would be a change that actually makes sense.
And then there is an expanded post season adding even more teams. I remember when two teams – TWO TEAMS – made the post season. The post season was THE WORLD SERIES! Okay so they split each league into two divisions and then there were the playoffs to GET to the World Series. And the Mets were World Champions that first year. But then there became three divisions, three division champions, and a wild card entry. Then two wild card entries. And now more. It is becoming diluted just like the National Hockey League.
I remember, oh, when the Mets got hot and stole the National League East title with only 82 wins in 1973. Yes, I cheered when they got past the Big Red Machine and was rooting for them when the got to the 7th game of the World Series against the powerful Oakland A’s dynasty led by Reggie Jackson. I rooted for them, but I believed in my heart that an 82-win team should not be World Series champions. No matter how big of a Mets fan I am, I would have felt it was tainted. And given the way Major League Baseball is headed, there very well could be another 82-win team that actually wins the Series, and, very likely, a sub .500 team that makes the cut, gets hot, and captures a title. Just not cool.
I honestly could not get into the 2020 season at all. And not just because of the seemingly ridiculous rules. I understand why no fans were to be permitted in the parks. I get that. And it takes away from the energy that you feel as a participant, as a player. Some players, who are the targets of the hecklers and who get anxiety from that, could very well have benefitted from the absence of the crowds. Perhaps it helped Giancarlo Stanton in 2020?
Having no fans is understandable. Piping in crowd noise? I can’t understand that, and I don’t like it. It’s as bad as having canned laughter for a sitcom. You KNOW it’s fake and you can tell that the reactions are not in direct proportion to the stimuli. Come on. I have been in an empty stadium. The sounds of a ballgame being played are much more pleasurable than fake crowd noise.
It actually cracked me up that broadcasters were not even in the ballparks when the teams were not at home. And what people may forget is that this isn’t new. Way back before broadcast teams were sent to describe the action long distance over phone lines, telegraph operators would send the information by teletype and a radio “announcer” would “dramatize” the action for listeners over the radio. But part of doing play by play is describing what the listener or viewer can’t hear or see for themselves. If the broadcaster is watching it on a monitor and they are not there, then they, too, are missing action. Because unless you are IN THE BALLPARK you can’t possibly see everything that is going on…only what the camera person is showing you.
There were a lot of players, some stars, who opted out of the season. This is also not anything that hasn’t happened before. The World Wars took players away. The seasons played on. In fact, many Hall of Famers were robbed of their prime years. But I am wondering how fair it is, it was, to have a 60-game “season.” Statistically, it certainly isn’t fair. Oh, the players who had great seasons will love it. But the players who slumped, and who didn’t have the time to recover like they would over the course of 162 games, I am quite sure are not happy what they see in their stats on the back of their baseball cards.
Just ask Christian Yelich. MVP in 2018 and runner up in 2019. In 2018, Yelich hit .326 with an on base percentage of .402, hitting 36 home runs and driving in 110 runs. In 2019, he hit .329 with an OBP of .429, 44 HR and 97 RBI. And in 2020? Yelich had a batting average of .205, with 12 HR and 22 RBI, and he struck out 71 times in 200 at bats.
The 60-game season just didn’t seem authentic to me. It seemed more like a “barnstorming” series to me. And add to that that the Mets season was a debacle. Pete Alonso suffered a similar fate as Yelich, suffering from the old sophomore jinx. Jeff McNeil was also slow to get started but he recovered. JD Davis was not quite what HE was in 2019. They lost Syndergaard for the season. Luis Rojas was really in over his head in this weird season. Truthfully, I was just happy to see it over with…and see the last of 2020.
The winds of change are swirling.
