Marketing of new rules proves MLB doesn’t get it
Pitch timer, shift restrictions, bigger bases in 2023
FORT MYERS, FLA. >> Major League Baseball is implementing a trio of new rules this season.
Coming soon to a ballpark near you: a pitch timer, shift restrictions, and bigger bases.
Isn’t that what you wanted?
As spring training began last week, MLB held one presentation for Florida’s Grapefruit League and one for Arizona’s Cactus League, replete with slideshows and highranking executives to field questions from reporters.
That’s not the norm. The lengths they’ve gone to push their newest initiative suggests the league is aware that the changes aren’t going over well, and they think, or rather, hope that by over-explaining, they can smooth out the bumps in the road before they appear. It’s going about as well as preventing potholes in Boston.
Or, as former Herald beat writer Evan Drellich, now with The Athletic, put it, “Why is MLB being so communicative about this topic? Probably because the league sees uncertainty. There’s uncertainty in how fans and players take to the rules, there’s at least a little uncertainty in how they actually will function in the major leagues… the stakes are pretty big. The league is modifying a recipe people have come to know and expect, a recipe that’s cooked up every night, 162 times a year.”
New rules
Hopefully, it’s “faster games, less wear and tear throughout the year,” which is what Dustin Pedroia said about the rules when he arrived at JetBlue Park on Saturday.
But the rules themselves are somewhat contradictory, and if they improve one aspect but threaten to worsen another, that’s essentially a zero-sum outcome. The league claims larger bases will reduce injuries, because they did in the minor-league trial run. However, forcing pitchers to speed up their work could increase pitching injuries.
And implementing a timer tells pitchers, “you have to adjust, figure it out or you’ll negatively impact your team,” while restricting the shift coddles hitters. Can’t beat the shift? Don’t worry, MLB has you covered.
Pedroia thinks that the changes “will be an adjustment for some guys, but it’ll make other guys better.” Is that fair? Players come and go, but the game of baseball dates back to the 1700s, so why is the game adjusting to the players when players should adjust to the game?
When Joey Gallo, who led MLB with 213 strikeouts in 2021, complained last February that the league had to “fix the game a little bit” because he couldn’t hit for extra bases with “six guys standing in the outfield,” Fred Lynn weighed in. “I believe they shifted on Ted Williams and didn’t he hit 406?” he tweeted.
The legendary Red Sox outfielder also told the Boston Globe, “As a hitter, it’s up to me to make an adjustment… The onus is on the hitter. It really is. Learn how to hit off-speed stuff the other way. Bunt. It’s got to be a learned process. You have to teach yourself to go the other way. How do you do that? You practice it. You can get in the cage and turn that machine up pretty fast.”
What you want
Setting aside the on-field aspect of the situation, which guarantees chaos this season, there’s the issue of MLB trying to convince fans these changes will not only make the game better, but that this is actually their way of catering to the masses. “What Fans Said They Want,” the infographic shared on their social media says, with ‘Want’ italicized.
The replies, never mind years of fans’ tweets, say otherwise.
“No fan I know wants any of these rules implemented.
All fans I know want the game to stay the same,” one Astros fan wrote.
The game is already good enough for people who love it, so what does that say about the people in charge? Trying to sell a product while constantly telling customers it needs changing and improving isn’t the best marketing tactic.
Improving pace of play, which these rules purportedly can do, has been the commissioner’s crusade for years.
Realistically, shaving 20 minutes off games isn’t what’s going to magically convince someone to become a baseball fan; it’s hard to imagine there’s even one person in the world who’s always wanted to get into baseball, but has been holding out for such a minimal difference.
The length of time doesn’t matter to someone who doesn’t understand the value of baseball itself, only existing fans care that the essence of the game continues to be diluted. As one Mariners fan said, “The few people that I have ever seen complaining that baseball is too slow and boring are NOT baseball fans. Adhering to them is not only *NOT* going to work, it’s going to alienate those who really do love the game. We asked for easier access to watch baseball, not change it.”
Therein lies the real problem that MLB has created and refuses to solve. Making baseball affordable and accessible would cost the league millions in the shortterm, anyway — so they keep tinkering with the onfield product and keeps forcing changes upon the game. It’s like a dehydrated person begging for a glass of water and being handed an onion instead.
MLB wants fans to want the new rules. Here’s what fans really want:
They want teams to try and compete each year, not tear down, rebuild, tank, and/or settle for last place before the season has even begun. They want affordable pricing so they can attend games, or even one game. They want to watch games, but streaming and cable are increasingly expensive, and then they’re still blocked by blackout restrictions, even if they live outside the state.
“Rule changes don’t matter if you cannot go to the game due to all the high prices (tickets, parking, concessions…),” one fan replied to MLB’s tweet.
“I can’t even watch my teams’s opening day on mlb. tv because I live in a state that you decided is in the opposing team’s market, and I can’t even get that team’s tv coverage where I live. Way to go,” one Nationals fan said. According to the local restrictions database, Nebraska, Kentucky, and Wyoming are among many states with no major league team of their own, blacked out from watching teams hundreds of miles away.
“End blackouts,” said one Brewers fan, “That’s what people have screamed for and you do nothing. Don’t pretend to be listening to fans and ignoring their biggest complaints.”
Maybe the new rules will make the game better for the players. Either way, what about fans? Doesn’t MLB know that the customer is always right? Or, at the very least, that occasionally listening to one’s customers is key to ensuring they keep buying what you’re selling?
MLB is asking fans for more money to watch a version of the product they didn’t ask for, and trying to convince them that it was what they wanted all along.
Who’s going to buy that?