MLB must fix its September callup problem
Major League Baseball has done some dumb things through the years, and I’m here to vent about one of the worst.
No, I’m not talking about Bud Selig’s thankfully nowdefunct idea of tying the Allstar Game winner to homefield advantage in the World Series.
And no, I’m not talking about trying to speed up the pace of play by requiring hitters to stay in the batter’s box and then never enforcing the rule.
I’m talking about September’s expanded rosters and how they change the field of play at the worst possible time. The system’s been in a place for a long time, but it’s past time for change.
Under the current rules, rosters can be increased from 25 to 40 players in September, and teams are not limited in the number of players they can use in a game. Some teams call up a halfdozen players and use them sparingly. Others call up so many players that there is barely room for them in the dugout or the clubhouse.
The parade of relievers to the mound seems endless, games grow longer, and adding fresh faces so late in the season upsets the competitive balance. The deep, talented Dodgers, for example, expanded their September roster to 39.
I asked Rockies manager Bud Black about it this month, and he agreed there is a problem.
“We play all season under one set of rules, then at one of the most important points of the season, the rules change, and the teams change,” he said. “I don’t agree with that. But I do think it’s something we are looking to change. I think there is a lot of talk about that.”
Black suggests that a team should be able to call up as many eligible players as it wants, but on game day, the team must then designate 25, or perhaps 26 or 27 players, who can be used for that particular game.
Black is not alone in his thinking. Miami Marlins manager Don Mattingly told ESPN.COM last Sunday that MLB should consider limiting roster sizes in the final month of the season, because “the game you play for five months is not the game you play in September.”
Mattingly made his comments last Saturday after Philadelphia’s 54 victory over the Marlins last Saturday night. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was only the fourth nineinning game in history in which no pitcher was credited with more than two innings pitched. And, of the 15 pitchers who appeared in the game, none recorded a plate appearance. According to Elias, it was the first nondh game since 1900 in which no pitcher came to the plate.
As Espn.com’s Jerry Crasnick noted in his story, the influx of additional players makes for longer, more tedious games, right when division races are on the line and the entertainment value should be reaching its apex. Wrote Crasnick: “MLB has closely monitored pace of play because of the increased use of relievers in recent years. This season, the average September game has lasted three hours, four minutes and 23 seconds, compared to three hours and one second for games through the end of August.”
There are many in baseball’s front office, and in the players’ union, who like the way things are now, because it allows players on the 40man roster to get majorleague pay and service time.
I understand that. But for the sake of the game, please allow only 25 (or maybe 26) players to suit up.
Please MLB, do the smart thing.