Shift rules would come with complications

I hear the calls. I’m sure you do too. They come from players, managers, batting coaches, writers, broadcasters and — most of all — from fans. They become louder and more voluminous every year.

DO SOMETHING ABOUT THOSE #@*& * SHIFTS! Baseball’s Rules Committee isn’t hard of hearing but when it comes to making changes it usually moves like a calcified fossil. So far it’s managed to ignore all wails about how the shift is taking away hits and making baseball less entertaining.

But the wails seem to be louder than ever before. And, by the way, attendance is down this year. Significantly. Things like that get the owners’ attention and the Rules Committee usually listens to the owners. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Committee take up the matter during the offseason.

Then what? The whole thing might be more complicated than one would think.

The first step to limiting the shift is to define exactly what a shift is. Is it a shift when three infielders play on one side of second base or the other? Is it a shift when an infielder stations himself in short right field, several steps from the infield dirt?

Are these the defenses that need to be outlawed or limited? If so, they need to be outlawed or limited without impacting the rest of the game. After all, infield movement has always been a very important part of the game.

Corner infielders play in on the grass when they think a batter might bunt. They guard the lines in the late innings of a close game. Middle infielders play “double play depth” (medium depth and not too far from the bag) if there’s a runner on first and less than two

Baseball

out. First basemen play on the bag when the base is occupied and second base is open, but roam far away from that position in other situations. The entire infield sometimes moves in when the opposition has a runner on third base and less than two out and plays back a step with a runner on second base and two out. If a slow right-handed batter comes to the plate with the bases empty it isn’t unusual to find middle infielders playing on the edge

SPORTSNET NEW YORK VIA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Shifts like this one scene here in a game between the Mets and Cardinals may be illegal in the future, but just how to enforce them could be a point of controversy.