Some baseball rules worth keeping
Now that the books are closed on the 2020 Major League Baseball season and the first round of the playoffs, it’s time to reflect on some of the changes that were made.
Many were made out of necessity, but they gave the commissioner an avenue to test the waters for future seasons.
While I consider myself a traditionalist, the 2020 season was quirky and abnormal so there was no reason to get aggravated by the changes. In many ways, it’s a miracle they were able to play 60 games in the middle of a pandemic.
With that in mind, here are a few of the changes that would make sense for the future and others that proved to be as erratic as a Rob Drake strike zone: Toe UNIVeRSAL ao » Growing up, I always believed that the Senior Circuit was the superior league because it let pitch
ers hit. However, the game has changed and pitchers no longer put much effort into their work at the plate.
I wrote about this earlier in the season but here is a recap: The DH is used in every level of baseball from youth to high school to college to the minor leagues.
With analytics, starting pitchers are facing lineups one or two times. That’s maybe an at-bat or two at the most. Managers aren’t pulling pitchers because they are due up at the plate. They are pulling them because they’ve reached their limit. After that, relief pitchers are pinch-hit for anyway.
Sometimes an injured player is able to ease back into the lineup as the designated hitter. The universal DH also rewards teams that have more depth. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
THE THREE-BATTER MIN
IMUM RULE FOR RELIEVERS >> This rule officially ended the LOOGY (lefty one- out guy) but it did create some new strategy.
General managers were forced to find relievers who could retire both right- and left-handed hitters. Managers were compelled to pitch their best relievers in high-stress innings, even if that was the seventh or eighth. Maybe instead of leaning on an struggling reliever, a manager tried to see if his starter could face a lineup again.
Teams that adapted to this new rule generally thrived. Others like the Phillies did not. Even Philadelphia cutouts booed when their bullpen came into a game.
THE 16-TEAM POSTSEASON >> I have mixed feelings about this one.
The 16-team format diminishes the regular season and the top teams were only marginally rewarded with the threegame series at home. Even No. 7 and 8 teams have talented starting pitchers that have the potential to upset a top seed.
Most of the deserving teams made it to the divisional round though. The 29-31 Astros were the exception, but MLB needs to have villains and Houston is the Nurse Ratched of the playoffs.
The NL and AL Central teams, who were all flawed in some respect, were a combined 0-7. Talk about a Midwest Dust Bowl.
Baseball needs to avoid tanking teams in August and September and selling their assets to the top teams every season. This is not good for baseball.
The first round had a
crazy, March Madness feel to it. For baseball fans, it was pure nirvana. Make some tweaks if necessary but keep some version of this for 2021. SEVEN-INNING DOUBLEHEADERS >> This was appropriate in 2020 as a number of teams were forced to make up games due to coronavirus cases and the occasional rainout in a compacted schedule.
Growing up, scheduled nine-inning doubleheaders were a staple in baseball. Try attending a doubleheader at Candlestick Park back in the early 1980s. By the seventh inning of the nightcap, there were more seagulls and hot dog wrappers than fans. Players don’t like doubleheaders so good luck on these coming back in force in future seasons.
While this new rule made sense this year, they should ditch it in future seasons. Teams often rally back in the eighth and ninth innings. This took
that drama away and put too much emphasis on early-inning scoring.
RUNNER AT SECOND BASE
IN EXTRA INNINGS >> Even in the 2020 season, this might have been better off implemented in the 12th inning or later. Too many important extra-inning games were decided by the phantom runner at second.
There were even a few games where the winning team scored without the benefit of a hit. Player X grounds out to second, phantom runner moves to third. Player Y hits a sac fly to the outfield, phantom runner scores. The relief pitcher was not charged with an earned run but he did suffer a loss. Just doesn’t seem right.
This was by far the worst of the new rules. I wonder if Rob Drake had a hand in it.