The bigger the base, the better?
MLB hoopes larger bases lead to more steals, fewer injuries
PEORIA, Ariz. – Like a violin virtuoso using a new music stand, San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado noticed a difference right away.
Not only are the bases bigger, but they feel different, too.
“It’s definitely different, for sure,” said Machado, a two-time Gold Glove winner. “They look better. I just got to kind of keep playing with it and stepping on it and kind of like getting the feel for it. But it’s definitely different for sure.”
The bigger bases – going from 15- to 18-inch squares – are part of a flurry of changes by Major League Baseball designed to put more action and athleticism back in the game and make it more appealing to a younger generation of potential fans.
When the new rules were adopted by baseball’s 11-person competition committee in September, the four players on the panel supported the bigger bases and voted against the use of a pitch clock and limits on defensive shifts.
The new bases – “They look like a pizza box,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora cracked – cut down the distance between the bases by 4 1/2 inches. The distance between third and home and home and first was trimmed by 3 inches.
It doesn’t sound like much, but the impact could be considerable.
Instead of waiting around for a three-run homer, big league teams could try a more aggressive approach on the basepaths. Coupled with new limits on what MLB calls disengagements – pickoff attempts or steps off the rubber – it’s more important than ever that pitchers are quick to the plate and strong-armed catchers stay alert with runners on.
“The run game, preventing the run game, is something that we’ve talked about, we’re going to continue
to talk about, because ... the stolen-base attempt should increase a good bit, I think,” Dodgers manager
Dave Roberts said.
Major league teams finished with 2,486 steals in
The 65 was his best score in 33 rounds as a pro at PGA National. He’d shot 66 on two previous occasions.
“Listen, there’s no secret,” said Horschel, who played his college golf at Florida. “It’s not a secret. I grind. I work hard. It’s no secret out here that I work really, really hard out here. But this week with just the way I’m feeling and everything, energy’s still not completely 100 percent every day.”
Bramlett scrambled
nicely when he had to. He missed six of 14 fairways and hit 13 of 18 greens.
“I definitely like when the conditions are difficult and guys have to really earn it,” said Bramlett, who has never won on the PGA Tour. “I think that’s historically always been in my favor.”
Pierceson Coody – a sponsor exemption playing his first PGA Tour event as a professional – finished the first round at 4 under, alongside Justin Suh. Coody has two wins in 15 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour since turning pro in
June.
“It really just feels like another professional event,” the grandson of 1971 Masters champion Charles Coody said. “I’ve only played (15) professional events. But other than the big grandstands it’s not that different. You’re just playing golf, you’re trying to put a good score together. No real nerves out there. Just happy to play well.”
Suh missed a 10-foot birdie putt on his last hole – No. 9 – that would have tied him for the lead.
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