We finally got some news that the Major League Baseball lockout appears to have come to an end, and the league has announced its delayed opening day, tentatively scheduled for April 7.
It’s a relief to know that spring baseball is almost certainly on its way now, but I’m not going to forget who caused this delay and why. Rob Manfred and the owners were in the wrong and should’ve acquiesced much sooner. The fact that they didn’t robbed us of at least two weeks of baseball, showing once again that they care way more about lining their pockets than they do about their players or their fans.
And while I’m of the mind that any baseball is better than no baseball, I feel somewhat similar to Ed Condon over at The Pillar: I’m not exactly enthralled with the game they’re planning to bring back.
Among the announced changes that, in my view, will alter the game for the worse are the long-threatened universal designated hitter, ads on players’ jerseys, a general pitch clock, a ban on defensive shifts, and a plan to enlarge the bases starting in the 2023 season. In short, while I’m glad they’ve finally agreed to play, it sounds like they’ll be playing a game that looks a lot less like baseball and a lot more like some watered down rapid-play version implemented by lazy dads who want to get their kids’ T-ball game over with faster.
These sorts of changes are always advertised as necessary to speed up the game and thus attract new fans, but I’ll say once again what I always say when I talk about the MLB and its crazy rules changes: There is not a single person in America who would be a loyal baseball viewer if only there were a universal DH, no defensive shifts, larger bases, and slightly less time between pitches. This mythical would-be fan simply does not exist. And in the process of trying to win these mythical people over, MLB continues to alienate its loyal viewers who actually love the game.