So the good news is that we are finally getting a universal DH. Having pitchers hit has made no sense since the epic discovery of the DH in 1973, and I firmly believe that in their heart of hearts even people who say they hate the DH wish they didn’t have to watch pitchers go through the ridiculous pantomime of attempting to hit. Besides, who believes what baseball needs right now is more automatic strikeouts?
On the other side of the ledger, we are losing the ghost runner and seven-inning double-headers. The ghost runner made extra innings a little more interesting (Wow! A base-runner! How did that happen?) and brought games that surely had already stretched to 10:30 p.m. or 11 p.m. to a swifter conclusion. And the seven-inning games were at least a window into that glorious past when it took less than three-and-a-half hours to play a baseball game.
MLB needs to take a lesson from the NFL and realize that it is okay to change the game in a way that makes it more appealing to fans. So, hopefully, sooner rather than later, we are going to get a ban on the shift, expanded bases, and, most importantly, a no-kidding pitch clock. An experiment in the minors suggests that the pitch clock cuts more than 20 minutes off the game, gives it a rhythm that makes it much more pleasing to the viewer, and even creates more offense. Bring it on.