Earlier this week, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred came out and said there’s been significant “buzz” regarding a newly proposed rule change. This rule is being referred to as the “golden at-bat,” and, if implemented, would allow teams to put their best players at the plate in big situations once a game.
Although this rule change is in the conversation-only stage at the moment, it points to a big issue that’s been created by Manfred since he took over. Every year there are new rule changes created to draw new eyes to the sport, and it’s starting to go overboard.
Sure, I’m a fan of banning the shift. I like keeping players at their positions, for anything other than the sake of simplicity.
Sure, I’m a fan of the pitch clock. In my opinion, it actually makes the game more reminiscent of the 80’s and 90’s.
Sure, I’m a fan of the three-batter minimum. I hate the constant stoppage of play, watching commercial after commercial because of “lefty specialists.”
SURE, I’m a fan of starting extra innings with a man on second. I hate being tired at work on a Wednesday in May because I watched my team lose in the 16th inning the night prior.
This, however; the fact that it’s even being considered; is too much.
At what point is baseball no longer baseball? I understand making the game more appealing to a younger audience, but a rule like this is just pushing out the fans that have been loyal to the sport from the beginning.
Why is this MLB regime so obsessed with drastically increasing offense? It’s catering to the rotten TikTok brains that need constant dopamine and can’t appreciate something like a good pitching performance. It’s catering to the gamblers only watching because they put too much money on the over. It’s catering to everyone except the fans from which they made all their money up to this point.
Honestly, this is not just a baseball problem. The NBA is worse than ever with teams chucking up terrible threes and playing no defense. In the NFL, just about every rule favors the offense (especially the quarterback). This score-heavy, fantasy and gambling mindset is making sports boring to watch for fans who truly appreciate them.
So, as a final note to the commissioner and the owners: don’t even think about it. Stop changing the game so many of us love as a favor to the sportsbooks. It’s bad enough to have ads shoved in our face in every aspect of the game, we don’t also need the product on the field to change this drastically.
To the fans: there’s going to come a point where we shouldn’t accept this anymore, and this rule change may just be the start.
Tough Money Sports 