Ugh! More Changes to the Game Contemplated

Evidently, the extreme measures of adding a pitch clock, assigning a designated runner to extra innings and limiting the number of throws to first base, among other rule changes, were not enough for the MLB hierarchy.  MLB based all of those recent changes on the premise that the game was too slow for the average fan.  Therefore they implemented all of these rules to supposedly attract more interest by shortening the game length.

We guess that was not the fix baseball needed after all, at least those at the top think so.  Now MLB is proposing even more rule changes, since the supposed problem is that starting pitchers are no longer the prominent figures of the game or focal point they used to be since they rarely go more than five or six innings nowadays.  Based on this “problem” MLB is supposedly mulling a rule change that starting pitchers would be required to pitch at least six innings and could only be pulled from a game earlier if:

• Once they throw 100 pitches, or
• Give up four or more earned runs, or
• Due to injury, which would require a mandated stint on the IL to avoid manipulation.

Overall, MLB now believes that by reducing the number of fresh pitchers batters may face during a game that this would increase team’s offenses and balls in play, while reducing strikeouts.  Voila! There you have it, more action and a more interesting game for fans.  Hold our beer for a second as BP delivers the counter argument.

Regularly tinkering with a game that has flourished for so long on one set of rules and just making the game more complicated and less comparable from year to year does more damage to the game and its integrity than any perceived benefit that the fans will derive.  It was the simplicity of the game and the straightforwardness of the rules that have made baseball so popular over the years.  From just 2017 through 2023 look how many significant rule changes MLB has made to the game to supposedly “heighten interest” in it:

• Pitchers are no longer required to throw four intentional balls to walk a batter. Manager may now ask the plate umpire to let the batter go to first base. (2017)
• Relief pitchers must face a minimum of three batters or pitch to the end of a half inning. (2020)
• Designated runner rule for extra innings. (2020)
• Universal Designated Hitter, thus eliminating the pitcher hitting. (2022)
• Banning the defensive shift. (2022)
• Rule limiting the number of pick off attempts of a runner by the pitcher. (2023)
• Pitch clock. (2023)  

It is not just that MLB has made so many rule changes in the past six years to “improve the game”, but it is the impact these changes have on the overall play.  The history of the game is filled with rule changes as per this link from Baseball Almanac.  That though is not the point.  The reality is that the bullet changes above are significant changes to the game.  The list per Baseball Almanac shows many rule changes, but most do not change the outcome of the game directly nor affect a fan’s understanding of the games rules significantly. For example, there are rule changes that simply exist to protect the players’ well-being, such as requiring that catchers wear a protective helmet on defense, or the 1931 rule that mandated that the home team must always bat second.  The list contains many more rules that affect how MLB records certain statistics, such as the inclusion of runs batted in during 1920 as an official box score statistic.  The vast majority of the rule changes in baseball do not affect the on field product greatly, except in our opinion in recent years.  At no time in baseball history have so many significant rule changes been put forth in such a short time span as from 2017 through 2023.

In comparison from 1979 through 2007, MLB only implemented one rule change, the aforementioned catcher helmet rule in 1988.  That was 29 years of baseball with only one insignificant rule change, which covered some of the highest attendance years in the game.  In fact, 2007 was the highest in the history of the game, with 79,484,718 fans attending games that year.

The reality of the situation is that baseball is a beloved sport.  We of course here at BP are biased, but feel that the MLB hierarchy should not be beholden to attendance and viewership.  Yes, some people might be turned off by a slightly slower game without pitch clocks or deprived of somewhat less action  with the implementation of a defensive shift, but ultimately MLB should not cater to the casual observer but rather the true fans of the game.  The casual fans will come and go, but the game and its integrity should live on.  MLB and the latest spate of rule changes are committing a disservice to its fan base and to the history of the game.