Apropos of yesterday's blog, about the possibility--really at this point a good probability--of instant replay being used in MLB, this weekend's round of interleague play got me thinking about how the game's already been tweaked. And how the purists protested, to no avail, when interleague was first introduced in 1997, but how it's now become an unqualified success.
Designated Hitter
15 June 2008
24 May 2008
Back before 1973, baseball was united in its belief that pitchers should hit and managers should really manage and a bench should mean something, but then in 1973 the Americal League decided that there should be a designated hitter and the National League stayed with its tradition. 35 years later we still have two distinct versions of baseball being played in the major leagues.
Posted by Jeff Wilson | 2 comments
9 May 2008
Baseball purists--and my brother in particular--may have freaked out when I suggested in my post of May 7 that all leagues adopt the DH. This is one of the Great Debates of the Modern Game, and I enter it whenever possible. Nobody seems on the fence on this issue; everyone either loves it or hates it. Me, I love it.
Posted by Street Reporter | No comments yet
7 May 2008
I'm not one to tinker too much with the game, but if I were commish, czar, and supreme baseball deity all rolled up into one, I'd mandate the following changes:
1. Eliminate the fake-to-third-turn-to-first move by the pitcher. I've seen this work once, though it's done thousands of times and elicits boos every time from home fans (even if it's the home pitcher doing it). It's a stupid play, it should be a balk (its intention is to deceive the runner, which is the definition of "balk") and it looks plain foolish.
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