Atlanta Braves and the new minor league rule changes
Changing the Game
What if you were playing chess and after 3 hours of intricate battle, your opponent suddenly decided to spice things up by removing all of the remaining pawns from the board?
Suppose instead, the sport were tennis and during a 5th set, the net were raised 2 inches?
I have a real problem when you have two teams that have been playing hard for the entire game and then – to break a tie – the rules are altered. Such things already happen in multiple sports: hockey, soccer, and to a lesser extent football – and tennis.
Now that’s about to happen in minor league baseball. (emphasis added)
"At all levels of Minor League Baseball, extra innings will begin with a runner on second base. The runner at second base will be the player in the batting order position previous to the leadoff batter of the inning (or a substitute for that player). By way of example, if the number five hitter in the batting order is due to lead off the 10th inning, the number four player in the batting order (or a pinch-runner for such player) shall begin the inning on second base. Any runner or batter removed from the game for a substitute shall be ineligible to return to the game, as is the case in all circumstances under the Official Baseball Rules."
Oh hey, there’s a shout-out to the Official Baseball Rules at the end – almost as if acknowledging that this changes is anathema to that document.
Minor league baseball is about one thing: player development. That’s it. Sure: we keep score and we do record winners and losers, but winning is not the primary goal here (well, unless you’re the Yankees, who seem to want all of their affiliates to win at all levels…okay, whatever). But that primary goal is to prepare players to reach the major leagues.
To that end, if you wanted to prevent teams from going 33 innings in a single contest, then I’m good with that: you should not have to blow out extra pitcher arms unnecessarily. All you’d have to do, then, is limit games to 10 or 11 innings and be done with it. Ties would be okay.
At least you wouldn’t be changing the game.
In terms of disruption, this probably ranks somewhere between the Kansas Tiebreakers used in football and the 5-goal shootouts in hockey or soccer. It degrades to a skills contest and not a baseball game.
Heck, if I were a minor league manager, here’s what I would do:
- Pinch-run for the player assigned to second base, if necessary for adding speed.
- Pinch-hit for the first batter with a bunting specialist. Move the runner to third.
- Take my chances with the next 2 batters.
Of course, in the bottom half of the same inning, your opposition is doing exactly the same thing, so there’s a good chance that the game deteriorates into single run scores for both sides over the next 2-3 innings.
We’ve seen such equivalent things happen in college football… like this one that turned a 24-24 regulation tie into a 71-63 nightmare finish after 7 overtime sessions.
But this isn’t baseball any more. Or at best it’s an imposed or simulation game that skips ahead multiple steps.
Not Particularly Happy About It
For pitchers, 15 seconds per pitch is going to be tight – no doubt. Some will adapt well, some will feel rushed and perhaps even a few will panic a bit. That’s unfortunate, for unless they can get that under control, their very careers could be at risk.
Is that sensationalizing the point? Maybe a bit, but consider that for 10-12 years of their pre-professional lives, these players have been operating under a relaxed environment and now there has to be a thought about getting their deliveries ready and executed more quickly than ever before. All that said… it’s a change that isn’t the end of the baseball world as we know it.
But at for the extra innings shootout finish… that changes the fabric of the game and introduces an entirely new strategy set. One that’s substantially different from before.
I don’t have any confidence whatsoever that either MLB or MiLB will read this, much less that they would relent and play for ties. But at the same time, I think it worth this modest effort to add one more voice to a chorus of fans who are suggesting that they do that very thing.