In the age where sports executives make new rules for the sake of making rules, the 2017 baseball will have the following changes:
1. THE NO PITCH INTENTIONAL WALK
Debated for years, baseball has decided the time has come to "speed up" the game by discarding the traditional four intentional pitches outside the zone to create a "clear pass" to first base. Instead of lobbing four
pitches to the catcher standing nowhere near home plate, the pitching
team's manager now just needs to signal to the umpire that he wants an intentional
walk and the batter gets to go to first base with no pitches thrown.
This is a dumb and unnecessary rule change. One of the basic tenets of the game is that the pitcher has to throw a ball to a batter at home plate. Professional baseball is not youth tee-ball. The rule rule takes out strategy from the game. I have seen a batter with going from an 0-2 count in a clutch situation get to 2-2, when the pitching manager calls for an intentional walk. The 3-2 pitch was thrown to the catcher in the opposite batter's box. But the next pitch was fired down the middle for a called strike three. The pitching team lulled the batter to sleep. Also, I have seen numerous times a team try to intentionally walk a batter to load the bases for a force out at home plate with runners at second and third. I have seen pitchers throw wild pitches on the intentional walk leading to the runner on third scoring on the play. These examples are part of the history and drama of a baseball game.
Struggling pitchers will like the new rule. For many, intentional walks disrupt their mechanics and location for the next batter, usually causes a big inning to erupt. In an era of closely guarded pitch counts, the batting team wants a starter to throw 4 pitches, even if lobs, to get an intentional walk. It will get a pitcher out of the game quicker if he has to throw more pitches. This is especially true for closers - - - if you have to walk 2 players for a home force, that is 8 pitches throw against a normal inning of 12 to 18. If you make a closer throw more than 20 pitches in an inning, that could cause him to be unavailable in the next game of the series.
The stated reason for the move, "speeding up the pace of play," is spurious once you consider that the batter's stepping out after each pitch to re-set their gloves and guard equipment takes more time than a four pitch walk.
2. TIME DEADLINE FOR REPLAY CALL
A
manager now has only 30 seconds to decide if he wants to challenge a
play or invoke replay review.
Every team has a replay employee in the suite or clubhouse who calls to the dugout on whether it is a good challenge. Managers cannot always take their players word or reaction.
The stated reason for replay in general is to get the call on the field right. The unstated reason for replay is that it calmed the gambling industry against blown calls and irate bettor conspiracies. Human umpire judgment has always been part of the game. But only subjective judgment calls are reviewable (balls and strikes are not) so if it is so important to "get it right," then every play should be subject to replay review. But an open ended replay discussion would bog down the pace of play.
3. UMPIRE REVIEWS MOVE TO THE 8TH
After a manager is out of challenges,
umpires can get a replay review going starting in the eight inning
instead of the seventh.
Again, if you want to get calls correct, why is there an arbitrary after the 7th inning condition on umpires reviewing a play? A game could be won or lost on a play in the 5th, 6th or 7th and not just in the 8th or 9th innings.
4. SHORTER REPLAY REVIEW TIME
A new rule requires a conditional two-minute
guideline for replay officials to make a decision during a replay
review, though there are exceptions.
The league office wants to speed up the game to keep it under 3 hours. Replays can be time consuming delays, especially for a pitcher on the mound. If it is beyond 3 minutes, many pitchers start soft tossing with their catcher to keep their arm loose. The problem with this hard deadline for review is that it is counter-productive to the goal of getting the call right. Rushing a call may not get a full review of all angles of the play. What happens at the two minute mark? Does the line to the league office cut off? Does a manager lose his challenge if nothing is decided? Won't there be more managerial conferences if someone wants to protest going over 2 minutes?
5. FIELDERS CANNOT MARK THE FIELD
Fielders are now prohibited from the use of a marker of any kind on the field to create a type of reference system.
It has recently come to the attention of fans that players on the field carry with them "defensive position" sheets, whether in their pocket or on a wrist band (like NFL quarterbacks with plays). With all the data mining analysis of baseball, defensive play charts per batter (and his tendencies) can be very valuable to defenders.
So some infielders have begun leaving marks on the dirt to where to position themselves. So what? It is just dirt. What is the competitive advantage or disadvantage to the other club. Their fielders can go out and erase those marks in the next half inning, or put down their own guide posts. Also, this rule does not affect baser runners from marking their leads against pitchers.
6. DEFINED ILLEGAL PITCH MOVES
Baseball was confronted with quirky pitchers who have herky-jerky wind-ups that start and stop (to confuse the batter). Many players believe these motions were balks. Baseball now bans abnormal wind-ups by
stipulating that a pitcher may not take a second step toward home plate
with either foot or otherwise reset his pivot foot in his delivery of
the pitch. With runners on base, it's a balk, with no one on base, it's
an illegal pitch.
This rule goes to the mechanics of pitching. Before a valid pitch can be thrown home, a pitcher must have one part of his anchor foot touching the rubber. In order to make a valid pick off move, the pitcher must disengage from the rubber and not move more than 45 degrees toward home plate when throwing to a base.
Deception is part of baseball. But uniformity as to the standard of pitching in general is more important.
7. COACHING BOX RULES
Base coaches must now stand in their coach's box prior to
a pitch being delivered. They are allowed to move outside the box after a
ball is put into play.
When 110 mile per hour pulled screamers down the line hit a base coach, fans groan because of the inherent danger. But it makes little sense to require a base coach to start the pitch sequence near the foul line, in harm's way, when he can move immediately after the pitch is thrown. It makes more sense to move the base coach box nearer to the dugout. But more ball parks have less foul ground (including Wrigley Field) so most coaching boxes will always be nearer to the playing field than the dugout.
This is a rule that will never be enforced. Umpires only care that the base coaches are not interfering with their line-of-sight in making their calls. The better rule would be to allow the coaches to set themselves anywhere they feel comfortable. Or, eliminate base coaches all together if safety is a major concern.
