Will the "Golden At-Bat" Be the Thing That Finally Destroys Baseball?

No, no...NOOOOO!!!

When you have a commissioner more interested finding gimmicks to "enhance" the game than thinking about bringing the elements of the game that made it great; pitching, stealing bases, hitting the ball the other way, etc., the game is doomed. 

For small market teams, the game is about dead now. Gimmicks as dumb as this aren't helping.

So a scenario of what ifs was played out I think in a The Athletic article that said what if you are Bobby Witt Jr gets the golden bat to start the 9th inning from a poor 9th in the lineup hitter.  He either strikes out or gets a base hit.  Now lets say he gets a hit, a double.  They pitch run for him and guess what he is back at the plate as the leadoff hitter.  Gets 2 for the price of 1 plate appearances.  Or he strikeouts but still stays at the plate to take his normal turn.

Next thing you will get is team A has hit too many homers and the next one is an automatic out when they blast one.  Beer softball leagues here we come under this clowns leadership.

His stupidest idea yet. 

That's one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard of!!!! Jeeezzzz these people won't stop until they completely ruin the game.  Some would say they already have. It's become like a frickin video game.  It's less enjoyable every year!

NO!!!!!!!  I'm done with MLB if this passes!!

That's the perfect picture of an idiot who implements idiot rules.

Here's another one of the ole mouth-breather:

Trying to make baseball like other sports is just dumb and this idea goes way too far. If they really want to improve the game, do 2 things. 1.Start with payroll and make all teams stay between minimum and maximum limits. 2.Add a red light on the scoreboard. When the home-plate ump calls a pitch wrong, the red light comes on and the call gets reversed. It's simple, fair, and requires him to still do his job. 

This rule should have died in the meeting room and not even talked about it outside of the meeting room.  I get a need to increase young viewers and creating better tense moments in games can help that, but this is just too far.  I like most of the rule changes over the years, and hope the next is robo umps, not some rule out of slow pitch softball "fun" tournament. It reminds of some of those were you could tab a player with the super hitter and he/she would be 4 runs when they scored, and teams could play 1 mulligan a game negating the last play.  You would get 1 on both offense and defense.  Give a big HR, mulligan.  Have your best hitter not come through with bases loaded, mulligan. Maybe we should have guys run bases in reverse 1 inning, or make players hit opposite handed and field opposite handed for an inning too. 

5 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Their numbers with the younger generations must be horrible. They were asleep at the wheel for far too long despite all kinds of people on the outside jumping up and down screaming that the sport was dying and they needed to do things to attract a younger audience to keep up with the NFL and not get passed by the NBA. Too late now. NBA flew by them and the NFL is long gone in this race. So now they're left with embarrassing ideas like this.

This feels like a focus group testing. They're throwing the idea out and seeing what the reaction is. Testing the edges. Seeing how far they can go with each segment of the population to see how much they can change. And how quickly they can change it. 

I think this is a horrendous idea. But I'm no longer the target market. And I shouldn't be. I'm not the younger generation anymore. I'm a die hard who will still watch. They need to get younger fans watching. They needed to start doing it 20 years ago. But they really need to start doing it now. And if this is what it takes then they should do it. I just hope it isn't what it takes. 

What helped kill the game for the younger kids is the lack of personality in the game, through the unwritten rules.  Remember about a decade ago when there was a huge HR in playoffs and the bat toss by Jose Bautista?  It was a series a game 5 in best of 5 go ahead HR in 7th.  Texas carried that over to the next year still mad he tossed his bat the way he did.  

The lack of personality and excitement of the players, because if you do show some, the other team would get butt hurt and either fight you or throw at you later, makes fans turn away.  Kids were watching trash talking and funny post game pressers from NBA guys.  The action there is constant no sitting around 2 min between pitches sometimes, which rules changed that now but back in day between mound visits, step offs, throw overs, there were at bats nothing really happened for several min. 

I agree they may have lost out on some the young guys, but gimmick rules will not draw them back, creating a fun exciting game to watch that is not slow paced and having players that are fun to listen to will help.  

Look at Savana Bananas.  They draw huge crowds, like the globetrotters because they do fun things fans want to see.  I am not saying go that far, but allow some fun in the players without the other side getting mad would help.  

This is blernsball, not baseball.

Bud Selig promoted Sosa versus McGuire, where local broadcast were interrupted to bring us many of their at bats. Thus he managed to bring us the steroid era, which was conveniently then blamed on the players.

Manfred has toyed with the rules and the ball. The 2019 season was warped when it was divulged that the Manfredball ball gave MLB its own powerball. Recently, Manfred decided to use his superball only at one stadium, which it was said "makes it fair for both teams". Thus Aaron Judge, who doesn't need any help, now has a few new records. For now, that has ceased but the precedent for screwing around with the ball itself is a Manfred legacy.

• Introducing a pitch clock,
• Requiring relievers to either finish an inning or face at least three hitters
• Limiting the number of pitchers a team can carry,
• Putting a guy on 2nd base to start extra innings. 
• Restricting mound visits and pick-off attempts, and
• Embiggening the bases

MLB had a clock rule for both batters and pitchers for 100 years. MLB would not allow umpires to enforce it. Didn't anyone ever wonder why games from college to college to minors to amateur ball always has timely play? The umpires enforce the rule to pitch and bat at those levels, which is also why MLB players never had any problem whatsoever adjusting to the Manfredclock. 

MLB has toyed with both roster size and how players can be shuttled back and forth from the minors and majors. When MLB weakened their roster rules, you get the mess of pitching changes and larger numbers of pitchers.

The ultimate in Manfredball is the ghost runner. Hey, cool, we used that when we were kids. The players love it because the games end quicker. Managers love it the most because they don't need to make difficult decisions for using pitchers. Folks who don't want to watch any more get to go to bed. 

The larger bases make little difference. It's just another PR stunt. MLB did not make home plate larger.

I do believe that the Yankees, among a few other teams, needed to be corralled with the mound visits. The endless throws to first were once dealt with by the opposing pitcher, so this rule may be fair. The rules about purposely taking out a fielder or catcher were long overdue. These were also once taken care of by the pitcher.

I understand that Manfredball has fans. To me, Manfred, or more correctly his rules and influence, are part and parcel of why baseball is #4 amongst North American sports and soccer is still growing. It is almost as if the owners, by virtue of employing Manfred, are seeking the decline of their product. Proof that wealthy people don't necessarily know what they are doing or have much in the way of intelligence.

14 minutes ago, Trov said:

back in day between mound visits, step offs, throw overs, there were at bats nothing really happened for several min. 

For fifty years plus the games averaged around two hours or less in length. The advent of TV added about 30 minutes to a game in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. It wasn't until  the 2000s that MLB reached three hours. The management of MLB has been incompetent in this century.

I have been cautiously optimistic about the rule changes that have been implemented over the years, but there has been undeniable logic in each change made.  Reducing down-time, injury prevention, efforts to maintain the defacto balance of hitters and pitchers.  None of the changes made so far have really been a "foundational" change of the game.  Maybe the closest being the full-time DH, but even that was still done within the context of the game as we know it.

This idea would be a "foundational" change.  The ripple effects of this type change would be astounding.  Lineups would be impacted, pitcher usage would change, rosters would change to reflect the use of "one less needed" pinch-hitter.  You might as well introduce the re-entry rule they use in Little League.

That being said, this is probably one change idea of hundreds that are batted around at these types of meetings.  You want your leadership to be open to change and at least listen to all ideas.  Absurd ideas can lead to logical changes.  Nobody here should panic about anything until they start testing it at the MiLB level.  Then you know it is getting strong consideration. 

Dumb idea.  Manfred has already pretty much ruined baseball for most of older traditionalist.  It's almost unwatchable.  Baseball used to be fun, relaxing, and enjoyable.  Now it's become just a huge very boring video game.  Players "skills" have diminished greatly.  They have trouble throwing g to the wrong base, can't bunt, can't hit and run, can't adjust their at bat to advance runners.  The starting pitchers rarely go over 5 or 6 innings yet we are paying them more than ever.  This leads to higher ticket prices.  I've never been more discouraged about the state of major league baseball than I am now.  Rule changes like this will destroy what's left.

Just now, tony&rodney said:

For fifty years plus the games averaged around two hours or less in length. The advent of TV added about 30 minutes to a game in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. It wasn't until  the 2000s that MLB reached three hours. The management of MLB has been incompetent in this century.

Why does increased game length correlate to incompetent MLB management?  Technology and information are more to blame then anything right now for game length.

Other leagues are experiencing similar issues and are struggling to adjust.  Just watch an NBA game today compared to 10 years ago.  They look nothing alike.  The NFL is constantly tinkering with their rules.  

"Their numbers with the younger generations must be horrible. They were asleep at the wheel for far too long despite all kinds of people on the outside jumping up and down screaming that the sport was dying and they needed to do things to attract a younger audience to keep up with the NFL and not get passed by the NBA. Too late now. NBA flew by them and the NFL is long gone in this race. So now they're left with embarrassing ideas like this."

So much this, chpettit19. And I'll add: if they want to make the game more fun/interesting, they sure as hell better start with making their product available to watch.

This time of year I can watch what feels like 8-10 NHL games on a given night on Hulu, but during the baseball season it's nearly crickets other than ESPN's Sunday night game and a random Yankees/BoSox matchup. Nobody will get excited about it if all they are watching is replays.

First of all, I don’t know any boomers who prefer long, slow paced baseball games. So I don’t know where that comment comes from. As a boomer myself, I have followed baseball for over sixty years and totally support the changes that have resulted in a faster paced game, especially the pitch clock, runner on second in extra innings, and non pitch intentional walk rule. But the golden at bat seems contrived compared to the other changes and would change the strategy, unlike the previous changes. 

Idiotic idea, will never happen. Bring in cheerleaders like they do in the Asian leagues. Watch the WBC games, they are doing something right with all the fans excitement without changing the game itself.

Gravestones are rumbling from the dead as well as the protestations from the living. 

No effing way. 

Old Schooler : NO!