Great article Stu, as usual. I never knew Lefty trafficked in conspiracy theories. Learn something new every day! As for Simmons, I honestly wasnt sure what he was trying to say, other than it seemed odd, to say the least. As a BB guy, his defense still plays, too bad the offense has gone missing....which leads me to this suggestion for a new rule/look/model for MLB. The new rule proposal is this:
Teams get a Designated Fielder, to be designated before each game by mgr decision, variable position, This also means one additional DH, and it would also mean the NL adopting the DH rule.
Whew, it's a reach I know, but I have actually backed off my initial impulse, which was baseball rosters be structured like football, with a dedicated 9 on offense/ 9 on defense. I may be crazy, but I am not an extremist! Great gibbons, two DH's and one DF would be a better product.
A guy like Simmons can do what he does, as long as he stays on whatever meds are needed, and the rest of us are spared the pain of having to watch him take an AB. Even better, we are spared the terror of watching the likes of Willie Norwood, Josh Willingham, or Luis Arraez, et al, try to track a hooking fly ball in the LF corner.
Who do I contact at MLB to get the ball rolling on this, this needs to happen in 2022? ?