...then lets break it.
The latest bit of insanity to come out of baseball is this new rule they will experiment with in the rookie leagues this year. They will start every extra inning with a man a second base. Is this baseball's answer to the hockey shoot-out? Or soccer's?
The non-purists who came up with this one state what they consider good reasons for the change. It will speed up the game, it will add excitement and if it shortens the game, it could save wear and tear on pitcher's arms. It will do all that but at what cost? As it stands, baseball has the best "sudden death" of any of the major sports. Soccer players run their hearts out only to have the outcome determined by penalty kicks which seem to get made 90% of the time. Look at pro football. How fair was the ending to the last Super Bowl? Basically, that game was decided by a coin flip!
No. they should leave it alone. Each team gets a shot and the only advantage goes to the home team because they hit last. If the game goes longer than 10 or 11 innings, then you test the whole roster of each team. They continue to experiment with the strike zone. they will raise the lower portion of the strike zone by about an inch. This is supposed to improve the chances of batters to get a hit. Maybe it will, maybe not, but the process will be in the hands of the players and that change will eventually sort itself out without contaminating the sport as a whole.
One change they are considering is a protective helmets for pitchers. These look more like visors to make them more unobtrusive for the pitchers. Maybe not the best answer, but a good start. Here's what it looks like:
http://d2s3dt9f4iyeup.cloudfront.net/images/resized_v1/0c5fe097-cd60-45b5-a43d-fbff4c24cbd5.jpg
Pitchers & catchers report on Valentine's Day and actually throw in earnest on Wednesday. It can't happen too soon for me. Even the Leftcoastsportsbabe blog is mostly politics. Let's give her something besides the President to write about.
There is a rumor - a rumor, mind you - that after losing to St. Bonaventure in Olean, NY, the St. Louis Bilikins bus driver drove off and left the team stranded. Can losing to the Bonnies be that embarrassing?
***THEY SAID IT***
"Spring Training starts next week. About time. February is kind of a
comedy wasteland for sports humor. Although to be fair, in New York,
the Knicks and Nets are doing their part." -- Janice Hough "If Atlanta had won the toss and scored a
TD in O.T. — meaning Tom Brady never got to respond — the hue and cry to
change overtime would have been deafening. Change the rule: give both
offences and both defences a shot in overtime." -- RJ Currie
"There will be a lunar eclipse Friday.The moon was supposed to disappear last Sunday as part of Lady Gaga's elaborate Super Bowl halftime show." -- Brad Dickson
"Coach Bill Belichick will be
playing at this weekend’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am. So what’s happened to “No Days
Off”????" -- TC Chong
CP-
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