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On March 10, after a 99-day work stoppage, Major League Baseball’s lockout came to an end. Financial disagreements were at the heart of negotiations between the league and the players association. But issues related to gameplay were considered as well. There are several changes coming to professional baseball. Will they improve MLB’s product?
Expansion of the postseason, from 10 to 12 teams with the top two teams from each league earning a bye along with two three-game wild card series for each league, strikes the right balance. The 10-team playoff format was too restrictive, resulting in too many meaningless games for too many teams at the end of each season. Going beyond 12 teams would be too expansive, allowing mediocrity into the postseason.
The NBA, where teams with a losing record at times make the playoffs, illustrates why caution should be exercised so as not to expand too far. Had the new playoff structure been in place last year, the Toronto Blue Jays (91-71) and Cincinnati Reds (83-79) would have made it into the postseason. Both were deserving of playoff bids.
Doing away with single-elimination tiebreaker and wild card games will come at the expense of excitement, but is fair. Having single-elimination games brought an NCAA March Madness suspense to the beginning of the MLB playoffs. But it is unfair for a team’s postseason fate to be sealed in a one-shot opportunity after a 162-game marathon. Best to have the most well-rounded, competitive teams in the postseason. Single-elimination games left too much to chance and were often won by the team that had the best ace.
Teams playing every other team from each league at least once is also a positive development. Playing divisional opponents 19 times each season is too repetitive. That is more than an entire NFL season (which currently consists of 17 regular-season games) against each divisional team. Divisional games can foster rivalry, but can also get stale, particularly if one team typically dominates another.
Along with scheduling changes, there will be rule changes, some of which will be first implemented in minor league games on an experimental basis as a result of the new agreement. Here, it is a bit of a mixed bag.
Baseball games are far too long, with an average game lasting over three hours (and games getting longer over time even though the MLB has introduced a few measures to try to expedite play). If experimenting with a pitch clock in the minor leagues goes well, it should be adopted in the majors.
Returning to nine-inning rather than seven-inning doubleheaders unnecessarily increases the number of innings played. The MLB’s problem is not that there are not enough innings to watch. It is instead the need to commit too much time to watch a full game when there are so many other entertainment options available.
MLB would be well-served, arguably, if not just doubleheaders but all games were reduced to seven innings. Games would still be plenty long and each inning would be more meaningful.
Increasing the size of the bases (on an experimental basis in minor league games) so that, among other things, it becomes a bit easier to steal (it is also expected to reduce injuries), could contribute to increasing in-game action. Whether or not to attempt to steal is a compelling strategic aspect of the game. With stealing in decline, increasing the likelihood of attempts could help preserve an exciting element of gameplay.
Banning extreme shifts (which is also planned for minor league games on an experimental basis), on the other hand, could unnecessarily restrict game strategy. Some perhaps do not like to watch what would have once been hits going for routine outs. But baseball is a game of strategic interactions. Rather than giving batters an easy way out, hitters should learn how to better deal with shifts, such as by bunting down the third-base line. Counteract defensive strategy with offensive strategy, rather than dumbing the game down.
Finding consensus is seldom easy. Players and fans will not all agree with the coming changes to MLB. Still, there is one thing we can agree on and be thankful for. Baseball, in one form or another, is back. Time to set aside our differences outside of the game and get back to the battles within it with renewed hopes for the season ahead.
David Dreyer Lenoir-Rhyne University
Dr. David Dreyer is a political science professor (and avid sports fan) at Lenoir-Rhyne University.
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David Dreyer Lenoir-Rhyne University
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