The new MLB: Is It Selling Out, or the Fault of the Players?
Lots of changes made to speed up game, add offense
There have been significant changes to Major League Baseball in the past few years. The most notable changes came before Spring Training when the defensive shift was banned for more hitting, a pitch clock to speed up the game, bigger bases, and limited throws to bases from the pitchers.
Are these new rules leading baseball in the right direction, or is it just turning the sport into a circus?
The first change came in 2020 when the regular 162-game season, ready to start in April, was shortened significantly to a 60-game season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was decided that there would be “ghost runners” at second base during extra-inning games, meaning the player that made the third out the inning before would be awarded second base in extra innings.
In 2021, umpires started checking pitchers between innings for foreign substances that could help pitchers gain an advantage over the hitter.
So here we now are in a situation where the players and fans are once again at odds with the MLB.
Baseball hasn’t necessarily had a good track record with its many infamous cheating scandals that shook the sports world.
There was the “Steroid Era” in which multiple players were accused of taking performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) from the 90s to the 2000s.
And, a few years ago, both the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox were discovered to be involved in a sign-stealing scandal.
Baseball has also been infamous in recent years for its mismanagement.
For example, the lockout that began in December 2021 and ended in March 2022 nearly stopped the season. The commissioner’s office’s lenient punishment towards both the Astros and Red Sox for cheating was followed by their poor apology and that angered and upset other teams, opposing players, and fans.
Has the history of cheating in the sport caused Major League Baseball to make these significant changes?
I believe so—especially the Red Sox and Astros cheating scandal. I believe the players and the fans haven’t been pleased with these new changes and have been pointing their fingers at the wrong people.
Instead of blaming the commissioner, Rob Manfred, maybe the players should be looking at themselves in the mirror and the fans should be pointing their fingers at the nine guys on the field.
I know it’s a hot take and maybe people who come across and read this will disagree. If I read this last year, I would be in the same boat as well, but what convinces me with this belief is the aftermath of the whole cheating and other fiascos.
I don’t think MLB has fully recovered from these scandals.
It doesn’t help when players from cheating teams like former Houston Astro Josh Reddick and other players around the league like Chicago White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito, spoke out saying that other teams were also cheating.
Assuming this is true, MLB already has a shady track record, and speaking out and pointing fingers at others isn’t the best thing to do.
The sport is in the hot seat and they are not only justifying what the Astros and Red Sox have done but are also unknowingly exposing baseball for being a corrupted organization with little to no integrity.
Now, it’s fair to say that the Major Leagues should also take the blame for this. The punishment it gave to the Astros and Red Sox didn’t seem like one that fits the crime, which contributed to this tight spot that MLB is in.
However, how can these players not think that what they say could change their game?
Major League Baseball is trying to clean up its mess by any means possible. It makes sense that it's stopped caring about appealing to the players but instead, focusing on appealing to a new audience — the fans.
If the fans aren’t liking the direction that Major League is going, they better hope the players fix their act.
Thanks for reading my story.
