TThe first time he saw reference to baseball’s “golden at-bat” was on Monday. A few entries flashed by in X, but the spam detector quickly dismissed them and I moved on to find the next distraction. The next day, I was wasting my life on social media again, and the “golden bat” appeared again. The internet won. I did a little research.
Multiple Entries, about a possible rule change in Major League Baseball that would allow teams to send their favorite player to the plate at any time, once per game, even if it’s not his turn to bat. It was described. I resisted asking the Universe the myriad questions that came to mind. For example, what if that “golden” player is already on base? This was clearly a gag. Such rule changes do not make small adjustments to the way the sport is played. We’re not even talking about the ads on the uniforms or the ghost runners appearing to decide the battles in extra innings. Golden turn? This instantly transforms the game into a completely different code, at least for me. I haven’t bought it yet.
But then my newsfeed started showing real articles, articles that weren’t from The Onion, a Russian bot farm, or my own personal delirium. Those musings were accompanied by a photo of MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and his own actual quote.
Even real active former baseball players wondered if such an idea was legitimate or just a random betrayal of satire by baseball’s upper echelons.
“This can’t be real,” Roger Clemens wrote to X. Oh, this is the real Roger. I felt that this proposal might be the only thing you and I ever agreed on. But could that happen? Anything is possible with Manfred, who has engineered the game to a level we haven’t seen since the designated hitter finally entered Major League Baseball in 1973. To a picky National League guy like me, the DH has always been sacrilegious. But at least it didn’t come directly from left field. This rule dates back to 1891. As far as I know, it’s the only golden thing baseball has or has ever had. A piece of metal handed to the World Series winner by the commissioner every season.
Manager Manfred and his team have brought up nonsense ideas such as golden bats, which have caused quite a stir at owner meetings, but it’s understandable to wonder if the commissioner is really a fan of the game he oversees. That’s not to say there’s nothing wrong with giving a dusty old sport like baseball a light refresh. To be fair, MLB is on a winning streak that seems like a rule change.
The pitch clock eliminated much of the endless groin grabbing, batting glove fiddling, and pitcher candy, shortening games by an average of 28 minutes, a welcome improvement. The same goes for reinvigorating the speed game by strengthening the bases and limiting throws to first base. It also worked well to force hitters to achieve perfect middle contact by coordinating soul-destroying shifts.
However, if it turns out that the golden bat is real, there will be an even bigger change. In the end, is the emergence of this radical, sport-altering change a genuine attempt to gauge public perception, or is the NFL eating everyone’s lunch and Juan Soto doing the best he can? Is this just a publicity stunt to draw attention to baseball on a cold December day? of the free agency market. If the offer is a fake, created for a little cold-weather promotion, consider your job done and move on.
I suspect Manfred won’t do that, but if I were him I would focus on the real job baseball has to do. That includes finding permanent homes for the two teams stuck outdoors in the scorching heat of minor league ballparks for the foreseeable future.
The cost of the former Oakland A’s new Las Vegas Dome has soared from $1.5 billion to $1.75 billion, so owner John Fisher needs to start checking out mattress replacements. There are questions about this move, and there’s reason to think the Athletics could be stuck in AAA Sacramento for a while.
The Tampa Bay Rays’ stadium plan also comes after the St. Petersburg City Council committed public funds to building an MLB stadium after the area was hit by a series of hurricanes, one of which blew off the stadium’s roof. The company is facing a crisis after buyers expressed their regrets regarding the issue. home field. So while the Yankees’ spring training headquarters in Tampa will become the Rays’ home in 2025, the team’s long-term future in the region is at stake.
Meanwhile, Manfred is aiming to overhaul MLB’s entire local and national television and media rights structure, including a sweeping revenue-sharing plan in the next collective bargaining agreement and player All of this will involve complex negotiations with the association and getting the owners to agree to it, all of which is expected to take place by 2028. America’s contract with national television is set to expire.
On the field, baseball needs to find a real solution to the continuing crisis of pitchers’ arm injuries and the 10,000-plus injuries that pitchers have racked up against helpless batters since 2000. They need to find a way to quell at least some of the extra strikeouts.
In return, we get a golden at-bat. This is the equivalent of getting bored at 2 a.m. on Independence Day and stuffing an M-80 into a concrete block to see what happens. That would never end well, and such a move would definitely blow the lid off the baseball world forever.
