Well, we made it. Sort of.
Despite missteps and misgivings, a few COVID outbreaks, legions of cardboard fans and piped-in crowd noise, Major League Baseball somehow managed to complete its highly irregular regular season. We’re deep in the throes of the playoffs now and all a little wiser, and a little more suited to figuring out what rule changes worked this year, and which really, really didn’t.
But first, some accountability on my part. At the beginning of this season, when commissioner Rob Manfred threw out things like “universal DH” and “a runner on second base to start extra innings,” I immediately wanted to punt every last rule change into the sun.
You can’t tell me the sport that gave us Rick Camp’s 18th-inning home run and Robin Ventura’s grand slam single would be better off without either (Shawon Dunston would have probably singled in the runner from second, by the way, and Todd Pratt’s bases-loaded walk would have won it). And you also can’t tell me that the only way to make something better is to streamline and homogenize it for casual consumption.
But after seeing it all in action, some of it honestly didn’t seem all that bad, and I’ll even grant that a few of the changes should stick around for next season.
One thing to note, though: None of these rule changes actually did the thing that Manfred was trying to do the most — speed up pace of play. The time of a nine-inning game went up two minutes, to 3:07, this season, though for all games went down four minutes, from 3:10 to 3:06 (thanks, seven-inning doubleheaders!). Despite the three-batter minimum for pitchers, the number of pitchers used in a game also went up, to 4.43, the highest in baseball history and in line with the steady increase that began in 2014.
So, without further ado, the highly debatable list of what worked and what didn’t:
The universal designated hitter
Baseball purists and lovers of in-game strategy shuddered at the thought of the universal DH, and rightfully so. By eliminating the one thing that truly distinguished the American League from the National League, baseball also lost a bit of its character, and fans of pitchers hitting were deprived of the unique joy of unexpected ninth-slot production.
To quote Dwight Gooden, who spoke out against the universal DH earlier this season, “Now, everything is back to the basics.”
All that said, there’s just no point in arguing it anymore. It’s highly likely the universal DH is here to stay, and that both players and owners prefer the opportunity to protect their pitchers while also squeezing a few more playing years out of aging or injury-prone athletes who can still hit. The rest of us — an apparently dwindling group who’d like to hold on to baseball’s past — are just going to have to deal with it.
Seven-inning doubleheaders
One of the best things to come out of this season was the seven-inning doubleheader, and one of the worst things was that nobody was there to enjoy them in person. Shortening the games allowed managers to use their relievers more judiciously and the 14 total innings weren’t as taxing to players already dealing with a frenzied season. It was…
Read More: A look at which MLB rule changes worked in 2020 — and which didn’t