Hey, what if we just ruined baseball for absolutely no god damn reason???
On December 2, Jayson Stark dropped his report on the Athletic (paywall) about a rumored and/or potential MLB rule change that Commissioner Rob Manfred says is being discussed among team ownership groups.
“There are a variety of (rule change ideas) that are being talked about out there,” Manfred said. “One of them — there was a little buzz around it at an owners’ meeting — was the idea of a Golden At-Bat.”
Stark goes on to give a summation of what a Golden At-Bat rule might look like in practice in a Major League Baseball game.
What if a team could choose one at-bat in every game to send its best hitter to the plate even if it wasn’t that guy’s turn to hit? That’s the Golden At-Bat concept in a nutshell.
When I read through the first few paragraphs yesterday, my initial reaction was just to dismiss it immediately as something frivolous. Clearly it’s just something to stir the offseason discourse since the Hot Stove remains very lukewarm. But, then I remembered all the rule changes, for better and worse, from the last four seasons and started to feel a bit anxious that these maniacs might really do something that could truly ruin the sport.
So, here are two main reasons why I think the Golden At-Bat is an atrocity, an affront to good taste, and the potential end of MLB baseball as we know it.
It makes baseball less magical and less meaningful
Stark gives a recent example of a time when the Golden AB rule could have been used that proves my point here. He brings up Juan Soto’s extra innings 3-run homer in Cleveland in the ALCS that gave the Yankees the series win and a trip to the World Series. Stark says what if Soto hadn’t been up at that moment, what if it had been Oswaldo Cabrera or another lesser hitter? This would have been the ideal time for the Yankees to use their Golden At-Bat. So, that means MLB wants to game it’s own system to artificially create more magical moments like this…but that’s exactly what makes them special and magical in the first place. They organically happen within the confines of the roster and lineup rules that have been in effect since roughly the 1880’s. This is a shared, generational understanding of the game. This is one of many reasons why baseball is so hard to win at its highest level. This is why it’s so rewarding and yes, MAGICAL, when it does happen. Would Edgar’s double in ‘95 have the same level of esteem and joy tied to it if it had been the result of a Golden AB? I could barely type that out without retching. Absolutely not. The Golden AB rule would cheapen the spirit and shared understanding of baseball beyond all recognition.
Staff writer Zach Gottschalk put it more scientifically in our Slack channel when we were discussing it today when he said, “Not to get too ontological, but baseball only holds any meaning because we all agree it does. The more contrived we get, the further out of the box, the less meaning it holds.” That’s it right there. I could have just made that the whole article, but you know, I’m more a FEELINGS and VIBES baseball writer, so here are.
Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
Addressing a problem that doesn’t exist
The pitch clock, bigger bases, and changes to pitcher pick-off moves were all rule changes that were addressing a known problem in baseball for many. The games just took too dang long to play. This wasn’t such a bad thing for all us baseball sickos who want to spend as much time as possible at our favorite ballparks, but it was determent for literally everyone else involved in playing the games, covering the games for media, and working at the ballpark. So the 2023 rule changes addressed that problem and made a positive change overall. Game times are much shorter on average.
However, the only problem the Golden AB rule seems to be addressing is a marketing-related one. No one involved in playing the games or watching the games as a hobby and pastime is asking for this. No one wants to be watching their team hold on to a 3-2 lead going into the ninth inning versus the Dodgers knowing Shohei Ohtani made an out last inning and therefore probably won’t get an AB here except, oh whoops! Golden AB time! Here’s Ohtani with another chance to ruin your night! Sure, he won’t always do the thing. The best hitters in the world strike out all the time. And surely striking out during a Golden AB would become a massive cause of derision. But, how will it feel when he does succeed? Your team just played their asses off, got a lead, clung to it, and were about to hold on for a victory only to have a rule based on artificially creating “BIG MOMENTS” come along and snatch that victory away. Why even be invested at that point? Winning a baseball game already involves a near-infinite amount of moments where players are overcoming the outcomes of skill and luck throughout the game and then it have the end result doctored by a rule that favors glam and bombast over any semblance of fairness or organic success? I honestly think I might be pushed out of my fandom by something like that.
Photo by Ben VanHouten/Seattle Mariners/Getty Images
In life in general, I am not a stanch traditionalist. I am always open to new ideas if they are truly a benefit or directly address imperfect things to make them better. In baseball, yes, I do like grey road uniforms and hearing “Louie, Louie” during the seventh inning stretch at Mariners games. But, I’m not someone who turns down a new idea or rule change just because it’s new. The Golden AB rule simply goes way too far in altering the game that generations of fans have loved and collectively understood. It’s beyond the pale and should be laughed out of the building and out of the discourse completely.