At The Break
Considering good changes while baseball takes time off
Last night’s Home Run Derby was one of the more fun ones I’ve watched in a number of years. I think the reason is simple; they took away the time constraints. While I appreciate the pitch clock during games, getting rid of the timer for the Home Run Derby was a positive choice.
I enjoyed the new (really, kind of old because it was a return to an old HRD structure) format because of the simple pleasure of having a few moments to admire the massive home runs these guys were hitting. With the timer the last several years, it all felt so hurried that viewers got little of the flight of the home run balls themselves. The new format allowed things to breathe a little.
In mid-July, that feels like an appropriate reminder. Summer, for most people, is a time of slowing down to some degree. If, like me, you have kids, it’s an extended break from the day-to-day of school life. If you don’t, for a lot of people this time of year is at least a shift from the usual work routine and a time when you’re probably taking a vacation and stepping away from ordinary life for a period.
This is necessary, because soon it will all ramp up again. We’re probably just a few weeks away from seeing Oktoberfests on the shelves and even less time before back-to-school displays go up. Then it all gets frenetic again, so make something of this time while it’s here.
The baseball season will go similarly. After the All-Star break ends, there are just a couple of weeks until the August 3 trade deadline, then it’s the final push to the playoffs, and then the energy and excitement of October baseball itself.
So during the brief pause from baseball that we have, it’s a good time to consider what’s changed about the sport in the last few years.
The pitch clock: I was very unsure at first, but I’m a fan. It has decreased the average length of games without making the pace of an individual game feel much quicker than it did before. There has been theorizing that it’s contributing to increased pitcher injuries, but the evidence there still seems circumstantial.
Larger bases: I have to admit, I struggle to remember this is a thing, and I don’t know that it’s had any significant impact on the game. No reason not to like it.
Hand and glove checks for pitchers between innings: A lot was made of this when it was first implemented, but since then it’s such a nonevent that very few people even notice it. And no more than a handful of pitchers — if that many — have been caught doing anything, so it’s probably working as a preventative measure.
Limiting mound visits: Yes, and amen. Get on with it. If your pitching coach has to go out there more than half a dozen times during a game, you’re probably not winning that game anyway. I love this change.
The designated hitter: The National League adopted this in 2022, and I’ve come around on the DH. There are some things I miss about the strategy involved in pitchers batting, but on the whole, I think a more offense-forward way of playing the game engages more fans. There were very few pitchers who could hit well at all, so moving on from this practice was probably a good thing, even if for no other reason than to end several decades of the two leagues operating under different rules.
Games on streaming services: There were some number of people who couldn’t watch the Home Run Derby because it was on Netflix, and this is a microcosm of a growing problem in baseball. On any given day, you might need Apple TV+, Peacock, or a team-specific streaming service to watch your team play. In Chicago, I need Marquee and CHSN in order to watch the Cubs and White Sox, two teams that were available on basic cable channels not that long ago. I get that these streaming services all want in on the revenue that comes from telecasts (and that MLB isn’t the only major sport doing this), but it a disservice to the fans. I don’t know a good solution here — I don’t expect MLB is going back to its old model — but it’s definitely something the league needs to get a handle on.
Expanded playoffs: There are two reasons I’m not a fan — one, it’s dampened the excitement of the trade deadline because fewer teams are sellers compared to years past, and two, it’s eliminated the one-and-done excitement of the old Wild Card games. I know that the one-game playoff was against the spirit of how the rest of the baseball season is played, but man was it exciting. I miss that atmosphere. The toothpaste is probably too far out of the tube on this one though.
Chime in on what you think I’ve gotten wrong and what I’ve missed!
Things I’ve Done Lately:
On Tristan Peters and his path to being an All-Star. From a small Canadian town to junior college to the Savannah Bananas to representing the White Sox in Philadelphia this week.
On the White Sox and their need to get pitchers at the trade deadline. They’re at the top of their division because of their offense, but that won’t be enough to be successful in the postseason.
On Javier Assad. He’s a part of why the Cubs are also getting by without their best pitching staff, many of whom are injured.
What I’m Digging Right Now:
I watched Project Hail Mary with my family about a week ago, and it’s the best movie I’ve seen in a long time.
Andrew Campbell’s list of 25 “unsolicited thoughts on American Literature” — especially number 23.
A park in my area is hosting a vintage baseball game, played under the rules of the 1850s. I’m hoping to go and take the family.