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New Blog Topic: HERE COMES THE HOME RUN DERBY
Mickey Mantle on the old Home Run Derby TV show
The one would almost be funny if it wasn’t so frightening. Funny because when baseball announced last year that it would put a runner on second base to start an extra-inning, I joked with a friend that the next thing might be to hold a home run derby to decide the game. After all, hockey does it with their shootout. Well, much to my chagrin, the joke’s on me. A home run derby to decide a tie game has suddenly stuck its intrusive foot in the door, and that means that someone at MLB might be considering the latest experiment in radicalizing baseball’s rules and destroying the game we all love.
Oh yes, it’s here all right, just announced a few days ago. It seems that the independent Pioneer League – not surprisingly designated as an MLB Partner League – made the announcement that they were instituting a “Knock Out” rule this season. The rule was simple. At the end of nine innings of a tie game, the outcome would be decided by the sudden-death home run derby. This is how the league explained it.
“Under the rule, each team designates a hitter who receives five pitches, with the game determined by the most home runs hit. If still tied after the first “Knock Out” round, another hitter is selected for the sudden-death home run faceoff until a winner is declared.”
So there it is, a brand new definition for a designated hitter. Or should it be designated home run hitter? I wonder if they’ll still call the home run derby the
Hank Aaron a guest on Home Run Derby
10th inning. And what if it remains tied after three or four of these “Knock Out” rounds? Maybe then they’ll have to count a home run on the first of the five pitches, or the last . . . or both, as worth two runs, or points, or homers, or whatever they decide to call it.
Then there’s a question of who pitches. Do they have a guy lobbing the ball in, as they do in the annual Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game? And if a hitter gets just five pitches, what if none are over the plate? Does he have to swing? If it’s a legit pitcher or one-inning closer, he isn’t likely to yield a home run that easily. And that also begs another question. If a game ends via the Knock Out rule, is there a winning and losing pitcher? Or is it simply a game without one? Really sounds like baseball, doesn’t it?
And, of course, the Pioneer League experiments aren’t ending there. The league will also institute a designated pinch hitter rule. This one will allow a pinch hitter to enter the game, and at the end of the inning, the player who was removed for
Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle square off on Home Run Derby
the pinch hitter will be allowed to return to his original defensive position for the remainder of the game. Hey, if it’s a good-field, no-hit guy, maybe they can pinch-hit for him every time up with the same pinch hitter. Then a team could have two or three designated pinch hitters with the good fielders continuing to remain in the game. See where all this is leading?
But they still ain’t through. The league will also experiment with a designated pinch-runner rule, allowing a slow-footed player to be removed for a pinch-runner only to return to his defensive position and bat again later in the game. In addition, the league will allow a hitter to appeal a check-swing strike to a base umpire. As of now, only the catcher can appeal a check swing ball. Put this rule in and there will undoubtedly be an appeal on every check swing, one way or another. More sound baseball.
So you see the pattern here. Recently MLB announced a partnership with the independent Atlantic League to test several rule changes, including the moving of the pitching back one foot and a “double-hook” rule in which a team would lose its designated hitter when it removes the starting pitcher. We’ve already talked about these possible rule changes.
As for the home run derby, MLB and its analytics departments have already shown that they’re in love with the home run, otherwise, the game would not have devolved into the home run or strikeout game it has so often become. Players are being taught the proper “launch angle” to get the ball in the air and hopefully over the fences. If they feel it’s the home run that really turns on the modern fan, perhaps someday baseball will become a nine-inning home run derby, with each batter trying to hit home runs. After nine innings, the team with the most home runs wins the game.
And then we can really say, welcome to the new world of baseball. It used to be a beautiful game.
Bill Gutman
As always, we enjoy reading your comments
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This is so sad.
Great job on this one Bill. I got a headache just reading about all this. If they implement even half of these new rules, it will no longer be the game we love. As a matter of fact, if they put in this crazy home run rule, I think I’d rather watch reruns of the old “Home Run Derby” TV show from the 1960s than whatever they’re calling this current game. At least that was fun. This new game has become a real bore. And you described it perfectly, by saying the current game hasn’t evolved, it has “devolved.” And where will it end? By the way, the Cubs are playing one of those 7-inning doubleheader atrocities today, and I refuse to watch such an insult to the integrity of the game.
Bill, Nice piece. I remember HR derby back in the early 60’s. It was televised before every Red Sox Saturday afternoon game.
I have witnessed the HR derby approach in a local Collegiate Baseball League.
My initial reaction when it was announced was the same as yours.
But, I actually saw one last year and, I must confess, it was pretty neat. The main reason in this league is to save young pitchers arms. I had attended two 17 inning games before the rule was implemented. A root canal appointment was becoming more attractive by the 15th inning.
The new rule was to play one extra inning in the 10th. Then one designated batter for each team would try to salvage a win. The rules were somewhat similar to the new All Star game rule where you bat against the clock, but have the ability to call time out. I am a purist and perhaps the length and pace of games today have something to do with it, but it terrifically exciting when the home team hitter was running out of time and hit 2 HR’s in a row to win it.
I know traditions etc. are ingrained more in baseball, but face it—PEDS, analytics,
and a few more things have already changed the game.
So, railing against it may make me feel good, but what makes me feel better is not having to stick around and watch a five hour chess game.
I have to laugh. The Red Sox, like many teams have been reducing their traditional scouting department and beefing up their analytics department. The Sox now have a staff of 21 in that area, most with backgrounds that have nothing to do with baseball. The newest hire was recruited from the Argonne National Laboratory developing particle physics simulation and machine learning on the Aurora super computer.
Imagine updating the Yogi-ism to: “How can you hit and split an atom at the same time.”….😁
All the guys loved Home Run Derby on the block. Filmed during the 1959-60 off-season at cozy Wrigley Field in LA. I always wondered how many windows were broken in the bungalows beyond the left field wall. The host of the show, Mark Scott, was such a pro. Unfortunately he died of a heart attack in 1961 after being very involved in promoting a team in LA for the proposed third major league, the Continental League, which never got off the ground. Ford Frick got the message and brought about 2 expansion teams for each league, a new team for Washington and LA for the AL and Houston and NY for the NL.
I don’t like it. I suppose home run distance could be used as a tiebreaker. But there are too many unknowns, especially concerning who does the pitching. I guess the designated batter could select a guy from his own team to lob them up there. That was they’d each be sure of a good pitch selection!
A much better idea would be a “Fastball Faceoff”! Two opposing pitchers heave the ball as fast as they can and whoever clocks the faster pitch, wins!
Nowadays the only two stats anybody pays any attention to is HR distance and MPH anyways.