John From Albany - Liking the Runner-On-Second Rule

While maybe today’s game is baseball like it ought to be to some, it sure ain’t baseball like it used to be. 

Maybe I am getting old but over the years, teams that scored runs on outs, played defense, ran the bases well, and bunted – won. 

Teams that struck out more than they got hits, couldn’t catch the ball, and had to carry 12 or more pitchers on their staff - lost. 

When just about every player in your starting lineup strikes out over 100 times a year and hits about 15 solo home runs – moving runners over, sacrifices, manufacturing runs, complete games by starting pitchers have all become lost arts.

Has this made baseball more marketable?

Attendance is down. Eric Fisher of Sportsbusiness.com reported that Major League Baseball had its worst attendance in sixteen years in 2019.

And the audience is aging. As I noted before per a 2017 MarketWatch article: “Baseball has the oldest viewers of the top major sports, with 50% of its audience 55 or older…The number of people between the ages of 7 and 17 playing baseball in the U.S. decreased by 41% from 9 million in 2002 to 5.3 million in 2013.”

It has to be because the games take too long, right?  

Baseball responds by not making pitchers throw four balls for intentional walks.  Still, the average game time still went up to 3 hours 10 minutes in 2019 from 3 hours 4 minutes in 2018. 

Now in this shortened season, MLB will be making more changes, 3 batter minimum for each pitcher used, the universal DH, and…the runner-on-second rule for extra innings.

Now here is a shocker from an old school baseball lover – I like the runner-on-second rule to start extra innings.

What?  Someone actually likes this hokey attempt to try and generate interest in the game?

Yes.  I do.  I have seen it in action in the minor leagues and it works.

Because as crazy as it may seem, this rule forced minor league teams the last two years to play small ball in extra innings.  As soon as the inning starts, with the man on second, the team at-bat bunts the runner over to third.  Then, they try to score them by…get this…having the batter shorten their swing…and put the ball in play!  Shocking!  

Shortening the swing and not trying to hit a home run with every swing?  It’s Un-American!  Where this this crazy idea come from? 

John McGraw I think, who some credit with inventing small ball. 

So, this crazy, hokey idea of starting extra innings with a man on first works.  Of course, a better alternative would be teams to play small ball all the time, make the game more exciting, and maybe reverse baseball downward attendance trend and upward age of their fanbase. 

Until then, this may be the best small ball lovers get.