[Amazin69]

Manly Rob Manfred has done it! He has utterly destroyed Baseball!

Bud Selig must be green with envy…

As bad as it was that the DH infested the NL, that they ruined extra innings (different rules in the 10th rather than the 9th? Explain that logic!), and that the idiocy of the 7-inning doubleheader games despoiled two straight years, the game was still somewhat recognizable. I had planned to give up the sport forever this year, after not watching at all in 2020 and only watching innings 1-9 last season (okay, I watched ONE 7-inning game, just because DeGrom was pitching), but with the demise of the 7-inning monstrosity and Extra Innings screwing up and giving me the Mets for free, I decided I could live with one year's worth of DH-ball, as long as I skipped the "ghost runners" and that unnecessary first round of the playoffs (should the Mets qualify but not get the bye).

But this is just ridiculous. Outlawing defensive strategy? OMG the poor babies don't know how to "hit 'em where they ain't"! We can't be punishing our unthinking overswingers by making them adjust to the defense! What will happen to our precious launch angles and exit velocity if people need to HIT instead of just swing wildly?

In case you don't know, defensive shifts go back to the 19th Century. They played people all over the field. (Cap Anson sometimes put all three of his outfielders in left field.) When Willie Keeler said "I hit 'em where they ain't", he wasn't being a smart-ass; he was saying that the secret of his success was that he adjusted to the shifts, rather than pointlessly trying to slam his way past the fielders. Which worked well for Ted Williams, but not so much everyone else.

But no, we can't have one team trying STRATEGY and the other team adjusting. What's next, having the same nine men who play offense play defense? Heresy! How dare you interfere with our Sacred grunting and flailing? Next thing you know, pitchers will throw breaking balls and change speeds instead just raring back and throwing as hard as they can! Hitters might choke up, or even bunt! Cats and dogs, living together!

And sure, let's eliminate the pickoff. Two throws, and that's it! And let's change the size of the bases so all of our stats are distorted because there's now a shorter distance between the bases. Who needs history?

There's nothing wrong with a pitch clock; indeed the rule was already on the books back in the 1960s. It's just that they didn't install clocks, so it was up to the umpires to enforce the rule, and they didn't. Per Bill James, Charley Finley got upset by this and put in a clock at Kansas City, but the A's pitchers responded poorly, and the umps still didn't make the calls.

The whole idea is stupid, anyhow; what's been slowing down the game is all the ads in between innings. Cut the commercial break back to 1 minute instead of the current 2:30, and problem solved. But of course, between "pace of play" and greed, greed wins every time.

(Seriously, fielders can't even play back on the grass against strong hitters now? In the 1930s, shortstops would play back on the grass against Hall of Fame catcher Ernie Lombardi, knowing that "Schnozz" could smash the ball past them otherwise, but he was so slow you could field the ball in short left and still throw him out at first. Heavens to Betsy! Strategy! Back, Demons! Leave this Place!! No wonder we had a Depression going on!)

And then, there's what they've done to the schedule. But that's another story. Different post for that.

So, I've got another month of watching the Mets choke away the division, then they'll lose in the first round to San Diego or whomever while I'm not watching, and I'm done. Forever. Thanks for nothing, Rob. I'm opposed to the Death Penalty (IMO it is ALWAYS wrong, no matter what)…but if Rob chooses to literally eat **** and die, I won't mourn for a nano-second.

Farewell, Metsies. I'll miss you.

(I live in South Carolina; not enough free TV Mets games for me to continue if the game is too unrecognizable to merit paying for Gary, Keith & Ron. I'm sure af not watching my "home team" Braves just because I'm bored.)