SWC75
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This article came up on the Atlantic:
theathletic.com
For those who don't subscribe, (and it took the author forever to describe the new rules away), in the minors this year two new rules are being tried to get base stealing back into the game. At the lower Class A level, pitchers are limited to three throws to first base. It that doesn't result in an out, it's a balk. In the upper Class A level, (yes, there are two class A levels), a pitcher must leave the rubber to throw to a base or it's a balk.
I don't like either rule. I'd do three things:
- Steals became a big deal when black players came into the major leagues: white baseball had stopped running when they started to hit home runs. Black ball kept running. it was a revelation when Jackie Robinson, Minnie Minoso, Sam Jethroe, Willie Mays, etc. came into the game and showed that the home run was not the only reciting thing in the sport. Suddenly you could make a name for yourself by stealing bases, especially if you became a 30-30 man like Mays. Those who couldn't tried to break records for steals, as Maurey Wills did when he broke Ty Cobb's record. it became a glamour statistic. When they juiced the ball, (and the batters) in the 90's, merely stealing bases became less glamorous and so the stat was devalued again. I think it could be revitalized if the 'steal' was re-defined. A steal should be what it is now plus every time a runner takes a base on an out, (unless the force was on or it was a fielder's choice), plus every time a baserunner took one more base than a player who got a hit, (going first to third or scoring from second on a single or from first on a double), plus any error in which a player took more than one base, (unless they were granted it by rule). Then I'd subtract every time they got thrown out or picked off on the bases, or maybe divide the steals by the outs made. This redefinition, (which could be done retroactively for games for which we have a play-by play - see Baseball Reference.com) would re-create interest in stealing bases and in baserunning in general and make baseball more like the pin-ball machine sport it was always meant to be.
- All a pitcher to throw to any base he wants with his foot on the rubber. Just call it a ball on the batter, since it's out of the strike zone.
- Get rid of the balk rule. it's rarely but inconsistently applied anyway. if a baserunner can deceive the pitcher by bluff a steal or by not taking a lead until he turns his back, why can't a pitcher deceive the runner by throwing to any base? it would make running the bases a fascinating cat-and-mouse game.
Stark: How much base stealing is too much? With experimental rules, Class A games are 'like watching a track meet'
In the Class A orbit, the rate of stolen bases per game is up an eyeball-popping 75 percent since the last minor-league season in 2019.
theathletic.com
For those who don't subscribe, (and it took the author forever to describe the new rules away), in the minors this year two new rules are being tried to get base stealing back into the game. At the lower Class A level, pitchers are limited to three throws to first base. It that doesn't result in an out, it's a balk. In the upper Class A level, (yes, there are two class A levels), a pitcher must leave the rubber to throw to a base or it's a balk.
I don't like either rule. I'd do three things:
- Steals became a big deal when black players came into the major leagues: white baseball had stopped running when they started to hit home runs. Black ball kept running. it was a revelation when Jackie Robinson, Minnie Minoso, Sam Jethroe, Willie Mays, etc. came into the game and showed that the home run was not the only reciting thing in the sport. Suddenly you could make a name for yourself by stealing bases, especially if you became a 30-30 man like Mays. Those who couldn't tried to break records for steals, as Maurey Wills did when he broke Ty Cobb's record. it became a glamour statistic. When they juiced the ball, (and the batters) in the 90's, merely stealing bases became less glamorous and so the stat was devalued again. I think it could be revitalized if the 'steal' was re-defined. A steal should be what it is now plus every time a runner takes a base on an out, (unless the force was on or it was a fielder's choice), plus every time a baserunner took one more base than a player who got a hit, (going first to third or scoring from second on a single or from first on a double), plus any error in which a player took more than one base, (unless they were granted it by rule). Then I'd subtract every time they got thrown out or picked off on the bases, or maybe divide the steals by the outs made. This redefinition, (which could be done retroactively for games for which we have a play-by play - see Baseball Reference.com) would re-create interest in stealing bases and in baserunning in general and make baseball more like the pin-ball machine sport it was always meant to be.
- All a pitcher to throw to any base he wants with his foot on the rubber. Just call it a ball on the batter, since it's out of the strike zone.
- Get rid of the balk rule. it's rarely but inconsistently applied anyway. if a baserunner can deceive the pitcher by bluff a steal or by not taking a lead until he turns his back, why can't a pitcher deceive the runner by throwing to any base? it would make running the bases a fascinating cat-and-mouse game.
