MLB Can't Be Serious About This Possible Rule Change

[BostonBob]

There's no way this could possibly go through........is there ????


from cbssports.com:

On "The Rich Eisen Show" Tuesday, the host and namesake mentioned that there are "whispers" from some execs that there's a discussion to let a trailing team in the ninth inning use any three hitters it wants to start the inning, regardless of where the batting order is.

The unbelievably flawed rationale, via a text Eisen received: "No other sport has the best players sitting on the bench in the final minutes of a game. Imagine LeBron [James] or Tom Brady or Sidney Crosby or [Cristiano] Ronaldo watching on the sidelines."

(DEEP SIGH)

OK, so I've got "A Few Good Men" on my TV right now and I can't help but want to scream in the direction of this anonymous exec, "should we or should we not follow the advice of the galactically stupid?!?!"

What if LeBron had fouled out? What if the Patriots don't have the ball? What if there's a shootout in hockey or soccer and the best player in the world only gets one of the five shots instead of all five? Should the NBA have a rule to let the best players back in for the final minutes? The NFL should make sure the best QBs get on the field for the final minute, even if the other team has the ball and keeps getting first downs? The NHL should allow the same player to take all five shootout shots?

Full story here: www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-to-allow-any-player-to-bat-in-9th-lets-discuss-the-dumbest-rule-proposal-ever/

Click to read more...

 

[Fenway]

Worst idea ever???


MLB thinking about letting trailing team bat any player in 9th

Rich Eisen, on his radio show Wednesday, said an MLB executive told him of an idea about allowing the manager of the trailing team to bat whomever he chooses in the ninth inning in an effort to ramp up more excitement.

“Baseball is the only sport by mere randomness and happenstance, the best players are not out on the field with the game on the line,” Eisen said.

“Potentially down by two, ninth inning, you got 7-8-9 up. You can pinch-hit but sometimes your best hitters are not coming off the bench. In the ninth inning, the ninth inning only. Not eighth inning, not the seventh, not extras -- ninth inning only, you are allowed to send up to the plate as your first three hitters whoever you want. … If 3-4-5 hitter goes out in order in the eighth inning, ninth inning the manager sends 3-4-5 right back out there.”

 

[third man in]

Can't believe they'll go through with it. Punish the team that's ahead in the 9th. Baseball is different than other team sports. Pretty dumb

 

[BostonBob]

Worst idea ever???

I didn't think any proposed rule change could be worse than the one that would have all extra innings start with a man on 2nd base but obviously I was wrong.

 

[Cheese Wagstaff]

Honestly this sounds like Eisen needed to fill airtime today. If there was any indication MLB was seriously considering this I'd be outraged, but for now it's best just to ignore.

 

[Belieber]

Yeah lets turn MLB into backyard wiffleball, beer league softball, childrens t-ball.

Actually even in our backyard wiffleball games we wouldn't have allowed it.

 

[bluesfan94]

I have a feeling the seriousness of the guy "proposing" this is overblown.

 

[robertmac43]

This would be a joke! Cannot happen

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

I mean it would be entertaining but Jesus Christ this is a terrible idea.

 

[Canes]

Would have been a great thing for MLB to leak on April 1st

 

[Terry Yake]

yeah i highly doubt MLB would even consider this

 

[tony d]

Yeah, this is 1 idea that should never happen, to bad someone actually thought about it in the 1st place.

 

[bleedblue1223]

I doubt it's serious, but if that ever happened, it could completely turn me off from the game.

 

[eviohh26]

Why not if in hockey when you've lost by one goal get the chance of a free break away at the end to try to tie and goto OT??

 

[Bjorn Le]

I like that they threw in a hockey reference. Gotta be part of the Big 4 now!

But yeah, obviously not happening. It could have come up in the Winter Meetings as a throwaway idea. I'd only believe it if they were testing it in the Minor Leagues.

 

[BigMac1212]

So much for the lineup cards.

That would ruin the bottom of the 9th of Game 7 of the 2001 World Series.

 

[Benneguin]

Why stop there? Just get rid of the lineup altogether and let the manager choose whoever he wants to bat each inning? Call it the TJ Oshie rule. So if for example, Mike Trout leads off with a double, put in a pinch runner and let him bat again.

 

[BMOK33]

So much for the lineup cards.

That would ruin the bottom of the 9th of Game 7 of the 2001 World Series.

If it ever happened it would only be a regular season rule. This would be to prevent a very long game from destroying a team’s pen. The Mets season last year largely fell apart upon a big extra inning win in Miami in April where they burned the bullpen to the ground, then proceeded to play 5 games that were close thereafter where they still were without Familia and nobody in that pen ever recovered from that abuse