WEBVTT - MLB Rule Change Suggestions 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:05.720 For the people. 0:00:05.840 --> 0:00:08.399 Perfect way to label this one, and he often does 0:00:08.720 --> 0:00:11.320 articles that are for the people because the people get involved. 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:14.520 Stephen Nesbitt with us right now from the Athletic put 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:18.200 out an article to the people saying what rule changes 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:21.280 should MLB make and it was a mailbag to analyze 0:00:21.360 --> 0:00:24.280 the suggestions. Stephen, great to chat with you, and I 0:00:24.320 --> 0:00:25.880 want to go right to the one that it listed, 0:00:25.960 --> 0:00:30.960 like the most response, the most fire. There's always that 0:00:31.040 --> 0:00:33.320 one right from your article. So what was the one 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:35.440 that we should lead this conversation with. 0:00:39.200 --> 0:00:42.400 I mean there's like the realistic one and then there's 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:44.239 the unrealistic one. Do you have a favorite? 0:00:45.240 --> 0:00:46.520 Oh, aj, what do you want? 0:00:47.760 --> 0:00:50.320 Well, it's just the realistic one first, because the unrealistic 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:54.400 ones something so crazy, like a pitch cla yeah. 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:59.800 Yeah. The realistic ones had to do with the pictures, 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:03.360 and that always gets a lot of people going because 0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:05.600 it does feel like sixty feet six inches in some 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:08.240 sort of gospel, but in reality it was just a distance. 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:12.840 They moved the pictures mound two in nineteen eighty sorry, 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:15.640 eighteen ninety three or something like that. They lowered the 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:18.039 mound in nineteen sixty eight, as we know, after the 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:22.000 year of the picture, and there was evidence that that 0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:25.880 worked right eras went up, batting averages went up, And 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:28.280 the problem with that is that it wasn't really a 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:33.759 clean body of evidence, I guess because they also changed 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:36.479 the strike zone at the same time the walks went up. 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:38.880 It was a more friendly environment for hitters in many 0:01:38.880 --> 0:01:42.160 different ways. So lowering the mound I think would help 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:45.520 hitters certainly, but I don't think it is like really 0:01:45.560 --> 0:01:48.200 the one sort of end all, be all rule change 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:51.360 that would fix the hitting environment completely. The other thing 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:54.640 that sort of the other side of that coin is 0:01:54.640 --> 0:01:56.680 to move the mountain back, which was discussed at length 0:01:56.680 --> 0:01:58.640 a couple of years ago. It was tested in the 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:02.480 Atlantic League moved it back one foot in the Atlantic League. 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:04.600 There have been talks about having it two feet back. 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:06.200 A little bit further back you'd be at the true 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:09.839 sort of geometric center of the infield diamond, but they 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:15.280 really didn't see positive improvement in the Atlantic League experiment. Now, 0:02:15.280 --> 0:02:17.320 the problem there also is that guys can't throw strikes, 0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:19.079 and so this just made it worse. You had more 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:21.600 movement from that far back, So if you couldn't already 0:02:21.600 --> 0:02:24.360 already couln't land your sinker or your slider or you're 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:26.880 sweeper in the strike zone, then you have even tougher 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:29.919 time from a couple feet back. So they've tested a 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:32.680 number of different things, and it does feel like you 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:34.520 guys can attest to this too, Like if you're going 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:37.000 to make one change to the game that isn't going 0:02:37.000 --> 0:02:40.000 to radically change how the game looks, then moving the 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:43.959 mound down further or moving it back farther certainly seems 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:47.079 like a relatively minor fix from a just an aesthetic standpoint, 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:50.919 and it could have a positive effect on the game. 0:02:50.960 --> 0:02:54.280 It also will make movement harder, and I'm just gonna 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:57.320 keep guessing that pictures will continue throwing hard and harder 0:02:57.320 --> 0:02:59.400 no matter how far back you asked them to throw from. 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:02.040 So I don't think that problem is going away, that 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:05.920 the average velocity continues to climb. As far as more 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:12.360 of an absurd thing that drew some attention, There is 0:03:12.440 --> 0:03:15.840 so much focus still on the extra innings rule to 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:19.440 add a runner at second base, that one was probably 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:24.840 two to one comments versus any other topic when I 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:27.480 ask for people's favorite rule changes. Now, if you ask 0:03:27.480 --> 0:03:31.040 baseball fans, what's one rule do you want to change. 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:34.080 Almost every single response is undoing a rule change that 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:36.400 already happened. That's just sort of the way we are. 0:03:36.480 --> 0:03:38.680 We can't sort of getting our creative hats on and 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:41.040 come up with something super zany. Like one person did 0:03:41.080 --> 0:03:43.560 on here, which I enjoyed, was why not make the 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:46.920 infield dirt smaller to prevent them from backing up? Okay, 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:50.320 that's interesting, that's new to me. But extra innings rule 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:53.520 is not particularly popular. That Rob Manford has added a 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:57.240 runner at second base, the Manford Runner or the ghost runner. 0:03:57.280 --> 0:04:00.240 Some people say incorrectly, that's a wuffle ball thing, that's 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:04.000 really not a person on second base. But it's not 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:07.120 popular to have that there. And yet it's successfully getting 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:10.520 games over quickly. It's saving arms, it's saving bullpens, And 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:14.480 so I understand the desire to have it look more 0:04:14.520 --> 0:04:16.920 like baseball. And for all the changes baseball has made, 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:19.479 the League Office has made to try to make baseball 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:22.719 look like baseball, right, don't let third basement lineup in 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:25.800 shallow right field, ban the shift, A lot of things 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:28.440 they want to make baseball look like baseball used to be. 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:31.359 And yet that's one thing with the extra endings, like no, No, 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:32.840 we just got to get the games over with. If 0:04:32.839 --> 0:04:34.280 we're going to restrict how many pitchers can be on 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:37.520 a roster, then we want to not be burning guys 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:40.080 in the extra innings. We don't want anymore's position players pitching, 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:43.320 which is another rule change we can discuss, and so 0:04:43.760 --> 0:04:46.440 extra innings the one I went with. People had all 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:49.560 sorts of you know, their version of their favorite extra 0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:52.719 inning plan. One of them, the simple one is play 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:54.840 the tenth inning normally. Maybe you start a run around 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:56.920 first in the eleventh, run around second in the twelfth. 0:04:57.360 --> 0:04:58.920 There are a lot of different ways you could do it. 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:03.360 This person had it sort of invented a showdown where 0:05:03.880 --> 0:05:06.279 the home team, I believe it was just gets to 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:08.720 pick if they hit or if they pitch. There are 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:11.400 three outs to end the whole thing. You put your 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:14.400 picture out there, you put your five hitters with run 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:16.159 I think it was a run around first was the idea. 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:18.599 And if the pitcher gets three outs before a run scores, 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:20.640 then his team win. If he gives up a run, 0:05:20.680 --> 0:05:22.320 his team was as simple as that, so it would 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:24.960 get the game over quickly. Do I think it is 0:05:25.000 --> 0:05:28.200 going to happen? No? Do I think it's like as 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:30.720 Mickey Mouse is, what's happening now? Pretty close. 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:35.200 We love our dog Bella, who splays out in the 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:38.280 open sun on our floor like she's an underwear model, 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:40.039 and that's why we love her so much. 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:44.279 To scratch her belly. 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Because if you've ever sit on 0:06:41.440 --> 0:06:44.240 the rogersoner Round mound, it's like you're on top of 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:45.520 Mount Everest and you're looking down. 0:06:45.560 --> 0:06:46.120 I mean, hoseell. 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:48.560 I remember you go up there and you stand up 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:49.920 there next to your picture, and I always had to 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:51.640 make sure I was at the top because otherwise I 0:06:51.720 --> 0:06:53.960 was like three feet shorter than the picture. And I'm like, 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:56.200 this guy's not that tall. Why am I hurting my 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:58.920 neck looking up at him? So there will still be 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:02.680 people that skirt the rules. Also moving the picture, the 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:05.279 mound back or whatever. How about we just learned to 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:07.599 make strikeouts matter. If you want to cut down strikeouts, 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:09.920 make the matter when guys get paid. That'll cut that down. 0:07:10.320 --> 0:07:12.480 And then the last one, I actually liked the Manford 0:07:12.520 --> 0:07:15.360 I wasn't a big Manford runner Manford man guy until 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:17.520 now that I broadcast. I think it's great because it 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:19.440 gets games over and we don't have these eighteen inning 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:21.960 slog fests for I'm fine for it going back to 0:07:22.000 --> 0:07:24.320 the regular way in the postseason. And then the last 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:25.960 thing you said was one of the dumbest things I've 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:28.120 ever heard in my life. Because let's say your best 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:30.480 picture is your closer and use them in the ninth inning. Well, 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:32.720 guess what teams aren't gonna want to risk bringing in 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:34.920 a starter or another guy to pitch that. 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:36.960 So that that was a terrible idea. 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:38.520 Now, if you want to say, do the home run 0:07:38.560 --> 0:07:40.840 derby or something like that, okay, I could deal with 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:43.080 that a little more. But the pictures and the injuries. 0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:44.640 We already have too many injuries to pitchers. 0:07:44.640 --> 0:07:46.880 So I don't know. Just my two cents. 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:50.280 Yeah, well, first of I definitely did not grade these 0:07:50.320 --> 0:07:55.800 on realisticness, and I'm not necessarily condoning many of the suggestions. 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:58.160 I want a creativity more than anything. But if aj, 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:00.160 if I give you this, we ended the all start 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:01.560 the game last year with the swing off, and it 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:03.560 was fun, it was interesting. Would it make you mounts 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:06.280 to borrow that phrase again? Totally? Would you if you're 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:09.560 going to go to a sort of non baseball version 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:13.160 of extra innings. If we say you could play the 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:16.080 extra rings regularly, or you can have this middle tier, 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:18.360 which is what they're doing now, of putting a runner 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:20.480 on base in scaring position, or if you're going to 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:22.800 go sort of zany to make it an entertainment thing 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:24.680 to make people really want to stick around almost root 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:27.720 for extra innings. Would you ever go there where you 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:30.960 want to swing off, where you want a quasi version 0:08:30.960 --> 0:08:33.120 of baseball, where it's three outs to end the whole thing. 0:08:34.440 --> 0:08:36.400 I'd rather have the swing off what It'd be more exciting. 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:38.000 It'd be over quicker than the three out thing. I 0:08:38.040 --> 0:08:39.960 think a swing off. The problem with the swing off 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:42.400 is teams aren't built the same, so your three best 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:44.960 hitters for the swing off might not be equal on 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:46.320 every team. Now on the All Star Game, they were 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:47.839 supposed to be. But it would have been so much 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:50.080 cooler if it was Judge and Otani and the rest 0:08:50.120 --> 0:08:51.920 of the starters that had already jumped on their private 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:55.800 planes and flown home. Yeah, but I think it'd be cool. 0:08:57.600 --> 0:09:00.480 It won't happen. I actually, I think the best umpermise 0:09:00.520 --> 0:09:02.120 of what you have in order to keep the game 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:04.840 shorter and to keep him from going twenty innings is 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:07.319 what we have now most games. I mean, I mean, heck, 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:08.600 we I don't think we've had a game go to 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:11.760 the was it past the fourteenth inning since this rule 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:15.720 came into play, So I mean, I think that's all right. 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:17.520 I'mbout one hundred percent sure, But I think that's the 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:20.200 longest one I've seen. I mean, I remember going eighteen 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:22.839 nineteen innings, not regularly, but every once in a while 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:25.040 it would jump up on You can't have that in 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:27.040 today's game. There's too many injuries already, and we're trying 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:32.920 to keep people's attention. So let's keep people's attention, all right. 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:36.960 So the runner at second is called the zombie runner 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:40.440 because he died and came back to life, the resurrected runner, 0:09:40.600 --> 0:09:43.920 whatever it is. It's not a ghost runner. Definitely not 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:46.840 the Manford Runner. That sounds weird because Manford never played, 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:50.120 so that's not going to happen to me. 0:09:50.240 --> 0:09:53.000 Why are all the rules Why are all. 0:09:52.920 --> 0:09:58.240 The rules to increase offense when the or that not? 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:01.840 Why are the rules that are like gimmicked about to 0:10:01.960 --> 0:10:02.960 increase offense? 0:10:03.400 --> 0:10:03.920 Why is that? 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:07.440 Because is that more fun than watching a pitcher dominate? 0:10:07.600 --> 0:10:10.360 Is that more fun than or is it because of 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:12.080 the fact that some of your rules that you came 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:17.280 up with here, could we have, you know, more injuries 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:20.439 to pitchers. If we have less injuries to pitchers, then 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:24.640 maybe we can have just a better product completely out 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:26.679 on the field. 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:31.079 Pretty hard to reinvent the product though, And so what 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:34.760 the league is left with interesting here, if you guys agree, 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:37.480 is if the league is going to force something, it 0:10:37.520 --> 0:10:42.120 can only force certain things. It can't force contact, it 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:44.439 can't necessarily force the strike out right down. It can 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:47.439 really encourage it. But who's to say that they make 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:50.440 any of these changes that are recommended by fans here 0:10:51.000 --> 0:10:54.520 that are intended to bring strikeout rates down and intended 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:57.840 to put the ball and play more, bring like stuff 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:01.840 and velocities down. I guess PEG and how dominant they 0:11:01.840 --> 0:11:05.079 are in today's game, the game would continue to evolve 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:08.320 in the way that incentivizes the players. Then the clubs, 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:11.480 like teams won't be like you know what, the league 0:11:11.520 --> 0:11:13.560 really feels like. It feels like they're really trying to 0:11:13.559 --> 0:11:16.200 get some more runs across the board. Interest fans, they 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:20.080 don't like three true outcomes, but TIEF are still going 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:21.719 to operate the way they always do. We have a 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:23.760 set amount of money to score the most amount of 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:25.840 runs and allow the fewest amount of runs possible to 0:11:25.840 --> 0:11:27.920 win the most games, and so they're going to play 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:31.040 the most efficient brand of baseball in the league doesn't 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:34.160 necessarily want that. So our rule change. Is that intended 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:38.080 to fix something that's broken in the game from a 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:41.160 competitive standpoint, or are they intended to fix something that's 0:11:41.200 --> 0:11:44.520 sort of broken from a fan perspective? Was the shift 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:47.080 moved out of the game because it was ruining gameplay? No, 0:11:47.480 --> 0:11:48.840 the shift that moved out of the game because it 0:11:48.880 --> 0:11:50.719 looked bad and people didn't like the way that it 0:11:50.760 --> 0:11:52.840 looked compared to the game they're used to. And so 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:55.640 you walk through each rule change, and I would challenge 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:57.080 most people to think through the rule change and think 0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:00.920 who was this or actually endings rule was not for fans. 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:03.760 Fans kind of dug the game that won on eighteen innings. 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:05.679 Even as a beat writer when I was missing like 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:08.240 a date night with my wife, it was kind of 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:10.800 fun to sit through those and see I remember like 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:14.480 a pitcher playing left field randomly and pictures having to 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:16.600 hit the in extra innings in the National League game 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:18.920 that zany stuff was cool. It's like awesome to write 0:12:18.920 --> 0:12:21.360 about afterward too. And so this was done for fans 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:23.760 because fans they wanted to sorry. This was done for 0:12:23.840 --> 0:12:26.280 teams because they wanted predictability. And when is the game 0:12:26.320 --> 0:12:28.160 getting over? And do I need to make four roster 0:12:28.240 --> 0:12:31.760 moves before tomorrow's game? And it's rare. I think that 0:12:32.040 --> 0:12:35.480 Major League Baseball is going to make rule changes for 0:12:35.640 --> 0:12:37.600 teams and for players. I think most of the rule 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:40.200 changers are going to be what does the fan want, 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:42.520 which the league has said is the driving force of 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:43.400 what the league wants to do. 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:47.240 How does baseball compare to other leagues changing their rules? 0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:51.559 I followed Baseball way more, but the other major leagues, 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:55.120 you know, obviously, big rule change in hockey was the 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:57.360 blue line. You know, they don't have the center line anymore, 0:12:57.400 --> 0:12:59.679 so you couldn't go. So there was changes in there 0:12:59.760 --> 0:13:03.000 to aid more open offense. Football has changed a ton, 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:06.720 but mostly around safety. How is Major League Baseball done 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:08.800 compared to the other four leagues? 0:13:10.440 --> 0:13:12.079 It was interesting. We wrote a story a couple of 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:15.160 weeks back with Mike Borkanov, who is our one of 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:17.880 our basketball writers, and it was sort of the story 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:20.840 was like all the juice that baseball has right now 0:13:20.840 --> 0:13:23.280 compared to basketball, and it was the premise was like 0:13:23.320 --> 0:13:26.600 his baseball sort of reovertaking basketball as the numbers two 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:31.280 sport in the US, and that it's interesting. It's fascinating 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:33.040 for me, as someone who's covered baseball for a long time, 0:13:33.120 --> 0:13:35.520 for like the prevailing narrative to be that baseball is 0:13:35.520 --> 0:13:38.360 doing things right. For a long time, that was not it. 0:13:38.760 --> 0:13:41.120 That was not the conversation that was being had around baseball. 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:43.480 And yet the conversation and now is, Hey, these rule 0:13:43.559 --> 0:13:45.760 changes came in and they've really interested a lot of people. 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:47.360 There are some stars at the top of the game. 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:50.640 There are some interesting teams. You may not like the Dodgers, 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:54.960 but I think they're certainly interesting, and so compared to basketball, 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:56.880 I think basketball people look in like this is a 0:13:56.880 --> 0:13:59.200 game that needs some innovation. This is a game that 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:02.760 is running to little defense, happening way too much scoring, 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:07.960 way too much three point like efficiency. Same conversation, and 0:14:08.000 --> 0:14:11.280 they haven't yet made big sweeping rule changes to fix 0:14:11.400 --> 0:14:13.880 a lot of that. Hockey has done a lot of 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:16.199 messing around that. You mentioned the blue line of too 0:14:16.240 --> 0:14:19.240 I pass all that sort of stuff, but they've been 0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:21.280 I think most of their messing around has been in 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:24.920 like overtime and extra extra any the shootout at the 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:27.440 end of it. Football field like changes a bunch of 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:29.840 things every year, but is it so consequential that it 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:32.320 truly changes the nature of the competition. 0:14:32.840 --> 0:14:33.320 Not really. 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:35.480 It's like tickoffs and things like that that you mentioned 0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:38.960 as far as safety. So Baseball, I think these rule 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:42.480 changes were pretty radical once you consider the landscape of 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:44.320 like these leagues. How often do they change something as 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:47.000 big as the pace of play? You know, we've talked 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:48.960 about the shot clock or the play clock. That's a 0:14:49.000 --> 0:14:51.960 long time ago that these were implemented, And so baseball, 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:54.160 it does feel like, is the sort of most recent 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:56.600 sport to make big changes like that. And so I 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:59.640 don't know that the premise. I think of our previous story, 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:02.000 which was about the infield shift and sort of the 0:15:02.120 --> 0:15:04.880 lack of impact that has had on truly bringing back 0:15:04.960 --> 0:15:08.280 base hits, which is pretty predictable. But I think fans 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:11.640 so other way. Other ways they thought that the game 0:15:11.760 --> 0:15:13.960 was sort of some parts of the game we're fixed 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:16.920 in some ways by these rule changes. That conversation around 0:15:16.960 --> 0:15:19.520 the game still is that they've they're going in the 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:21.680 right track. So I don't think that necessarily the league 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:24.720 is open to these massive, sweeping, real changes that we're 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:27.280 that we're suggesting in this story. 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:30.520 But by the way, you mentioned that the player, the 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:33.360 rule changes aren't made for the players. Tommy has his 0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:36.680 own rule. They made him rule change for him, right, 0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:37.120 Should we. 0:15:37.040 --> 0:15:37.320 Take that. 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:41.960 A little bit to allow other guys to get to 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:42.720 that possibility? 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:45.080 That's the rule change in the scheme of But no, 0:15:45.200 --> 0:15:45.520 it's not. 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:48.280 No, I disagree. That's a huge rule. 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:52.000 Hold on, that's a advantage for the Dodgers. 0:15:52.200 --> 0:15:54.160 It isn't. It is an advantage, but it's not a 0:15:54.320 --> 0:15:57.120 thing that fans care about one iota. Right, there is 0:15:57.160 --> 0:16:00.480 a roster construction rule. That's that's all it is, right, 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:03.440 So it's not something like you would never you would 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:05.360 never ask fans like, hey, how do you guys feel 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:08.080 about this roster construction rule? Or when this guy can 0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:10.360 come on? Whatever. They don't care enough for that to 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:12.800 be a consequential le chain, is what I was trying 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:13.240 to say. 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:14.880 Yeah, OK, that's. 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:17.520 Fair, it's pretty conch it's pretty qut consequential when it 0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:18.000 comes to. 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:24.160 Sure fans gripe. Fans gripe about their payroll. They're not 0:16:24.200 --> 0:16:26.800 going to be like, oh they got an extra pitcher. 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:31.480 No actual like players and other teams complain about it. 0:16:31.760 --> 0:16:31.880 More. 0:16:31.960 --> 0:16:35.400 Thans are pretty smart. Yeah, fans are pretty smart. I mean, 0:16:35.440 --> 0:16:38.680 I remember since I was a kid hating September call 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:40.400 ups because I'd be like, why are the games all 0:16:40.440 --> 0:16:41.840 of a sudden? I have all these extra players and 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:42.920 they take an extra. 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:45.880 I don't say that. You don't say that September callups 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:47.640 made some people's careers. 0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:52.800 Okay, Scott, it was hurting my fan experience. 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:55.480 Eric, it was hurting your fantasy team, That's what it 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:56.000 was doing. 0:16:56.360 --> 0:17:00.600 Soine, I'm fine with an extra catcher, nine more pitchers. No, 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:05.720 I'm good. Okay, we can bring up an extra catcher compromise, Steven, 0:17:05.760 --> 0:17:08.040 great article, though, thanks for joining us to go over 0:17:08.080 --> 0:17:10.520 all of it. I encourage everyone to check it out 0:17:10.920 --> 0:17:13.880 in the Athletic. It's posted. There's a lot more in there. 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:15.320 Appreciate you man, good catching up. 0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:16.960 Thanks guys. 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:23.119 Some wireless plans can get a little bit crazy, a 0:17:23.119 --> 0:17:27.600 little bit off the charts. 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