Rule Changes for 2023

Coming soon: MLB outlaws the bounce pass.

Did he just do that for fun? Is there any possible benefit? It does look cool.

He says it’s more accurate when he’s running towards the target. For him anyway.

I just worry about the random cleat track or some such.

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It’s one of those things that might work in general, who knows, but will make you look real stupid when it goes wrong.

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Something fun I had not considered:

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Big jumps from 2nd I’d think

Takes on needed changes in baseball from an 11-year-old.

Really looking forward to when the last out of the WS is recorded like this.

Or, the reverse. A hitter is in violation but the HPU doesn’t call it, and he hits a walk-off dinger.

This. Is. So. Goddamn. Stupid.

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If a pitcher is ready and the hitter has both feet in the box, lets go. We don’t need the umpire to make a judgement call as to the readiness of the batter.

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Anyone seen a longer clip of the Martinez call that actually shows his position at eight seconds? Seems like the standard for hitters oughta be “reasonably set” like the quick pitch rule, right?

“Rule 8.05(e) Comment: A quick pitch is an illegal pitch. Umpires will judge a quick pitch as one delivered before the batter is reasonably set in the batter’s box. With runners on base the penalty is a balk; with no runners on base, it is a ball. The quick pitch is dangerous and should not be permitted.”

A hitter can’t fuss around in the box and run the pitcher’s clock down, so you have to make them get set by a certain point—eight seconds, sure—but is “alert to the pitcher” different from “reasonably set”? Would it really be dangerous for the pitcher to start his motion given where these hitters are at eight seconds? Gotta be a better way to enforce this.

Absolutely correct.

They’ve had the pitch clock for a year or 2 in the minors right? Never heard of a game ending on a pitch clock violation, but maybe it has? Or are the rules in MLB materially different?

No. Fucking. Shit. Fuck. Manfred. and. the. horse. he. rode. in. on.

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Just flew again with one of my favorite copilots/Captains who is one of the best we have at Southwest- incredibly empathetic, easy going, leads well, kept the flight attendants in the loop with regards to turbulence, didn’t micromanage when I flew, was always positive, was mindful of others, and, comma, above all, with his being a big San Diego Padres fan (he’s from SD), knew the Houston Astros weren’t the only ones “ doing things like so many others in MLB”.
Holy shit, life can be good at times.

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I just imagine that the pressure on an ump not to end the game on a clock violation - either way - is pretty high, and will get only more intense as the mechanism is deployed in MLB games and ramped up further into the playoffs.

In cricket, there’s no such thing as being “alert to the bowler”. The ball is always live, the bowler starts his delivery almost immediately upon receiving the ball back, and the batter needs to be ready or risk making an easy out.

Yes there is some fussing around with bowlers checking/polishing the ball and batters poking and prodding at bumps in the grass - real and perceived - but, for the most part, this all happens while the bowler is getting back to his mark to start his run in.

Cricket is slow as shit. But, by way of example, here is the final over (6 pitches) of a T20 World Championship game. How does this compare to, say, the final at-bat of a playoff game?

The set-up: England need to score 16 runs off the last over, and they club the first pitch over the fence on the fly for 6 runs…

A 6-run tater is just wrong.

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…and they don’t even require you to run the “bases”.