Month: March 2023

We currently have the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years, but we could always use more jobs. Going back many years, I have had a plan to add at least 15 new ones. And while these jobs wouldn’t do much for the national labor statistics, they would do a great deal for our enjoyment of the game of baseball.

MLB introduced a replay system in 2008, at first simply to review home runs. That remained the case until 2014, when replay was expanded to include a slew of additional plays (e.g., force calls, tags, fair/foul calls (in the outfield only), skipping bases, hit-by-pitches, fan interference, etc.). Over the years, the replay rules have been refined. To wit:

• 2015: Managers no longer had to leave the dugout to challenge a call, and they retained challenges after every overturned call (it used to be just after the first victorious challenge).
• 2017: The time to request a challenge was limited to 30 seconds, rather than merely before the next play. And, here was a big one: the replay crew in New York had a two-minute time limit to reach a final conclusion (more on that below).
• 2020: Managers’ window of opportunity was further reduced to 20 seconds. 
• 2022: Umpires were now mic’d up to inform the fans of the final decision.

My idea then, as it remains today, is that MLB should employ one additional umpire for every game. We will call him/her the “Blue in the Sky” (or “BITS”). BITS would sit in the booth (maybe right next to the official scorer) with an earpiece and microphone that goes directly to the home plate umpire and a “bat” phone that goes directly to the replay headquarters in New York. 

If/when there is a close play, BITS would immediately radio down to the home plate ump and tell him (as of this writing, there are no female umpires in MLB) to hold one beat. BITS would either have a bank of monitors in front of them or would use the bat phone to call New York. In addition, the moment BITS contacts the home plate ump, the two-minute clock would start. If BITS cannot get a decision when that bell rings, the call on the field stands. As we all know, the current two-minute rule is rarely enforced, with replay reviews — from inception until explanation — often taking five minutes or longer.

By engaging BITS, we take the decision-making out of the hands of the manager — or, more accurately, out of the hands of some video intern watching the angles as quickly as possible in a closet a few feet up the runway. Sure, we could still allow managers to have one challenge per game for that unlikely situation wherein BITS doesn’t think anything is amiss.

But BITS, by virtue of their vantage point, has a much better bead on the play. Watching at home or sitting in the stands, we have an immediate reaction when a play should be reviewed, but managers don’t have that same perspective. So let’s take that out of his hands; let’s have a paid professional doing that hard work. And this will also relieve the issue of a missed call in the late innings because a manager exhausted his challenges earlier in the game.

With the new rules implemented for the 2023 season, the role of BITS becomes that much more important. Let’s take a look at a few situations where BITS could prove helpful:

The Shift: BITS can tell, nearly definitively, if two infielders are on either side of second base, and if all infielders are on the dirt. Plus, they can see if any infielder is getting a running start before a pitch is thrown. There is just no way for a manager to be able to see that from the dugout.

Pitch Clock: While the home plate umpire is equipped with a buzzer that informs him if/when the 15/20 seconds have expired, he does not have one for the 8-second deadline for the batter. BITS will be able to see that clearly. Further, BITS could use his/her reasonable judgment as to whether the catcher was ready (which was the cause of consternation in the Red Sox-Braves game the first week of spring) if/when a batter is assessed a strike for not being ready. BITS could be sitting next to or close to the clock-keeper (not sure this individual has a formal title yet) to make sure that they are starting and stopping the clock in accordance with the rules and circumstances.

Disengagement: There will be questions — mark my words — as to whether or not a pitcher actually disengaged from the rubber. Do it thrice, and a balk will be called. The balk has always been the worst call in baseball, as it is never uniformly applied and nearly impossible to know if the pitcher was actually trying to “deceive the runner.” But, BITS will have a considerably better angle to determine a disengagement and potentially a deception.

I know it is an unpopular position as a sports fan to say we need additional referees or umpires, but in this case, it makes perfect sense. Let’s put an end to a guy running out with a monitor and officials donning headphones. Let’s take the onus off managers to make split-second decisions. Let’s have BITS, the “Blue in the Sky,” make the call. And then leave it to the on-field ump to say:

PLAY BALL!!

I have a motto, one that I communicate to my kids as well as anyone I work with, and one that has served me well for over two decades: “Try never to make the same mistake twice.”

Because, in the words of Billy Joel, “We’re only human, we’re supposed to make mistakes.” Mistakes are, for my money, the number one way to learn anything. Try, do, screw up, figure it out, move on to the next one. In my career, I have learned more from deals, or provisions, or contracts that I messed up than any that went perfectly well. We have to feel that pit in our belly; we need to have a sleepless night or two; we have to get red with embarrassment when malfeasance is made public. These are the teachable and learning moments. They suck. And we wouldn’t wish them on anybody. But they happen. And we learn and we grow. And then we resolve never to make that same mistake again.

So, when a Red Sox – Braves spring training game ended with a “Clock Off” (h/t Mike Ferrin), I could not have been happier. For those of you who missed the biggest story of the first week of the spring (other than Manny Machado’s $350M and Gavin Lux’s shredded ACL), Braves second baseman Cal Conley came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded and the score tied. He ran the count to 3-and-2, and then got called out because he was not in the batter’s box, ready to hit, when the pitch clock struck 8 seconds. Never mind that Red Sox catcher Eli Marrero was standing (not crouching) at that moment, the rule is that the batter must be ready. Per MLB, the correct call was made. And because the teams had decided against extra innings, the game ended in that most unconventional manner.

The announcers proclaimed, “This is mayhem…this is baseball in 2023.” In fairness, it is hard to tell if the announcers were being derisive or just descriptive. Either way, I don’t care. Bring on the chaos. Let every game from now until March 29^th have a moment of uncertainty; let there be pitchers and batters violating the pitch clock; let there be infielders with their feet on the outfield grass; let there be players taking a running start to field their position. And let the umpires call a violation on each and every occasion. That is the only way they will learn. Let them make mistakes, and then try never to make the same mistake twice.

When MLB announced the new rules, and further decreed that they would be implemented from day one of spring training, some people lost their mind. Even if they were inclined to abide by the changes, some players and fans thought a slower implementation would be better for those who have been playing one way their entire lives. I disagreed then, and disagree now. And, from the looks of things on fields from Florida to Phoenix, players are getting comfortable, and the rules are having their desired effect.

Other than baseball purists who want players wearing wool and traveling by train, who doesn’t prefer games ending in roughly 2½ hours? Other than those same purists, who cares what happens in a meaningless spring training game where players who won’t sniff the big leagues this season are pitching, catching, and hitting in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth? Let chaos reign for the next four weeks. Let’s get it all out of our systems. Let the players have a moment of embarrassment. Machado – and his $350M contract – was the first player to take a called (not thrown) strike under the new rules. Do I think that is the last time he takes one of those? Probably not. But maybe Jake Cronenworth or Xander Bogaerts saw that and thought to himself, “Never going to happen to me.”

Same for pitchers. On the first weekend of the spring, over sixteen games, there were 35 violations, 27 by pitchers. Did they all learn their lessons? I doubt it. But maybe/hopefully, their teammates did. Some pitchers, like the Guardians’ Cal Quantrill, have made an adjustment and sped up their routine. New Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen, one of the players for whom the pitch clock was implemented, has been working all off-season to speed up his delivery, including changing his double-swivel to get going quicker. He seems excited, not exercised, by the new challenge. These are athletes who can change their arm angle or their grip on the ball after a single bullpen session; there is no reason they can’t learn to pitch a smidge more quickly.

Spring training used to be about getting players into physical shape. This year it is about getting into mental shape – dealing with the new rules. Let the players make all sorts of mistakes; let the umpires make all sorts of mistakes; let the announcers proclaim mayhem or bedlam or anarchy. That way, when the games matter, when there is something to play for – be it in April or October – everyone is on the same page…and on the same clock.

PLAY BALL!!