So, unless you’re a fan of either the Dodgers or Padres, Thursday is Opening Day. That means it’s time for my annual baseball column.
But first, about that Dodgers-Padres series, which ushered in the 149th season of Major League Baseball in Seoul earlier this week. The Dodgers won the first game largely because a ground ball literally went right through the glove of Padres first baseman Jake Cronenworth — apparently, they don’t make ’em like they used to.
And then, the Padres came back to win the second game 15-11. That was enough to make at least one wise guy say “15 to 11? Wow. That friend of Ohtani’s must have taken the ‘over.’ ”
(Too soon?)
Anyway, here we are again. The grand old game is back, and grumpy old men such as myself are ready to embrace it again, the game’s annual attempts to run us off notwithstanding.
It’s often been said that baseball is too good of a game to screw up, but you sure have to give the owners and commissioner credit for trying. In fact, in this very space just a year ago, I went down a fairly long list of complaints about the game’s rule changes, and how they were destined to flop worse than the 1962 Mets.
I’m here today to admit I was wrong about pretty much everything I said. The rule changes, in a nutshell, not only made for a better viewing experience for the attention-span-challenged fan; dare I say they were barely even noticeable to those of us who have worshipped at the altar of Mickey Mantle since the long-ago days of our youth.
How was I wrong? Let us count the ways.
First, pitch clocks. I figured that was going to be a train wreck that would lead to so many arguments and clock violations, it wouldn’t save any time at all. Boy, was I wrong. In fact, the only time I really noticed the rule was during those frequent occasions when I’d try to rush into the kitchen for a snack without missing a pitch. Unlike past years, I failed. A lot. (On a related note, my “time to the kitchen and back to my chair” speed increased by at least 20 percent.)
On average, MLB games were 24 minutes shorter in 2023 than they were in 2022. That added up to a faster viewing experience for most people, and more time for after-game snacks for me.
And then there was the rule about extra innings and the “ghost runner.” A year ago I said I actually liked extra innings — an old coworker of mine called them “bonanza stanzas” — because they tended to weed out the real fans from the hangers-on. I’d jump onto Facebook at midnight in the 17th inning of a Giants game, say “who’s still with me?” and immediately get a half-dozen responses from fans all over the country.
On the other hand, I can’t recall a single extra-inning game in 2023 where I walked away wishing “Darn! If only that game had gone another hour and a half.” (This is probably due to the fact that while the Giants were just 68-78 in games decided in 9 innings in 2023, they were actually 11-5 in extra innings. Thus, from my point of view, those games usually ended at exactly the right time.)
Now, remember that outcry about bigger bases? I didn’t even remember that change took place until I went back to read my column on the rule changes from a year ago. I thought they would look funny, and even out of place, because they were so much obviously bigger. The only thing that looks unusual to me because of size these days is the slimmed-down Pablo Sandoval.
Meanwhile, the bigger bases (and new pickoff rules) led to an increase in the number of stolen bases, and an all-time low in caught stealing. If that gets even one general manager to fixate on launch angles to a lesser degree, I’m all for it.
And finally, the shift. I initially hated the rule outlawing extreme defensive shifts like none other. Instead, it felt good to see balls hit up the middle actually go into center field again, and I can’t remember once slapping the couch because a fielder was waiting in an unexpected position to take away a base hit — unlike a half-dozen times per night the previous several seasons.
So I was wrong in a few ways, and the game I’ve followed since 1968 is still right in a lot of ways. It’s springtime, the boys of summer are back for another run, anything is possible and as I do almost every year, I’m going to go ahead and predict that the Giants — who made some nice signings this offseason while also getting rid of Gabe Kapler — are going to surprise a lot of people this season.
In fact, I’ll even say you could bet on it.
(Too soon?)
Mike Wolcott is the editor of the Enterprise-Record. He can be reached at mwolcott@chicoer.com. Thursday is Opening Day, so he may be slow to respond between 1 and 4 p.m.
