Baseball is in trouble. Is boring too strong a word?
MLB experimented with an “action-inducing” proposal in the independent Atlantic League in 2021 by moving the pitching mound 12 inches further from home plate to 61 feet 6 inches.
So what happened? Did fans see more exciting action, more hitting, more base running?
Nope. So said Atlantic League President Rick White in an NPR Interview:
“We didn’t notice a material change in offensive statistics. While strikeouts went up, we didn’t see a corresponding increase with any dynamic action relative to batted balls.”
Pause for a moment on the “strikeouts went up” comment. More strikeouts?
In fewer words, the experiment flopped! Action did not increase, but strikeouts did. How exciting!
Into the breech we step with our rule proposal called ROTO – Run On Third Out. It’s detailed in several posts below, but the most recent one dated April 18, 2021 is a basic primer.
I aimed the following Tweet yesterday at five MLB executives and Mr. White:
The Atlantic League’s mound move added no excitement. Try something different – my proposed Run On Third Out (ROTO) rule. Take 1 minute to read commaaina.blogspot.com & you’ll agree ROTO = FAN EXCITEMENT. Thanks. @karintimpone @MLB_PR @AtlanticLg @TD_Reagins @chrismarinak
You’re invited to read about ROTO and embrace this proposed rule change, which isn’t as radical as moving the pitching mound!
And if you know how to directly communicate with Theo Epstein, please let me know. As the Washington Post noted in a 2021 article, Epstein may be the key.
Tweet recipients:
(Clockwise from top left): Chris Marinak, MLB’s Chief Operations and Strategy Officer; Tony Reagins, Chief Baseball Development Officer; Karin Timpone, Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer; Pat Courtney, Chief Communications Officer; Rick White, Atlantic League President; and (indirectly) Rob Manfred, Commissioner of Baseball
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