By: Fred Gallatin

In recent decades, Major League Baseball has struggled to compete with other major sports leagues like the NHL, NBA, and NFL. Fans and analysts cited the causes of these issues to be long, drawn-out games and a lack of action.

Commissioner Rob Manfred and his team attempted to fix this in 2019 by using juiced baseballs, but the result was an artificial inflation in home runs and high-scoring games, which isn’t necessarily what fans want to see nor what players and organizations want to partake in.

In 2023, the league decided to begin making drastic changes in order to save baseball from falling into cultural irrelevancy amidst the popularity of other leagues.

The league established an extra-innings ghost runner in an attempt to limit the number of marathon games. These games were an issue for a multitude of reasons, including player fatigue, stadium logistics, and the schedules of fans.

When fans purchase tickets, they are expecting it to end in a certain amount of time. When games go to 14 or 15 innings, fans are often forced to leave early due to conflicting interests.

Additionally, a game lasting for more than 9 innings takes a harsh toll on teams and their players, especially the bullpens. Having to use nearly every pitcher chasing a regular season win depletes rosters and can cause injuries.

Once a game reaches extra innings, each team begins every inning with a runner on second base. This makes it so that games rarely go past 10 or 11 innings in the regular season.

General consensus is that this rule is extremely successful due to the benefits for teams, stadiums, and fans. The only people unhappy with the rule are “baseball purists” who believe that having ghost runners is not “real baseball”. To address these concerns, the ghost runner rule is abolished during the playoffs in order to preserve the integrity of those games.

Two minor rules that were established were shift restrictions and the implementation of larger bases.

In the 2010s, teams began basing defensive positioning off of data analytics. This is called “The Shift”. Players who were known to hit the ball to specific parts of the field would step up to the plate to see three infielders clogging their hitting lanes. This brought down the league batting average, which led to rules that limited the shift.

Specifically, infielders had to have both feet on the dirt and could not switch between the left and right side of second base.

Although marginal, this rule has been successful in raising batting average and rewarding the hard contact that was impacted by the shift.

As stolen bases and aggressive baserunning began declining, the MLB decided to increase the size of the bases in order to encourage aggressive baserunning and make force plays safer for both runners and fielders.

Before the rule change, MLB bases had been 15x15in for nearly 150 years. The league decided to change the bases to 18x18in. This change shrunk the base paths by nine inches, which made it massively easier to steal bases on the best catchers in the world.

This rule, again, is regarded as being a massive success. Stolen bases, runs, and the resurgence of speedy utility players have brought another dimension of excitement to baseball.

The pitch clock was established after the 2020s saw games extending well into the three-hour range. Fans hated the long, drawn-out at-bats that saw no action outside of the batter adjusting his gloves.

With the bases empty, pitchers have fifteen seconds to begin their windup from the time they have possession of the ball. With runners on, they have eighteen seconds instead.

Additionally, batters must be ready for the pitch by the end of this timer. A pitch clock violation by a pitcher results in a ball, and a violation by the batter results in a strike.

These punishments change the entire at-bat and ensure players follow the rule.

Again, baseball purists are the only demographic not in full support of the rule, saying it takes away from their relaxation and that baseball lost its uniqueness by adding a clock.

One concern with the pitch clock is that it increases injury risk for pitchers, but there has been no conclusive findings to support this. Overall, the pitch clock has been met with resounding applause from all parties.

This change was a huge step for the MLB, but the brand-new ABS (Automatic Balls and Strikes) system takes the crown for the most controversial and groundbreaking rule change. Baseball is nothing without the umpires that man every base on the field. Every single pitch, at least one of these umpires makes a call that alters the game. Their impact is exponentially greater than the officials in other leagues.

For more than a century, umpires have made controversial calls that win and lose teams games. Players were at the mercy of the umpires’ opinions, regardless of how egregious their calls were.

Implemented this season, ABS has drastically changed the game. Teams are allowed two incorrect challenges per game, but as many correct challenges as they wish. This takes pressure off the players but thrusts the home plate umpire into the spotlight.

Games have been decided by ABS, fans erupt when a call is changed in their team’s favor, and explosive disputes and ejections have been declining. Because of these facts, early doubters of ABS have been either silenced or converted into supporters.

Fans, players, gamblers, and organizations are all in support of ABS due to its ability to make strikes and balls irrefutable and limit the power of umpires.

Overall, Commissioner Rob Manfred has demonstrated leadership and a willingness to grow the game in order to maintain relevance in a rapidly shifting American sports scene. In almost every case, these decisions have been met with unwavering support from everyone involved with the league.

Although making such frequent, major changes to games will result in a period of adjustment, the changes are necessary. It is no longer 1900, and if the MLB wants to compete with the other major American sports leagues, more of these rules and changes will have to be established in the coming years.