Give baseball credit for venturing outside the box. Perhaps some ideas are just a bit too outside.
Take this new extra-inning rule that MLB's higher-ups, according to a Yahoo Sports report, are planning to kick around in the low minors this summer:
To speed up the game, to force the action, to save everyone from stomaching a manager burning through a seven-man bullpen to win a rare 17-inning marathon, the proposal would place a runner on second base at the start of extra innings.
All of a sudden, you're not taking pitches.
You're looking to do something.
Maybe a bunt. Maybe a ground ball to the right side. Maybe you're still looking to split the gaps.
The possibilities have intrigued Joe Torre, MLB's chief baseball officer, enough to wonder "what it looks like" this summer in the rookie-level Arizona and Gulf Coast leagues. San Diegans might even see a variation of the proposal in effect next month when the World Baseball Classic stops by Petco Park; teams in the WBC will start with runners on first and second from the 11th inning on.
Sounds fun (especially for a format that must protect major league assets for their real purpose _ the season).
It also doesn't sound quite right.
This isn't the sanctimonious rant of a stout purist, either.
We wouldn't miss intentional base-on-balls lobs to the catcher. We'll get over the DH coming to the National League when that inevitability comes to comes to pass. Those of us who've slogged through 16-inning affairs from the press box might even lobby for this extra-inning rule.
Shoot, put 'em on third to start extra innings if a quick finish is the ultimate end game.
Maybe it shouldn't be.
By all means, expand rosters by a spot or two if we're worried about arms (just, please, cap those September expansions already). Even find places to speed up the pace.
Urge the pitcher to deliver quickly. Keep the batter in the box. Explore limited timeouts if need be. Streamline (for the love of Doubleday) this flawed replay system.
But stop pandering to the people complaining about three-hour games.
A 1-0, 90-minute sprint isn't going to appeal to that lot any more than a five-hour slugfest anyway.
We just need to admit that.
Being a fan of Major League Baseball is about making an investment:
You get what you put into the game.
It's about sports' richest history. It's about withstanding 162 games a season, one at a time. It's about nuance. It's about shifts and positioning and bullpens and benches. It's about what pitch to throw in what count to what side of the plate in a one-run game. It's about those rare games that feel like they'll never end _ amazingly, only 14 exceeded 13 innings in 2016, according to ESPN Stats & Info _ and then they do, often in ways you never predicted.
A short-cut to that finish line will only cheapen the ride.
(OK, maybe that was a little sanctimonious. Sorry, not sorry.)
