Major League Baseball: Does tradition hold the sport back?
Major League Baseball has been America’s pastime for over 100 years, but are there certain aspects from times past, tradition, holding the game back?
Over the years, Major League Baseball has implemented more and more changes as time moves on, keeping up with the growing sport and expanding teams, with some welcome, while others are shunned. One adjustment that made the most noise at the time was when the American League implemented the Designated Hitter rule in 1973, stirring a major hornet’s nest among the so-called traditionalists.
The MLB needs to go one step further and extend that change within the National League, to even things out. NCAA college baseball and high-school sports across the country play with a DH or extra hitter, so why not make that change MLB wide? It’s a tradition that is hindering that from happening, along with other potential game enhancers. What changes have impacted the game of baseball for the better, even at the cost of tradition?
Newer changes that need to be added to the mix are the before mentioned DH to the National League, implement more netting protecting fans in stadiums MLB wide, the pitch clock, — which looks to be heading our way in 2018 — and cheaper tickets/concessions. It costs the average working class if they want the full ballpark experience, a good chunk of their hard-earned money to go to a game, especially if they have children. This has caused the lowest MLB attendance since 2003, with change screaming its name. Here are some Hall of Fame caliber landmarks for the game in connection with tradition.
During the Dead-Ball Era — 1900 to 1919 — the actual baseball itself was modified, drastically changing the game in a positive way. Now an MLB official baseball is nine inches in circumference, weighing exactly five ounces. It is wound with wool yarn, contains a cor center, wrapped within two layers of cow-hide, with a cork center being added in the late 70’s. Formerly, the baseball was warped, inconsistent, and just plain unplayable, within modern conditions.
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Immediately after the 1920 MLB campaign, the spitball was banned because of the “Ray Chapman incident.” On August 16, 1920, Carl Mays struck Ray Chapman in the head with a blistering spitball, killing him just hours following. Without change, who knows how many serious injuries, or deaths would have occurred without the new rule. Thank goodness there have been zero player deaths since 1920 and we hope that trend continues.
MLB games use approximately 60-70 baseballs per official game, wherein times past just a handful were used in daily contests. Imagine a game with only a few baseballs being the max or as a fan having to give you prized souvenir back? Sometimes a change can do you good, with these prime examples for lessons learned from past miscues.
Adding (enforced) drug tests and stricter PED rules have really cleaned up the game, is an example of a recent positive change, in which steroids and other drugs had become a tradition within the clubhouse of many major league locker-rooms.
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Baseball tradition is a very good thing, but it’s an aspect that should not hinder welcomed change. We need better flow in an average game, more fan interaction with players, cheaper costs, an MLB wide DH, and more safety. MLB, if you are listening, let’s start the conversation on making these changes become reality.