Hello Baseball Fans,
Baseball has a very storied history within its leaders who have led the sport through times of war, depression, golden ages, and more. From Commissioner Kennesaw ‘Mountain’ Landis, who expelled the great ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson and his comrades from MLB, to Bowie Kuhn, who led the sport in 1970s as star outfielder Curt Flood demanded the title of a ‘free agent’ to A. Bartlett Giamatti, who famously suspended hitting king Pete Rose for life due to gambling on MLB games, for right, wrong, or infamous, the baseball commissioner has had great influence on the sport.
Commissioner: def. – a representative of the supreme authority in a particular area; (North America def. ) a person appointed to regulate a particular sport.
To us here at VFTD, the definition of the word commissioner, as it applies to MLB, demands and allows much respect and just as much opportunity for critique relative to performance of commissioner(s). To be a ‘supreme authority’, one must be an expert as opposed to one who a majority of a small group agreed upon. To be wise and fair is not enough. One must be wise, fair, and knowledgeable upon all things of the subject. A high level of being well-rounded and, most importantly, opposite of one-sided, i.e. owners vs. player union.
Over the years, MLB has had long and short duration commissioners, popular and unpopular commissioners, and everything in between. Some have been viewed as villains by some and heroes by others. With that, it almost begs to question, like a short interview to a current player bio profile that finally asks the player ‘what is one thing you would change about baseball if you were commissioner? Let’s see, if I were commissioner……
…..If I were commissioner of MLB, there would be no regular or postseason games played where BOTH teams have alternate jerseys i.e. solid and dark colors. At least one of the teams would be required to wear gray or white. Save the ‘blue team vs. red team’ jerseys for spring training and high school please (no offense to school leagues as funding typically is limited to one jersey per team and that is more than adequate!). The BIG Leagues should be able to coordinate better.
If I were commissioner, we’re reviewing the outfield fences. Pitchers focus on high velocity, batters focus on high swing angles, and ballparks are smaller than they have been at times. Well, let’s see the great outfielders run down some more balls, make more amazing long throws, and let’s see more attempts by the speedy baserunners to make the inside-the-park home run! AND we’ll have more hits in the larger gaps. How can do we do that? Simple, we move ALL fences back 10 feet that can be reasonably done within their respective stadiums. If we can only gain two or three feet, that is fine, but we’ll add some height to each wall/fence as well. Let’s see more cool action. If we want to see a lazy 320 footer (off the line) go out, we’ll go watch some ball where the players aren’t well paid and swing aluminum bats.
And now back to the uniforms. Yep, we’re pretty picky here at VFTD. Pitchers. Uniforms. Numbers. That’s where we’re at right now. Simple rules for the pitchers include no (regular) pitcher shall take the mound wearing jersey number 44. That number is by no means retired across all of baseball, rather it is reserved for hitters ONLY. See Henry Aaron, Willie McCovey, and Reggie Jackson and their combined 1,839 home runs. End of story. And pitchers, you shall NOT wear numbers 0 (dare we have to even include zero specifically) through 9 as single digits are now banned on the hill. It just does not look right and does not work. In fact, pitchers will be opposite of NFL QBs, who have to be 19 or below. New rule is 20 and above minus 44 and Jackie Robinson’s 42. This is a small potatoes item compared to the remainder!
If I were commissioner, next, we’re on to the managers. The game has removed much flavor by formally eliminating the arguments over called balls and strikes by making it subject to automatic ejection from current game. And, in addition to possibly eliminating a great skill of framing pitches at the ‘masked man’ position of catcher, many efforts are being made to remove even more flavor from the game by going with a full-time robot ump calling balls and strikes. Not only would we block the plate by allowing only two challenges per game per team on ball and strike calls, we would also not suspend managers for accidentally spitting on the umpire while expressing their balls and strikes concerns verbally. This is somewhat commonly known as ‘spittle’, when enthusiastic discussions, ok, it is actually vehemently arguing a point when one’s vantage point is severely hampered. Just this week, Aaron Boone of the Yankees faces said suspension for one game after losing his mind and getting tossed again for already the fourth time in 2023. The bottom line here is we are keeping ‘receiving and framing pitches’ as a much needed skill in the game behind the dish and no suspensions for spittle. Skills and flavor shall be protected!
However, home plate umpires are not to be without critique. There is plenty of room for improvement here. To offer solutions, the said critique offers improved technique. We are tired of watching umps tuck in between the catcher and batter whether the batter is a lefty or righty. In fact, umps are tucked in so far to the inside corner, they are hardly visible on screen as the pitcher delivers (we’ve captured screen shots while watching games) and thus have terribly skewed sight lines to the outside pitches. It is more than ridiculous. And umps, do not lean on the catcher. In fact, don’t even make contact. Either get in a position that you can maintain, which should be much easier now with a pitch clock, or workout more to increase stamina. Do whatever it takes. However, that is a mere (personal) side bar!
How are we going to improve the technique? Just picture the famous Norman Rockwell painting ‘Bottom Of The Sixth’. There are two base path umps standing with the home plate ump as he holds out his hand to catch a rain drop or three while the managers argue in the background. It is ‘old school’. And we are bringing back old school. Going forward, ALL home plate umpires (no ‘grandfather’ clause exceptions will be granted) shall wear the umpiring chest protector a.k.a. ‘big pad’ for protection from skewed pitches and nasty foul tips. The big pad will provide the umpire a fearless outlook and the ability to look out over the catcher’s helmet from the CENTER of the plate!! What a concept!
If I were commissioner, let us talk about offense. Yes, the bases are 3″ larger so that is making more fun on the base paths. However, you have to get on base first. It does not appear that swing (launch) angles will decrease any time soon, if ever (even though many players should for their own batting averages’ sake). Baseball gloves have evolved and grown in size over the decades. Baseball bats have evolved as well and it is time to do so again. According to Baseball-Reference.com (https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Bat), the maximum allowed diameter of a bat’s barrel is 2.610 inches. If we increase that by 0.070 inches, the maximum goes to 2.680 inches for a smooth-looking and nearly matching 2.681% increase in barrel size. We’d love to see our batters have nearly a 3% higher chance of putting a ball in play or staying alive via foul tips on two-strike counts. Much of the added contact would surely include ground balls and easy pop-outs, but putting more pressure on the defense and giving viewers less strolling back to the dugout following a ‘K’ is certainly an improvement.
Owners. If I were commissioner, owners would have new requirements to spend to a minimum amount on player salary. And there would be a concerted effort to remove loopholes. For round numbers, let’s say the ‘salary floor’ is $100 million. This number is based on upon the combined value of annual revenue for each club between national and local tv broadcast revenue that began prior to the 2022 season. If this is difficult for some smaller market clubs to match and still be profitable, changes would have to be made to revenue sharing among the 30 clubs as needed. However, the adjustments would be in place to ensure competitive competition. That is not a type-o. Included in the $100 MM floor would be the rule that is has to be maintained every day of the active season, no exceptions.
There are, of course, many things any sport or business could work on to grow and improve the product. This list is some of the current concerns, preferences, and ideas here at VFTD. If I were commissioner has been brought to you by passion for the game, where the game has been, where it is going, and how to make sure it continues to be relevant as ever.
Later Baseball Fans.