Rob Manfred might suggest eliminating shifts
By Hayden Kane
In his first days as new MLB commissioner, Rob Manfred is already making waves with his suggestions to improve baseball.
Pace of play and a lack of offense. As people declare that baseball is being rendered obsolete despite the fact that attendance is sky-high and it is generally doing just fine, pace of play and a lack of offense are the two factors pointed to as the problems.
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In an extensive interview with ESPN, new commissioner Rob Manfred noted these among the issues he would like to address to improve baseball. Among Manfred’s stated priorities are youth outreach, player relations, and yes, offensive declines and pace of play.
To address those latter two concerns and make baseball appealing for a group other than purists, Manfred suggests that he would be open to eliminating shifts.
Such a suggestion has its problems, of course, as noted by many people.
Re: No shifts: Does that mean first baseman must always hold the runner? Must stay on the bag? On the bag? In front of the base? Back?
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) January 25, 2015
Re: No shifts: Who will enforce it? If fielder must stay in his 'circle,' who will determine if he left a split second early? Reviewable?
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) January 25, 2015
Eliminating shifts in baseball? Legislating against innovation and intelligence seems like a bad idea for any industry.
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) January 25, 2015
Last tweet: my thoughts on rules against shifting. I think it'd be dumb to do it.
— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) January 25, 2015
Not to mention that, if we get rid of defensive shifts, we will be robbed of moments like this one:
Or this one:
One can reasonably expect that Major League Baseball will implement changes in the seasons to come that speed up the game and make it more palatable for a broader audience. But given the resistance that will come on this particular suggestion to eliminate shifts, this suggested measure is unlikely to gain traction.
Maybe Manfred is just testing this out to see the public reaction before we get to the whole “pitch clock” thing.
h/t SI Wire
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