Major League Baseball has undergone some dramatic changes in recent years that have altered the game. The designated hitter in both leagues, expanded playoffs and most recently the pitch clock.
But one idea that has been discussed and kicked around in recent months would be one of the most dramatic changes ever and completely change the very nature of the way the game has been played for more than 150 years.
It is the golden at-bat, and it is something that commissioner Rob Manfred casually mentioned this week on John Ourand’s podcast.
“There are a variety of (rule change ideas) that are being talked about out there,” Manfred said. “One of them — there was a little buzz around it at an owners’ meeting — was the idea of a “Golden At-Bat.”
The concept of the “Golden At-Bat” is simple enough — one time per game a team could choose any hitter in its lineup, whether it is their turn to hit or net, and send them up to the plate for an at-bat.
It is not an imminent rule change, but the fact it is being talked about and the fact the commissioner is comment on it is a pretty good sign that it is something that it is being seriously considered down the line.
It should stay an idea and never go beyond that.
While it could certainly add some intrigue to games and another layer of strategy for managers, it still seems like more of a gimmick than anything else. And it is too dramatic of a change to the way the sport is played.
You set a batting lineup, and that is it. How the game unfolds after that is up to the play on the field.
The pitch clock was always seen as controversial to baseball purists, but it does not change the way the game is played. It just makes it happen faster. The designated hitter might have its critics, but again, it is still a basic concept with a batter in the lineup hitting in order.
The Athletic’s Jayson Stark outlined a couple of possible ways the rule could be implemented, including limiting it to only at-bats before the seventh inning, or only allowing teams that are trailing to use it late in games.
There is also the possibility that a team could choose a hitter for the “Golden At-Bat” before their spot in the lineup, creating the possibility for them to hit two times in a row.
This idea, by the way, has already been put into practice with the Savannah Bananas, baseball’s answer to the Harlem Globetrotters.
