Picture this; the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers are down to their final out, and with the bottom of the lineup at the plate, Shohei Ohtani is not due up for quite some time … or is he?
Well, Major League Baseball is floating the idea of a new quirk where Ohtani, already in the lineup, may come up earlier than he is supposed to.
Commissioner Rob Manfred said on “The Varsity” podcast back in October that league owners have shared “a little buzz” about the “Golden At-Bat” rule, and it seems to be gaining some traction ahead of the Winter Meetings.
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Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. speaks during the 2024 Grapefruit League Spring Training Media Day at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024 in Tampa, Florida. (Mike Carlson/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
So, what is it?
Each team would get just one chance to basically bring up whoever they want to the plate.
Say the Dodgers are down a run and down to their final out, Miguel Rojas is up, Chris Taylor is on deck and Ohtani is in the hole.
Well, Dave Roberts can use his Golden At-Bat to bring in the National League MVP (maybe the New York Yankees with Alex Verdugo and Juan Soto is a bit of a better example, since everyone on the Dodgers can hit).
The Athletic reported that there are several variations being floated around, including only using it past the seventh inning or only using it in the ninth.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. speaks to the media during the Spring Training Cactus League Media Day at Arizona Biltmore on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023 in Phoenix. (Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
SHOHEI OHTANI SEEKS $325K WORTH OF BASEBALL CARDS FROM HIS EX-INTERPRETER
Nonetheless, it would arguably be the most significant rule change the game has seen in recent years.
Ahead of the 2023 season, MLB introduced larger bases, a pitch timer, limiting shifts and a “disengagement” rule where pitchers would only be allowed three attempted pickoffs, but the third failed one would result in the runner moving up 90 feet.
While baseball purists might be disgusted yet again, it is hard to argue that the rule changes have been a negative for baseball.
The average nine-inning game in the 2024 regular season was two hours and 36 minutes, the lowest since 1984, and no, it is not less baseball; it is less downtime in the game. There were also 3,617 stolen bases this season, the most since 1915.
MLB parlayed that into its highest attendance since 2017, despite prices throughout the ballpark being higher than ever.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred speaks during a news conference after negotiations with the players’ association toward a labor deal on Tuesday, March 1, 2022 at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
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So, while the purists may not like it, it is clearly working, and it would be a lot more fun to see Bobby Witt at the plate instead of Kyle Isbel in the ninth – perhaps even twice!
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