Perhaps least discussed among Major League Baseball’s new rules designed to improve pace of play is the one eliding four comically wide pitches for an intentional walk into a raised four fingers flashed by the manager. That change has saved us maybe a minute per intentional walk, but it does not make for great television.
The New York Yankees did their best to give the fans what they wanted on Tuesday when, in the second inning of a game New York would win 6–3 to take a 2–0 lead in the American League Championship Series, Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt issued perhaps the most dramatic intentional walk of the season: One out, runners on second and third, Juan Soto striding to the plate, Aaron Judge lurking in the on-deck circle. Yes, that’s right: Vogt was walking Soto to take his chances against the likely American League Most Valuable Player and AL single-season home run record holder.
