ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — It’s a bright new day in Major League Baseball. And, strangely enough, it would look great in black and white.
Some of the analytic-driven innovations of recent years — defensive shifts, the devaluation of the stolen base, the parade of relievers, to name a few — have been muted by a series of rule changes. Now fielders are positioned more like in the 1990s. And runners are stealing bases like in the 1980s. And games are moving almost as quickly as in the 1970s. By hitting rewind, baseball has discovered a whole new future.
Now, this isn’t a poke at the statistically-adventurous crowd, of which the Rays have been at the forefront. They taught us truths we never knew existed in a century-old game. But somewhere along the way, those winning calculations inadvertently robbed baseball of some of its longstanding charm.
