Major League Baseball just had what will undoubtedly be one of the best moments of its season when Mike Trout faced off against Shohei Ohtani in the World Baseball Classic.
Yes, I know. That’s not actually MLB baseball. But, at the same time, it got a lot of people excited about what could possibly be in store for this season. And that’s a good thing.
So, of course, Rob Manfred and baseball’s front office had to come and water down all that joy and goodwill with an absolutely ridiculous rule.
The league sent out memos with some slight tweaks to the rules, including many of which impacted the pitch clock and the speed of the game. ESPN’s Jeff Passan got a hold of the memo and shared details on it.
Among the rules were new standards for bat boys and bat girls around the league. Yes, apparently, if they’re too slow their jobs could be in jeopardy.
“New standards will be enforced for bat boys and bat girls, whose ability to quickly retrieve equipment will help efforts to speed up the game, according to the memo. The league will evaluate the performances of bat boys and bat girls and could ask teams to replace them if their performance is considered substandard.”
What an absolutely ridiculous rule, man. Like, seriously? Is the 14-year-old who took a little bit of extra time to replace a broken bat really the one slowing the game down? Come on, MLB. This isn’t a problem. Why threaten a good time like this?
It just feels cold, man. A little too cold — even for Rob Manfred, who is absolutely a supervillain. That’s the only way to describe someone who would audibly cackle during the temporary cancellation of their sport.
MLB fans were so miffed by the thought of this new rule. Rightfully so. It’s completely ridiculous.
More rigorous standards than for umpires lmao https://t.co/8i0UBeGzAK
— Andrew Stoeten (@AndrewStoeten) March 22, 2023
Angel Hernandez sued MLB and forced them to publicly announce he doesn’t do WS games because he frequently makes incorrect calls and made a big scene when 3 of his ALCS calls were overturned. He’s still here.
But if a batboy takes too long to run and get a bat, he’s unemployed. https://t.co/hHKrz5WWA8 pic.twitter.com/phk2SVR453
— Quinn (@QuinnSTLCards) March 22, 2023
erik neander summoning a bat boy to bis office to let him know he’s been optioned for being -1.2 ball retrievals below replacement level https://t.co/C7PEbqLBZ4
— Robert Orr (official) (@NotTheBobbyOrr) March 22, 2023
MLB is now watching bat boys and bat girls, and will suggest change if they aren't quick enough… https://t.co/jUAYC6mwtn
— Matthew Moreno (@MMoreno1015) March 22, 2023
Rob Manfred must be stopped. https://t.co/JH2erXKdhf
— 🏴☠️ ⚾️ Dread Spring Training David ⚾️🏴☠️ (@fotodave) March 22, 2023
OK so this absolutely blows. You've already cut the average game time by like 40 minutes. Stop putting unnecessary pressure on kids to save an extra 8 seconds. Honestly nobody cares https://t.co/6FWgu17AX5 pic.twitter.com/xjeeom70fn
— Ethan Fisher (@efisher330) March 22, 2023
Imagine Rob Manfred calling 12 year old Sally and firing her. https://t.co/8aLlCT3GBv pic.twitter.com/HEsx7eCByW
— Packrip Mahoments – Spencer (@PackripMahoment) March 22, 2023
Ah yes, the age-old baseball problem of substandard batboys and batgirls https://t.co/AafLQHAROo pic.twitter.com/JGkho9nILS
— Chris Creech part owner of World Champion Braves (@thechriscreech) March 22, 2023
This absolutely stinks, MLB. Let this one go. Please.
