The world has gone crazy, we’ve recently discovered, and nowhere is that more evident than in the Major League Baseball offices in New York.
In the media capital of the world, you’ll find Commissioner Rob Manfred, the nuttiest top executive in professional sports, who always seems to go that extra mile to troll baseball fans.
Manfred’s mind is on his money, and the money is on his mind. His brilliant idea of having All-Star players wear generic jerseys representing their respective leagues instead of the time-honored tradition of wearing one’s team jersey was so reviled that MLB rescinded the plan in September. MLB also agreed to ditch the horrid uniforms used in 2024 — with the mismatched jerseys and see-through pants — that Manfred implemented.
Manfred’s vision is so short-sighted and lacking in common sense he’s easily the most disliked baseball commissioner in history, surpassing Bud Selig, Bowie Kuhn and the rest. He said in February he plans to retire when his term is up in January 2029, adding: “You can only have so much fun in one lifetime.”
Manfred’s version of “fun” is changing everything you know and love about baseball just to leave his mark on the game. Ads on helmets? Check. Ghost runners? Check.
Now comes his latest inane idea, referred to by the commish as the Golden At-Bat.
When he mentioned it on a podcast in October, it was so stupid that no one paid much attention. But when The Athletic chimed in this week with a lengthy story on how it might look, the idea was universally panned and Manfred’s already soiled reputation took yet another hit.
In case you missed it, the Golden At-Bat rule would allow managers to pinch-hit for a player with another player who already is in the game. It would be a one-time-only move, so managers would have to pick the right situation.
For example, if the 2016 Cubs wanted to use No. 2 hitter Kris Bryant in a clutch situation instead of No. 8 hitter Jason Heyward, manager Joe Maddon would’ve simply called on Bryant to take the Golden At-Bat. If the game continued into the next inning, Heyward would still go back to right field and Bryant would be back in his normal spot in the lineup.
The idea is supposed to create a “magical” moment where one of the team’s best hitters can bigfoot his light-hitting teammate in a crucial situation, creating more strategy and fan excitement. The details aren’t available on exactly how it would work, and maybe we’ll never know. Hopefully, Manfred will get the message fans have sent by informing us he was just kidding.
But so far, he hasn’t shot it down. Manfred, in fact, told the podcast there was a “little buzz” about the idea at a recent owners meeting, which suggests the owners are as ignorant about the game as him.
The Athletic’s Jayson Stark, a fine baseball writer with good sources, didn’t completely dismiss the idea in his long explainer, writing that “if the goal is to create moments and memories, the Golden At-Bat could be a vehicle to create more of those. So who could possibly complain?”
Of course, Stark already knew the answer: Everybody.
The reaction on social media was swift. Only a few appeared to be in favor of implementing a drastic rules change that would forever alter the way the game is played. Many pointed out that baseball’s biggest moments are organic and frequently feature players who aren’t stars. That’s why we love the game.
Tommy La Stella was an average player who mostly came off the bench during a 10-year career, finishing with a 3.6 WAR. La Stella would be a perfect candidate to get bigfooted in a Golden At-Bat situation. But in 2018 he arguably was the best pinch-hitter in the game, hitting .312 in the role and setting a Cubs record with 24 pinch-hits in 90 appearances. La Stella was a cult hero on the North Side, as beloved as some of the biggest stars.
Not everyone can be Juan Soto or Shohei Ohtani. The game needs its Tommy La Stellas, too.
That’s what Manfred and the foolish owners buzzing over the idea don’t understand about baseball. Size doesn’t matter in this sport. A hero can be 5-foot-4 or 6-foot-7.
I don’t expect the Golden At-Bat to be adopted for anything outside of an exhibition like the All-Star Game, so no worries. Even then you’re possibly depriving someone who could be making the only All-Star appearance of his career of an at-bat for a superstar who probably prefers to leave the park and take his private jet home once he exits in the fourth inning.
Even if this isn’t adopted, Manfred still has four more years to come up with idiotic rule changes similar to the Golden At-Bat. I’m sure he’s already brainstorming.
How about an extra run for home run balls that barely clear the wall, or land in the basket of Wrigley Field? Maybe allow fans to grapple with outfielders for foul balls, like the New York Yankees fans did to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Mookie Betts in the World Series?
Sounds crazy?
Remember, only a few years ago, MLB executive vice president Morgan Sword admitted: “We’ve never talked about this in any serious way, but we talked about allowing fans to throw home-run balls back and keep them in play. That’s one that I don’t even like.”
Give him time.
There’s no telling what kind of damage Manfred and his cohorts will do to the game if left unchecked.
If ruining baseball for his own amusement is Manfred’s idea of “fun,” these next four years are going to be very painful.
