I have not been a fan of many (any) of the changes that have been happening over the past few years, but 2018 is ridiculous.  This laundry list of garbage is apparently close to being a real thing.

The higher ups have paid attention to social trends, and the marketing folks have determined that the viewership will increase dramatically among the 13-21 demographic if games can ultimately be played in under an hour.  These are their attempts to make it happen:

 

1)  Designated Hitters will be dissolved:  NO!  This is the wrong way.  IMO, if anything, the NL should adopt the designated hitter position.

2)  Foul balls will be considered a strike out:  Ridiculous.  The best slugger vs. pitcher battles happen when a ball is fouled off 10 times.  If a batter grazes the ball and it goes to the stands on a 3-2 pitch, he is out.

3)  World Series and Playoffs:  Best of 5 and best of 7 games will no longer exist.  Instead, the playoffs and world series games will be a one game winner-take-all affair.  This will cause baseball to be wrapped up in early September.

4)  Timed innings, and only 6 of them:  I dislike the shortening of innings so much less than the timed innings.  The fun and enjoyment of baseball is at its peak when teams battle it out, without the fear of imposed time limits.  I call extra innings free baseball, and a bonus.  Timed innings are going to likely be implemented in 2019.

In summary, I think these are going to make the game boring and will turn off many fans.  Batting statistics will suffer greatly.  Look for the batting average leader being ahead of the pack while hitting .220, and the home run king ending at 24.

Do you think these are good changes or bad changes?  I’m done ranting for now.  It is, after all, April fools so I have to try and come up with something good to fool people with.  🙂