Rob Manfred's 'golden at-bat' proposal is his worst idea yet

The MLB commissioner has as many good ideas as General Custer in a forest.

Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports

Bad ideas sadly come naturally to human beings. Through a synchronized manner of thought that always pushes us to think of the best new thing, we thankfully discard 99% of these shrewd ideas. If only Rob Manfred could hear a bad idea, and simply disregard or shut it down. He instead runs towards them like a Black Friday sale.

Maybe Manfred sits in his office and tries to come up with the worst ideas ever, since his law degree didn’t teach him anything about the order of things. He has a dry-erase board full of wickedly awful plans to enhance the game of baseball and bring it back to the fans in a better format. Executives and assistants come into the room and immediately shoot down 95% of Manfred’s ideas. The ones that see the light of day are dangerous enough. Putting a runner at second to start the tenth? We’ll get to that in a minute.

This week, Manfred said that a new move is being discussed at the owner’s meetings, one revolving around giving a team the chance to use their best hitter at any time. A manager could point to Shohei Ohtani during a pivotal point in the game, and see the entire game change on one swing. Aaron Judge would always be available to slam the gavel on a tight game. It would further erase the idea of strategy when a manager has to reach into his bench of utility players and tricks to fix a need. All Aaron Boone has to do is point at Aaron, and let him be the judge.

This lessens the game in a deeper way than employing the designated hitter rule in each league, a move that took away the boring sight of a pitcher hitting in a crucial spot. That move bolstered the offense in a lively way; the game doesn’t need a second helping of “pick your spot for a star” that Manfred and the owners are discussing. All this does is strip more paint off the classic game that baseball used to be, moving it to a more gimmicky sport. The next thing will be a TikTok contest where a fan can choose which pitcher gets to come out of the bullpen next. Perhaps a hitter has to unlock a box for the magic bat inside to take an at-bat before the pitcher throws three pitches in the strike zone.

Manfred’s move to start a runner at second base in extra innings was a hard push for game times to be capped instead of extended, because short attention spans are taking over the world. That was a bad idea that hasn’t gone away, leading to an easy groundball that decides a game before the extra innings can breathe. Instead of playing a wistful game to the very end, Manfred ball seals everything up in minutes. It’s good for stadium workers, but a letdown for anyone who likes thrilling baseball. There’s no clock on the game, but Robbie boy keeps trying to assign one each new season.

Imagine in hockey if they left a shooter unprotected for a few seconds on the dot, allowing him the chance for a free pass at a one-timer or slap shot. While that would produce some big moments, the air would be let out of the room due to how easy the goal or run was accomplished. Making something easier doesn’t make it better, especially in a sport defined by skill. As Jimmy Duggan said, “it’s the hard that makes it great.” Rob… Robert, are we paying attention?

Manfred is deleting the difficulty of baseball, one moronic owner meetings suggestion or topic at a time. Appealing to the younger, attention-stricken hearts of fans won’t help you win the majority back to the sport. It will empty out the boatload of old fashioned baseball lovers who still love the game.

The DH rule was a good move that did eliminate decision-making and strategy from a manager’s arsenal of tricks; the “golden at-bat” addition will make the sport a mockery for competition and skill. If the fans could decide, even they would vote it down. Next, let’s put a few bonfires in the outfield around the bullpens.