Golden Batter Rule Is Result Of Universal DH

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has been determined to leave his own stamp on Major League Baseball. Where most commissioners have long erred towards protecting the integrity of the way the game has been played, Manfred has not been afraid to push the envelope.

Some of his moves have been roundly applauded. While there were time parameters for pitchers, Manfred added enforcement mechanisms that put real penalties for the failure to comply with the rules already in place.

Other measures have really antagonized baseball’s loyal fanbase. Right off the bat, the extra inning ghost runner is a bastardization of the sport.

The same can be said for the shift rules. People have been screaming for more disciplined hitters who learned to use the whole field. Instead, Manfred put rules in place which rewarded the all-or-nothing approaches at the plate which have aggravated many fans.

Overall, the theme has been pace of play and increased offense. That was a large reason for the universal DH. It didn’t matter there was nothing to support the call for a universal DH.

We now have the universal DH to go with the intentional walk rule and ghost runners. Notably, none of these rule changes are leading to improved attendance. In fact, attendance is down from where it was a decade ago.

All of the least viewed World Series have come during Manfred’s tenure. Not even a Yankees-Dodgers World Series could generate ratings baseball saw a decade ago.

The universal DH was put in place in 2022. With it has come DECREASED interest in the game.

Rather than acknowledging the failures of the rules implemented, Manfred seems set to double down with the Golden Batter Rule. The rule is a team can choose one point in the game to bat their best hitter when they want.

Like with all the other rules, it’s not baseball. It’s an abomination.

And yet, we see the rule inexplicably has its champions. The biggest proponent is Michael Kay. We can obviously surmise from here that his whole shtick is being a contrarian and/or he’s preparing for a life with Aaron Judge being the only real hitter in that lineup.

Call it the Golden Batter. In reality, it’s just an extension of the Universal DH.

We’ve gone from who wants to see pitchers hit to who wants to see the bottom three in the order with the game on the line. There is no real appreciable difference.

When people signed on for the universal DH, they logically signed on for this. Instead of agreeing to the provisions of the sport allowing for pinch hitters, people argued for the flawed and failed DH.

Now, they’re probably going to get the next level of it. It’s a special situation DH. It’s a why end the game with a team’s worst hitter when you can see their best.

Instead of allowing baseball to be great like it’s been for over a century, we get people trying to generate greatness. It’s all just antithetical to what the sport actually is.

Baseball was forever tarnished with the universal DH. This is the next step. Next, we will just see any three batters to start any inning. With each passing change, we will see baseball slowly disappear.

While this is happening and interest continues to wane, we will have people continuing to argue another change is needed. The sad truth is baseball was great as is, and the sooner we all realize it, the better off we will all be.