Astros

Baseball Should Embrace Their Weirdness

Published

February 15, 2023

The MLB Rule Changes will take Luis Garcia's fun windup out of the game.

A guy named Bob Dylan once wrote “the times, they are a’changin”. Well, respectfully, piss off Bob. I hate the new MLB rule changes.

Last night in the darkness that consumes the league office (allegedly), MLB rule changes were implemented that focus on speeding up the game. We have bigger bases, a pitching clock, a hitters clock, and robot umps loom. But the biggest travesty of it all is that the MLB rule changes are taking out all the weirdness and quirkiness of this sport in the name of trying to speed up the game.

Much well-trod territory was covered at today's new rules demonstration. But something else caught my attention.

Luis Garcia's wonderfully quirky delivery now is (and technically always was) illegal.

On MLB's renewed focus on balks and illegal pitches: https://t.co/qpazqgilF9 pic.twitter.com/dHiCR5TP7I
— Zach Buchanan (@ZHBuchanan) February 15, 2023

Let me be serious for one second. I am talking to the millenials here, how many of y’all went into the the backyard, dug into an imaginary batters box and fixed your make believe batting gloves like Nomar? How many of you recreated the Jeter routine or the crazy Craig Counsell batting stance?

Nomar Garciaparra’s every at-bat ritual

Tighten the batting gloves ✅

Adjust the left forearm wristband ✅

Touch both batting gloves, wristband, right thigh, left shoulder, helmet and belt ✅

Tap toes against the ground ✅#RedSox • @SoxDingrs

pic.twitter.com/e9STyFQDS5
— Beyond the Monster (@BeyondtheMnstr) January 18, 2022

Craig Counsell is the new Brewers' manager? Gonna have that whole team hitting like… pic.twitter.com/HmFsWrXR9z
— Mark McCleskey (@MarkMcCleskey) May 4, 2015

Baseball is at its best when you let the players be themselves and embrace the weirdness of what baseball is. I get you have a product that is losing traction to the younger demos, but making your game bland with no spice will quickly end up pushing the younger demo away to other sports that embrace flair and emotion. You are about to see every baseball player in the World Baseball Classic play with emotion you haven’t seen on your local 162 game broadcast. That is when baseball is at its best.

Never forget this iconic catch from Adam Jones
pic.twitter.com/WN0eYHU78l
— Ballplayer Network (@Ballplayerntwrk) February 8, 2020

Lol at MLB not showing the part where he goes to first base 😂😂 https://t.co/gYkYswLdaA pic.twitter.com/4RjEmoI620
— Dimitri Kourtis (@D_Kourtis27) February 1, 2023

Free Luis Garcia

Luis Garcia, has become a hometown favorite here in Houston as he has danced his way into our hearts. If you don’t remember Luis Garcia was pitching in Game 4 of the ALCS in 2020 and we were all like “WHO???” Fast forward three years later, he has emerged as a solid number 3 in a Houston Astros rotation that is filled with aces. The new MLB rule changes will effectively kill his windup and he will have a new, hopefully improved, look to his routine this season. This is the problem in baseball, you have a pitcher from Venezuela with a quirky delivery who had kids in Houston mimicking his windup in their little league games! This shouldn’t be taken away from the game, it should be embraced! Figure it out Mr. Commissioner