MLB: Good on shift restrictions

By Ed Piper

You'll hear nothing but rejoicing from this household on MLB's vote to restrict the shift beginning next year.

The shift has ruined the game. Teams have been so good at reading hitters' spray charts and positioning their infield and outfield defenders, that singles have gone extinct; the hit-and-run is something you read about in books about old-time baseball; and nobody plays "small ball".

It's just, swing for the fences and either hit a home run or strike out.

And there is no strategy in that.

I had this conversation with someone I'm close to months ago (my brother). We grew up playing baseball together. He laughed: "That's silly. Just let hitters practice hitting the ball to the hole."

Well, great thought. Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers is the only player who has bothered practicing hitting the other way, and he is an expert at it.

No one else has practiced bat control to punch the ball away from defenders, and they apparently never will, without help from the rules committee.

I'm thinking of Tony Gwynn here. He called the hole between third base and shortstop the 5.5 hole. A great batsman, he adeptly--and not irregularly--hit the ball through that hole for a base hit.

Unfortunately, baseball players don't and will not adapt. Like I was saying before, the preposterous state we have seen the game fall into is a joke. Swing for the fences. Strike out. It's all the same. I don't know if hitters are encouraged to do this by analytics, which are used when they and management sit down and negotiate the next contract. Something reinforces the non-hit-and-run mentality.

If you can't hit it over them, try to hit it through them.

How dumb.

But I look forward to next spring, when we will have two fielders positioned to the right of second base, and two fielders positioned to the left of second base. They have to have at least one foot on the infield apron, or dirt.

In the same way, we no longer will see four outfielders. It's too bad it has come to this, but it has. The Dodgers, for one, have been really good at playing in the shift and denying opposing hitters a baseknock.

Goodbye to that. Back to a little more strategy, a little more attempt to move the runner up with a basehit. No more swing for the fences or strike out.

For older folks, do you remember Dave Kingman? When there was still balance in baseball, before teams developed the shift, Kingman was known for a powerful, wipeout swing that brought either feast or famine. He struck out an unbelievable high number of times each year, but he also hit home runs. That's when he was the exception, and we all talked about his extreme approach.

Now that approach is common--at least, until the Rules Committee voted yesterday (Sept. 9). Hail, hail the rules committee. It did what it had to do.

Did you notice all four player representatives voted against restricting the shift? It was up to the five owner reps to vote for it.

I don't know what the players' reps were thinking. They said, "It's because the owners haven't taken care of other areas of the game." Like what? Kind of tit-for-tat. I'm not an owners guy--I know the damage a mean owner can do to his/her team. But for the good of the game, players should realize things are going to evolve much better beginning next spring now that the shift is dead.