Baseball traditionalists, rejoice.
Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday that the controversial — to say the least — “Golden At-Bat” rule he floated recently won’t be coming to Major League Baseball any time soon.
“To go from the conversation stage to this actually showing up in MLB is a very long road,” Manfred told the Yes Network. “You don’t like the idea? I wouldn’t be too concerned about it right now.”
The rule change would allow teams to send a hitter of their choosing to the plate — potentially at any time during the game, once per game.
The Yankees, for example, would be allowed to send Aaron Judge to the plate with the game on the line in the ninth inning and the bottom of the order due up.
Manfred said he “is not particularly in favor of” the ide, but does urge league brass to brainstorm new ideas for baseball.
“It was a very preliminary conversation which did create some buzz,” Manfred said. “I do encourage the owners to have conversations about the game.”
Baseball has seen a number of changes under Manfred in recent years aimed at speeding up the game and bringing in new fans, including instituting a pitch clock, putting a free runner on base in extra innings and banning full infield shifts, among other changes.
This particular idea, though, appeared to be beyond the pale for most fans of the sport.
Sports radio legend Mike Francesa said he would stop watching baseball altogether if the rule came to be.
“All I’ll say about that is the day that they adopt the ‘Golden At-Bat,’ baseball and I cease to exist together,” Francesa said on his podcast.
Mets radio voice Howie Rose said the rule change would be “a bridge too far” for his liking.