By John Pullano, Managing Editor
“You play to win the game.” As famously shouted at a reporter by former NFL player and coach Herm Edwards, it seems like such an obvious concept. However, MLB teams heading into the 2020 season seem to have forgotten why they play.
For an MLB team to win games it must get on base and keep the other team from doing the same. Players can get on base by getting a hit, drawing a walk or getting hit by a pitch.
Yet for as long as there has been baseball there has been an unwritten rule. When a player or team wants to send a personal message to an opponent it is done when they step to the plate, get hit by a ball and are awarded a free base.
MLB teams are expected to send plenty of “messages” this season to the Houston Astros as a result of the team’s 2017 sign stealing scandal.
“I feel like every single guy over there needs a beating,” said Atlanta Braves player Nick Markakis. “It’s wrong, They are messing with people’s careers.”
Las Vegas set an over-under on Astros batters getting hit by pitches in the 2020 season at 83.5. That would rank them fourth in the MLB during the 2019 season.
During the 2019 season, the Astros were hit by pitches 41 times while the league average was 66. The Astros were hit by 70 pitches during the 2017 season and 66 in 2018. Their 2017 total was the second-highest in the American League.
The Cleveland Indians were hit by pitches 103 times in 2008, which is the most since the statistics started being recorded.
However, for every Astros player that steps to the plate and takes a ball to the dome, ribs, wrist or hip they will be one base closer to plating another run, winning another game and another World Series championship.
Bean balls and throwing in retaliation are old-fashioned, bush-league styles of play. A play that is in line with a player sticking their elbow over the plate to draw a walk or jogging to first on a called third strike. These things have no place in the game, yet they continue to exist.
Leagues like the NFL and NBA continue to strive towards the future.The leagues correct their All-Star events and testing out new playoff formats, while the MLB is stuck in the 1800s, searching for a reason for its dip in attendance.
Of the 30 MLB teams, 17 saw a dip in attendance in 2019, and eight of those teams saw their attendance dip by 12% or more.
The MLB and the game of baseball have become outdated, missing out on the essence of sport, playing to win the game.
For the Astros organization, it will be playing every game this season to win its second world series title in four years, despite its scandal in 2017. Teams will be only aiding them in their mission to win the last game of the season by awarding them a free base out of spite.
Instead teams can take the high road and dominate the Astros for 162 games. 100 regular season losses will send a much greater message than helping a team win 95 games and leaving them with a couple of bruises.
So, to all the 2017 MLB playoff teams that feel cheated by the sign-stealing Houston Astros, get your revenge by sending Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa back to the dugout instead of to first base.
pullanjj18@bonaventure.edu
