Baseball news

The five words that let you know baseball season is right around the corner... No, it's not "Pitchers and catchers report tomorrow".

It's "Ken Griffey injures himself again".

Insert the words Kerry Wood as well, and you've got yourself a baseball season!

Meanwhile, rules changes for the first time in about a decade. Most are kind of silly, for instance, you can't scuff a baseball anymore. There's also some kind of shot clock now for pitchers. 12 seconds. So what's the penality to say, a Steve Traxel, who will be violating this new rule on every pitch? Automatic walk? Traxel, so long, buddy.

Under another change, a player may no longer step into a dugout to catch a foul ball. He still will be allowed to reach into a dugout. But can't go in it. Why? Dumb new rule. There's advertising there - why wouldn't we want to see that?

Or how about this one: You must run the bases out in a game ending home run if there are two outs, and a man on base. Because the man who doesn't run is considered a third out - or something - and the home run does not count. Imagine what's going to happen in Detroit when on a late night game at the end of the 17th inning - this happens when Neifi doesn't advance, and instead dogs it to the duggout to hug his teammates, creating the third out. Then the ump will call him out, and point out the new rule. How much blood will spill before this rule is taken out again?

Wrong! Neifi will never be on second, because that assumes that he somehow got a double with two outs!

Also - No mention or advancement of the strike zone enforcement. This is probably the biggest problem facing the game - and nothing even mentioned! But if there's a rain out, when a game is tied in the bottom of the fifth inning or later and is called because of weather, it will be suspended and resumed before the next scheduled game between the teams at the same ballpark.

Question posed? Do any of these changes make the game better? Are they at all needed?

Apparently there are also some scoring changes, but since the article I was reading to GET this information kind of ended there, I have no idea what these scoring changes actually are.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/16718419.htm

So I looked it up and it's mostly how to score the A.J. Pierzynski third strike, steal home stuff that decided the Sox winning the World Series a couple years back. Maybe you heard about it from some South Side Chicago folks?

Well it oughta be an interesting pile of garbage until Mid August when a couple teams start ramping up and winning some games. Looking forward to making my picks, and then licking my wounds in October.