Baseball lockout a slap in the face to the fans

A few sports thoughts while waiting on the Red Sox to corner the market on every pitcher who’s recovering from Tommy John surgery …..

LOCKOUT DISRESPECTS THE FANS: Baseball’s latest work stoppage --- a lockout declared in the early hours of Dec. 2 after the collective-bargaining agreement or CBA expired at midnight Dec. 1 --- is a slap in the face to the fans.
It’s clear, from the rhetoric of both the owners and the players that neither party really gives a damn about the fans, who still pay their salaries. Following the embarrassing wrangling over whether and how to restart the game in 2020 for what proved to be a 60-game season, this is more proof that neither side has the fans’ interests in mind.
That became even more evident after the owners signed several players to huge free agent contracts to the tune of $1 billion on Dec. 1, the day that the lockout was due to expire at midnight. That smacks of hypocrisy and complete disregard for the fans.
If they had the fans' interest in mind, they not only would have ironed out the CBA issues a long time ago, but Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred --- who may be the worst head of baseball since William Eckert served in the post from 1965 to 1968 (who was dubbed William “Inert” by the late great Record American columnist John Gillooly) --- would be on board with keeping two of the most popular changes in the game for 2020 and 2021 intact: keeping 7-inning doubleheaders and deciding extra-inning games by starting a man on second base in the regular season.
But before the season ended, Manfred foolishly went on the record as opposing continuing both moves, which shortened games and were largely embraced by the players, managers and the fans. For instance, Red Sox manager Alex Cora and many others are in favor of both, because they prevent even longer games and save on the wear and tear of the players.
Baseball also should immediately take these steps to reform the sport and speed up games:
* Make the designated hitter permanent in both leagues in all cases; no one wants to see pitchers hitting, and the American League teams are inevitably put at a disadvantage during inter-league games played at National League parks and during the World Series.
* Institute a 20-second pitch clock, similar to what the minor leagues have been using for the last several years. It works seamlessly in the minors (I saw it in action for several years at Pawtucket’s McCoy Stadium through the 2019 season). A pitch clock would get some of the pitchers who take as much as a minute in between pitches to throw the ball before the nearly four-hour games become eight-hour ones.
* Do something about the defensive shifts, which have taken a lot of drama out of the game.
* Have the umpires stop granting time every two minutes to batters or pitchers, which slow down the game again.
Those first two changes --- a universal DH and a pitch clock --- are long overdue.
As far as the lockout goes, expect it go on indefinitely as long as both the owners and players remain so out of touch with --- and so dismissive of --- the fans.
SOX ADDITIONS: I like the Rich Hill signing, hate the James Paxton one, since he’s yet another sore-armed, Tommy John pitcher. The Sox signed him for 2022 even though there's only a slim chance that he’s able to pitch next season. They do have options for 2023-2024 on him. …. Jackie Bradley’s return is interesting, but we’ll lose a lot of offense without Hunter Renfroe. But in the end, Renfroe’s poor defense --- he got charged with 16 errors during the regular season and his offense was AWOL during the ALCS against the Astros --- doomed him.
REVS’ PLAYOFF CURSE CONTINUES: The New England Revolution’s troubled playoff history continued this week with their loss, 5-3, in the Eastern Conference semi-finals after a 2-2 extra-time tie.
The Revs were outplayed by New York, but I wish the MLS would be like the NHL and only use penalty shootouts to decide games during the regular season. They'd be better off playing a 30-minute extra time and then, if it's still tied, playing a series of 10-minute sudden-death OTs.
I’d like that much better than letting the season be decided on penalty kicks. And if they're going to insist on deciding seasons with penalty kicks, the shooters should have to take the ball from much farther back; in the NHL, they have to skate almost the full length of the ice before shooting.