Baseball politics

There are some politically obsessed people who claim to believe that the terms conservative and liberal are purely political terms and have something to do with which party one tends to vote in agreement with come November.

To those people I offer a very firm “Pish” with a equally sincere “Tosh,” not to mention a raised forefinger fully prepared to be shaken vigorously if said person continues not to understand that the aforementioned terms are fully designed to describe not political but baseball fans, those who believe that the Grand Olde Game was perfectly constructed in 1892 or those that think tinkering with perfection in order to attract fans afflicted with short attention spans is not only allowable but somehow desirable. I think you can tell which is which.

The latest liberal gambit is to tinker around with the pitching mound again, this time moving the rubber back a foot to 61 feet 6 inches. The idea is that would give the batter more time to see the pitch, and so there would be more hitting and hence more offense. More runs equal more interest.

I do wish the baseball people would make up their minds. Lately the concern is that games go on too long. Well, if you put more runners on base, guess what happens to the game clock?

How much such a move might affect the game is supposed to be tested out in some independent league games this summer. Considering that the batter has less than a half a second to make up his mind about whether to offer at the pitch or not, adding a foot may tack on only a micro-second or two; but that may be enough for a major leaguer to feel that he now has all day. Whether it will make any difference to a minor leaguer is anyone’s guess.

As you might guess, this type of mucking about with the rules has the conservative element completely up in arms. “How dare you mess with history this way! How are we to compare today’s pitchers with those of yesteryear if they are throwing from different lengths?” 

And you know, they have a point.

On the other hand, baseball has seen numerous changes over the decades, some of which (like not making a bowling pin of the second baseman in order to break up a double play) actually make sense. Others, like the one under discussion, not so much.

Aristotle, that noted pitcher for the Athens Philosophers, always advocated to take the middle way between the extremes. He must have had an unbelievable fastball because we all know that the middle of the plate is where you don’t want your ball to go.

In any case, those Philosophers were unbeaten for a very long time; but on this one, I have to go with the conservatives. Lowering the mound back in the 60s was one thing; this idea of moving it back seems like a step in the wrong direction.

Millerton resident Theodore Kneeland is a former teacher and coach — and athlete.