Home runs are up but attendance is down.
Maybe, just maybe, the baseball fans of America are telling the people who run it that they need to balance the game.
It seems every hitter has turned into Dave Kingman, or at least a Kingman-wanna-be.
A notorious all-or-nothing slugger who delivered long home runs, frequent strikeouts, and awful defense, Kingman had 442 home runs and 1,816 strikeouts during his 16-year career. A .236 lifetime hitter, he led his league in whiffs three times.
Just this week, the Washington Nationals mauled the New York Mets, 25-4, and the Los Angeles Dodgers battered the Milwaukee Brewers, 21-5.
Talk about Slaughter on Tenth Avenue !!
Things got so bad for the sad-sack Mets that they used backup shortstop Jose Reyes to pitch an inning in the Washington debacle. Predictably, he gave up six runs at a time his team was already trailing, 19-1. A day later, he became the only man in the modern era to hit two home runs in a game after giving up two the night before. But he also made two errors that threw the game away.
At least the Dodgers destroyed another title contender, the Milwaukee Brewers of the National League Central. Five players combined for seven home runs as Los Angeles scored the most runs by a team in the history of Dodger Stadium, which opened in 1962. In fact, no Dodger team had scored that many runs since July 21, 2001 in homer-happy Coors Field.
For the Dodgers, Joc Pederson started the night with a leadoff homer and did it again in the seventh. Cody Bellinger, who had been in a month-long power drought, hit a grand slam. Newcomer Brian Dozier went deep for the second time in as many games with the Dodgers. Justin Turner, just off the disabled list, recaptured his slugging form, while Yasiel Puig, like Pederson, hit a pair over the fence.
"You never expect to score that many runs," said Bellinger, who connected last on July 2. "But when you do, just try to take advantage of when you're at the plate, and I think we did a good job of that."
Spoken like a true participant of Home Run Derby, the annual slugging match held the night before the All-Star Game.
But wait! The All-Star Game was a much better indicator of the Home Run Derby that has infected the entire game.
For the only time in baseball history – any game, any time, anywhere – 10 different players hit home runs. And they did it against a collection of pitchers that are supposed to be the best in the game. Not to mention in a stadium (Nationals Park) that is not necessarily conducive to the long ball.
Everybody, it seems, has an uppercut swing. The Cincinnati Reds won’t come close to the playoffs this season but they led the major leagues with nine grand-slams during the first half of the season. One of them was even hit by a pitcher – the same pitcher who hit two other home runs before the break.
Years ago, future Hall of Fame pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine did a commercial in which they lamented that, “Chicks dig the long ball.”
Yes, they do. Just not when any ordinary Joe can distort history by connecting time and time again.
Aaron Judge, American League Rookie of the Year last year, hit 52 home runs, most by any freshman in baseball history. This year, his Yankees doubled their power by adding Giancarlo Stanton, who hit 59 for the Miami Marlins and was named Most Valuable Player in the National League in 2017.
We’ve already seen how artificial stimulation ruins the baseball record book. Somebody named Barry Bonds hit the most home runs in a season (73) and career (862) but how many of them were legitimate? The writers who vote for the Baseball Hall of Fame keep rejecting him, despite his seven MVP awards, as their answer to that question.
The fans who came to the Hall of Fame Inductions July 29 answered too: their loudest and longest standing ovation was reserved for 84-year-old Hank Aaron, who hit 755 without ever topping 47 in a season. Still soft-spoken after all those years, he had a well-earned reputation for reaching Babe Ruth’s coveted lifetime record without any artificial means.
Some baseball historians suggest the steroids era have its own wing in the hallowed Hall. It could include players like Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro, and Bonds, all of whom produced Cooperstown-worthy numbers while under suspicion of using banned substances to enhance their statistics.
Since Major League Baseball is always worried about boosting revenue by boosting interest, Commissioner Rob Manfred needs to balance the game.
In fact, that should be his top priority.
Why not enlist a blue-ribbon panel to restore the game to its traditional role as America’s national pastime? Bring back stolen bases, bunting for base-hits, sacrifices, hit-and-run plays, and fundamental defense – without resorting to such artificial gimmicks as severe infield shifts
against all opposing hitters.
Stop the endless parade of relief pitchers, most of whom have minor-league credentials and matching talent. Stop the practice of players prancing to the plate while admiring a few bars of their favorite song. And certainly prohibit players from slow, time-consuming home run trots.
And, most of all, do something about that silly greased, tightly-wound ball that is deliberately designed to sail 400 feet at the slightest touch.
Already anxious to speed the pace of the game, Manfred can do much with little.
Instead of imposing the designated hitter on the National League, why not dump it entirely, and reduce the unappetizing onslaught of home runs. Satisfy the Players Association by increasing rosters to 26, creating 26 new jobs instead of the 15 that would result from NL adoption of the DH.
No DH means less offense, faster games, and better balance.
MLB needs to wake up before more of its fans discover they don’t like a daily dose of Home Run Derby.
