Slightly interesting Trivia: In 1975, Shea Stadium was of course the home of the Mets, The New York Jets had played their home games there since 1964, and that year (old) Yankee Stadium was being renovated so Shea was the Yankees home field, and the New York Giants were building (old) Giants Stadium, oddly enough, in the swamps of Moonachie, New Jersey and so Shea was their home field. Only time such a thing has happened.
The “House that Ruth Built” was eventually replaced and at least kept its name. The New York Giants went to their New Jersey home, where in 1983 or 1984 The New York Jets would also move. That stadium would eventually be replaced yet both teams kept the New York in their names, though the Empire State Building remained across the Hudson River to the East.
And finally, Shea Stadium (I believe he was a lawyer who knew the governor Nelson Rockefeller yet more importantly Robert Moses who built stuff wherever he was inclined) was replaced by Che Stadium, named after the Argentinian Marxist Revolutionary (oh, that was where The Rutles played). It’s named after some bank now.
Using position players as pitchers in games went from vanishingly rare to a common strategy in blowout games in the 2010s. Since 2023 MLB now has a rule about when it can be done - position players are restricted to pitch only in situations where their team is leading by 10 or more runs in the 9th inning, their team is losing by 8 or more runs at any time, or the game is in extra innings.
I also love that there is a Wikipedia article devoted to this practice.
Also, that article also mentions that the famous case of Davey Johnson swapping Jesse Orosco and Roger McDowell between the mound and right field is now restricted, you can only swap a pitcher’s position once in the same inning (MLB rule 5.10(d)).
That’s too bad. Johnson must have looked it up in the rule book yet you can imagine it getting out of hand. I’d have thought not allowing warm-up pitches would have been enough.
As for the blowout rule, the up-10 seems to make it a bit harder for the losing team to make at least something of comeback (forcing a real pitcher to come in) yet he other way around, odd things can happen. A lot of SS’s and CF’s especially, can get into the 90’s and maybe work something off-speed in and get their team back in it as well.
Yet I guess it’s really unlikely. Just throwing lollipop pitches and decent enough fastballs should be enough to keep the score wide. Until in some game some time it does happen. See Yogi and the Fat Lady.
The difference in how starting pitchers are used now has already been touched on in several posts, but an additional change is the starting rotation.
50 years ago, the four-man rotation was the norm, but most teams changed over to a five-man rotation not too long after that.
In recent years, we’ve sometimes seen teams experiment with six-man rotations, as well as the use of an “opener”: a reliever who serves as the starting pitcher, but only stays in the game for one or two innings, before being replaced by another pitcher (often either the 4th or 5th starter, or a long reliever), who typically stays in the game for four or five innings.
In addition, due to teams using relievers earlier in games, switching relievers more often, and using position players as relievers (as just noted by @fiddlesticks) , MLB instituted a rule on rosters in 2022: teams are limited to a maximum of 13 pitchers on the 26-man active roster (14 from September 1st on), and all players on the roster must be designated as pitchers or position players, due to the new rules on use of position players as pitchers.
Note that the roster size of 26 is also fairly new. What is happening now is that teams are effectively carrying 8 relievers (assuming a five-man rotation), and, essentially, only five “backup” position players.
Does that mean Ohtani cannot play, say right field? Just pitch and DH?
ETA: I don’t know, yet since a relief pitcher can be “stashed” somewhere (RF I suppose) till they’ve faced three players, I guess there are circumstances where a pitcher is playing a position.
BTW, if that sort of thing happens, is the pitcher now batting in the DH spot?
There’s an “Ohtani exemption” in the rules, allowing him (and any other player) to be designated as a “two-way player” if they pitch at least 20 innings and have at least 20 games in which they have 3+ plate appearances as a batter.
There is a second “Ohtani rule,” which allows the starting pitcher to also be in the lineup as the DH, and to remain in the game as the DH if/when they are removed for a reliever.
Also, FWIW, Ohtani has not played in the field, except as a pitcher, since 2021. And, he has not pitched in a game since 2023, as he continues to rehab from UCL surgery; he’s been throwing bullpen sessions recently, but if the Dodgers have a timeline for him returning to the mound, they haven’t publicly disclosed it.
One change that I haven’t seen mentioned is the trend towards the “pitchcom” to replace catchers giving signs. I don’t know if there was a rule change, or something else.
I just read another new one (to me and since 2020)
27th Man for Doubleheaders/Suspended Games: Teams are often allowed an additional player (a “27th man”) for doubleheaders or when completing a suspended game and playing a regularly scheduled game on the same day.
When I was youmg, there were scheduled double-headers. I guess to give an extra day to travel - probably more important when trains were more commonly used, or at least before point-to-point jets. Still, well into the 70’s ISTR that it was traditional for teams to play two on Memorial Day. One ticket.
Of course rain-out makeups were either day, then later in the day or early starts (around 5PM). Again, one ticket.
But free games (even if you sell more hot dogs and beer) don’t pay the bills - and I want to say it was the Yankees (because they represent Mr. Moneybags greed to me) who instigated the day / night “double headers” and fans could do anything they wanted in between but could not stay. So two tickets. Revenue restored.
I do recall one time the Mets and Yankees played day / night, but the first (I think) at Yankee Stadium, then later at Shea (probably - could have been C. Field). I suppose only cross town rivals can realistically accomplish that - NY, Chicago, LA and not sure about Royals and Cards (or even the Royals/Cards and Cubs/White Sox). I guess if it’s late in the season, there might be no choice (though perhaps the funniest thing George Steinbrenner said was dubbing Derek Jeter “Mr. November” in the game 4 of the 2001 WS though - well 2001 though now I think that happens regularly as all or 2/3 I could be wrong, yet I think the wild-card (first post-season series is still best of 5) post-season series are best of 7’s and sometimes there are tie-breaker series)
Another factor increasing pitch counts and shortening the length of starting pitching is the increased number of foul balls per game. It rose 12% from 1998 to 2019. I can’t find any stats going farther back, and the may not exist.
The Cubs and White Sox could certainly do that; Wrigley and Rate Field (a.k.a. New Comiskey) are only about 11 miles apart. Kansas City and St. Louis are separated by about 250 miles, so highly improbable, unless they decided to do a split doubleheader as a stunt, and had the teams quickly board a plane.
My understanding is that “split” (i.e., day-night) doubleheaders are now generally prohibited under the CBA between the players and league, except in the case of situations like makeup games due to rainouts. So, that’s about the only reason we ever see a doubleheader in the majors anymore.
My best count of world series games in November - starting in 2001 which wouldn’t have gone into November but for 9-11) and had 3 games in November. 2022 had a postponemet for game 3, so add on also games 4, 5, 6. That was the “trashcan” series and ought to be asterisked or something.
(I started with some article from CBS sports)
So, running tally: 16
1 more in 2023
last year the Dodgers whupped the Yankees so not even a game on Halloween.
this year hasn’t been announced, yet good chance (a possible) game 7 could be sometime in the first week
So, that is 17 November and unless the Mets are in it, I just hope the Braves or Yankees lose (so please please no Braves - Yankees!)
Only WS game I attended was game 5 of the “subway series” in 2000. Crushing.
Do-over! Not (yet) a new baseball rule but it’s being considered.
Something about that postponement, and that game 4 of the world series started on Oct 31 and went extra innings, plus somebody keeps banging on a trashcan, had me DWDJWD (Do what Davey Johnson would do) and made a spreadsheet, trying to only count games that started in November (scheduled or not). As none were like Guns & Roses concerts, all started before midnight EDT / EST (whenever that too became a November thing)
So game 4 (2001), an extra-inning game was actually in progress after midnight so count that or not if you want. But the official KML ( Kenesaw Mountain Landis) count is sixteen.
A really serious guy, if the movies depicting him are accurate. Succeeded as commissioner by Albert Benjamin “Happy” Chandler, apparently the nickname was due to his jovial nature. Huh.
Other colorful nicknames are
The Kid - Ken Griffey Jr. because of his father
The Kid - Ted Williams because Teddy Ballgame was not enough
The Kid - Gary Carter (?)
“Spaceman” Bill Lee
Casey Stengel - “The Old Professor”
Yogi Berra (I don’t even know his real first name)
George Herman “Babe” Ruth
Lou “The Iron Horse” Gehrig
This is something that I think has faded, in baseball and in other sports. There are few players who seem to have commonly-used nicknames anymore, other than ones that are just shortened versions of their actual names (e.g., A-Rod, Vladdy).
Decades ago, baseball fans instantly knew who you meant when you said Pudge (Carlton Fisk, later Ivan Rodriguez), Mr. October (Reggie Jackson), The Big Hurt (Frank Thomas), The Bird (Mark Fidrych), The Penguin (Ron Cey), or The Human Rain Delay (Mike Hargrove). There aren’t many nicknames like that in baseball anymore. Even Big Papi (David Ortiz) has been retired for almost a decade.