Robert Manfred was elected as the next commissioner of Major League Baseball in August 2014, succeeding longtime commissioner Bud Selig.
The ironic thing about this? Manfred doesn’t seem to at all care for the sport of baseball.
Days ago, Manfred said the MLB would consider a neutral-site World Series, akin to what happened in Arlington this October.
“I wouldn’t say a neutral-site World Series is completely off the table. There were things that we saw in Texas that were advantages for us,” Manfred said. “You can plan, you can take out travel. You can pick sites that eliminate weather problems. Those are all things worthy of conversation and discussion,”
Naturally, this made sense within the frame of the historically odd 2020 season. However, going forward, this would essentially turn the World Series into a corporate event, much like the Super Bowl. As popular as the Super Bowl is, the biggest stage in football almost gives off the impression of an All-Star game, with its mass corporate sponsors, bidding wars for locations, and random halftime shows with popular music acts. Sure, this helps ratings, but it results in an extremely watered-down version of the game itself.
Neutral Site=Neutral Fans?
Hosting at a neutral site limits the number of fans for each team that can attend the game, and transforms the crowd into an amalgam of fans for every team in the league. Neutral sites will naturally breed a crowd that is also neutral, for the most part.
Paint an image in your head for a second. The year is 2011. David Freese hits a walk-off home run in Game 6 of the World Series, completing one of the most remarkable games in postseason history. But, instead of seeing the cameras shake while over 45,000 Cardinal fans go absolutely nuts, maaaybe half the stadium is cheering. Maybe.
Now imagine the same situation with Joe Carter’s clinching home run for Toronto in 1993, or Luis Gonzalez’ walk-off single in 2001, or countless other historic moments.
Baseball is a poetic, beautiful game. The crowd plays just as significant a role as the teams. Without fans, who exactly are the teams playing for? Of course, they can still watch from the comfort of their homes, but the main part of the beauty of the game is the fans, and how they react to the game. Just try to imagine Jose Bautista’s famed bat flip without fans.
Big Market, Bigger Advantage
Think about the 2020 World Series, as well. It was between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays and was held in Arlington, Texas. Despite being played at a neutral site, the stadium was largely filled with Dodger fans for the entire series. If the Yankees and Dodgers met in a neutral-site World Series, the crowd would likely be somewhat balanced. However, the situation we saw this year would likely become common any time a large-market team plays against a less popular team.
In a similar vein, imagine a World Series between the Rays and Miami Marlins, hosted at a neutral site in, say, Minnesota. The attendance at that series would be piss-poor, especially compared to giving those team’s actual home games that their fans can attend.
Changes That Don’t Bring Change
If this was the only egregious suggestion that Manfred had made since assuming office, it would be one thing. However, this is just one idea in a long, long list of terrible ideas.
One of Manfred’s main goals was to quicken the pace of play. Well, that hasn’t worked. It hasn’t worked at all, actually. The average 9-inning game last season was 3 hours and 7 minutes long. The year before Manfred took over (2014), the average 9-inning game was 3 hours and 2 minutes. This is despite numerous rule changes, introduced in order to speed up games.
Here are some rule changes Manfred has introduced:
- Time limits on commercials
- Limits on how many warmup pitches can be thrown
- 30-second limit during mound visits
- Automatic intentional walks
- Limiting mound visits to six per game (and then down to five)
- Three-batter minimum for pitchers
- Runner on second in extra innings (Manfred has stated his desire to keep this rule in the future)
As you can see, despite these rules, games have only gotten longer. But it raises another question: why do we need to shorten games in the first place?
Pace of Play?
As previously mentioned, the average 9-inning MLB game in 2020 was 3 hours and 7 minutes long (specifying 9-inning games because Manfred also introduced 7-inning doubleheaders this season). Compare this to an average NFL game, which lasts 3 hours and 12 minutes. Yet, there is no widespread push around football to make their games shorter.
Some people like to attribute this to the lack of action in a baseball game, compared to football. However, this isn’t exactly true either. The average football game contains just 11 minutes of action (when the ball is in play). The average baseball game contains 18 minutes of action. That is noticeably more than your average football game.
Now, does this mean these rules have been proposed for no reason? Of course not. Most fans would likely be in favor of limiting commercials (I would hope), and part of the reason driving the decision for no-pitch intentional walks was to help save the arms of pitchers. However, Manfred’s main goal was to quicken the pace of play, and this hasn’t really happened. The average length of a 9-inning game has increased in each of the last three seasons.
This is also coupled with a gross mishandling of the Astros cheating scandal, which has drudged itself back up after former manager A.J. Hinch was recently hired by the Tigers (not that people are ever going to forget about the scandal anyways).
A Serial Liar?
Manfred has also proven, time and time again, that nothing he says is to be trusted.
In February, Manfred publicly claimed that the MLB Players’ Association refused to allow Astros players to conduct interviews unless they were promised blanket immunity. MLBPA President Tony Clark immediately refuted this, stating “MLB said from the outset that its intent was not to discipline players. Any suggestion that the Association failed to cooperate with the Commissioner’s investigation, obstructed the investigation, or otherwise took positions which led to a stalemate in the investigation is completely untrue.”
The official report on the Astros’ cheating scheme, authored by Manfred, states that the team only cheated during the 2017 season. However, a leaked letter sent by Manfred to former Houston GM Jeff Luhnow said otherwise. In this letter, Manfred revealed that the scheme began in 2016, and continued into the beginning of the 2018 season at the very least.
In March, the MLB was negotiating with the player’s association for prorated salaries, in order to play a shortened season. With Manfred acting as lead negotiator, a deal was made. However, the league tried to go back on the deal nearly two months later, claiming they did not know fans wouldn’t be in attendance. They claimed this despite being fully aware of the active pandemic that postponed the start of the season in the first place.
As negotiations continued into June, Manfred guaranteed to reporters that a season would be played, saying “unequivocally we are going to play Major League Baseball this year.”
But when he was asked the same question just five days later?
“I’m not confident,” he claimed. That led to a scathing statement from the Player’s Association, which can be seen below.
For the (Lack of) Love of the Game
Manfred took over the position of commissioner from Bud Selig, who wasn’t exactly beloved by baseball fans either. However, nobody could deny that Selig had a pure love for the game of baseball because it was evident to anyone that spent time around him. He had fought tooth-and-nail to keep the Braves in Milwaukee and brought the short-lived Seattle Pilots to the city after the Braves migrated south to Atlanta.
Manfred, on the other hand, had no baseball background prior to joining MLB as a lawyer, advising the owners during the 1994-95 strike. By itself, that is not enough to disqualify him from the job, but he has shown absolutely no public affection for the game of baseball. He came under immense criticism after calling the World Series trophy a “piece of metal”, which he attempted to use as a defense for his non-punishment of the Astros.
Every move that Manfred has made is aimed towards generating more revenue for the owners. Sure, that is who he works for, after all. But past commissioners, including Selig, have been able to find somewhat of a middle ground between the owners and the fans. Manfred has not even attempted to do such a thing, instead waiting on the owners hand and foot.
Baseball fans deserve a commissioner who loves the game. Rob Manfred does not. They deserve a commissioner who can be open and honest about things. Rob Manfred is not.
Baseball deserves better than Rob Manfred.