Dodgers: Old Friend Rich Hill is Fed Up With MLB’s ‘Mickey Mouse’ Rule Changes
There is a reason why Rich Hill was so much of a fan favorite while he was with the Dodgers. The charismatic southpaw captured the hearts of fans all across Los Angeles and his story to get to MLB is absolutely phenomenal.
So you can understand why someone who fought so hard to get to the big leagues wouldn’t want to see a whole lot of changes. The former Dodgers starter recently spoke about rule changes that the league is looking at testing, and he’s not a fan.
Hill picked apart MLB’s desire to speed up the game and get the offense more involved. The league has expressed a desire to see more balls put in play.
Having something else outside of nitpicking about the time of the game. There is so much more that we can get into that is intriguing and exciting for the fans, instead of (risking) the health and safety of the players. I just think that’s something that MLB is missing the mark on. That’s how I feel about it.
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The league is currently test-driving a few wild rule changes in the Atlantic League. They will move the pitching rubber back a little to see if it results in more balls put in play. While a few Dodgers players have expressed more confusion than anything, Hill thinks the league is going after the wrong issues.
There’s a whole slew of issues that I think need to be addressed to promote the game as opposed to little, kind of Mickey Mouse ways to make baseball appealing.
Hill signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Twins in 2020 before getting a new deal with the Rays this season. It’s been a few years since he’s been away from the Dodgers, but he’s always going to have fans in Los Angeles.
Especially if he keeps criticizing MLB.
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I like they way Rich Hill and Trevor Bauer speak their minds, and are unafraid to call Manfred out. They both back it up with their intensity on the mound. Good luck to Hill in his new gig. The old man can match anybody in intensity and competitiveness.
There is only one effective way to reduce the time for baseball games but unfortunately the trend is to go the other way. They need to cut down on the commercials time between the half innings. Not only do they drone on incessantly but now they are beginning to even show spot ads while an inning is still in the at bat posture. BUT MLB won’t even mention that elephant in the room. Into the early 40s the main commercial was a carton of Old Gold cigarettes sliding down the screen behind home plate when a home run ( “old goldie” per Red Barber) was hit. Most games in those days were under 2 hours
Commercials are not affecting the time of games. Sorry but MLB is not that attractive now. The overwhelming problem is the high pitch counts and the long at plate time for at bats. Among players it seems that only the pitchers are complaining about possible new rules. It is the pitchers and their power in players union that is trying to keep Baseball a pitchers game. Only if it becomes a hitters game will Baseball regain its old glory.
Most people don’t even watch games. Almost every fan I talk to is out of the loop on things they didn’t witness at the park or in the postseason and even more who I don’t know or talk to. They follow through news articles and social media posts. Ruining the sport in an effort to retain people’s attention is pointless because they aren’t going to even be watching to notice
Hill was very critical of MLB but did he offer any specific alternatives or make recommendations?
It’s too easy to just pile on them.
The problem is not the game. The problem is the way society is going. Less people have the money to attend in person. There are more and more channels on the TV. Younger people are more into.online gaming and virtual reality. Sports are becoming more of a “one of many alternatives” to watch at home and gather around with friends over. Just think of movies and there are a zillion of them. All the new releases can be seen at home via streaming, etc. The game is the game . It has survived to this point. Let it be and it will survive yet again. P.S. Letting fans back in the parks will not hurt.
dickmountain is right on!
How do you watch the games live when cable has a monopoly on all the games?