By Edwin Cooney
During the course of an interview late in 1996 on the NBC Game of the Week with Baltimore Orioles broadcaster John Miller and Acting Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, the commissioner labeled Miller “a likely baseball purist.”
Mr. Miller was shocked, as he had some views that were about needed changes in the game. In fact, John Miller not only advocated interleague play, he also loved the designated hitter!
About a week ago, my buddy whom I’ll call "Erie Michael,” proudly labeled himself a "baseball purist" due to his opposition to some of the changes that will be made in the shortened 2020 season. These included the use of the designated hitter in the National League, the runner automatically put on second base at the beginning of each extra inning, relief pitchers compelled to pitch to at least three batters, and enforcement of the “20 seconds between pitch rule,” as well as new limited mound visits by the catcher and the manager to speed the game up.
“Erie Michael" knows exactly what will happen with a runner on second base and nobody out: "The batter will simply push the next pitch toward first base which will almost automatically move the runner to third with one out from where the base runner will score from third with the lead run on a sacrifice fly." My response was to remind him that although the runner, under the new rules, would have to be put on second base, there's no rule preventing the opposition from walking the next hitter, forcing a possible out at any base and/or a likely inning-ending double play. Where “Erie Michael” is absolutely right is when he acknowledges that the opponents can do that to one another inning after inning, thereby preventing the speeding up of extra inning games which this new rule is supposed to achieve.
My immediate quarrel with my friend was to ask this "baseball purist" when baseball stopped being pure? Perhaps it was when they moved the pitching mound from 45 feet to 60 feet, 6 inches. Perhaps it was when they limited free substitution in the late 1880s or when they banned the spitball, the shine ball and the emory ball in 1920. Perhaps baseball lost its absolute purity as late as 1969 (the centennial) when they lowered the mound from 15 inches to 10 inches. (Of course, my friend could change his self designation as a baseball “purest" into that of a baseball traditionalist and it would be a bit harder to argue with him, but keep in mind that one of the biggest and most fun-filled parts of being a baseball fan is arguing with the decisions of the umpires or sports writers or simply with each other!)
Despite all of the disappointment, criticism and trepidation about the coming season and a very, very possible strike following the 2021 season when the current player ownership agreement ends, most fans I'm sure are ready to watch and listen to major league baseball even absent the sight and sound of fans at the ballpark! After all, baseball is always baseball. Just ask fans to remember what they did to make baseball happen while growing up in the streets, on the playgrounds, or in the pastures to make baseball as real as it could be even with the lack of equipment and ideal playing conditions. Those homemade rule modifications never killed or even threatened the spirit of the game. It's likely that these accommodations actually enhanced the value of baseball in their young minds and hearts.
When the 2020 season opens, the mighty Yankees who have won 27 World Series will face off against the new Washington Nationals who have won only one World Series — the only one in which they’ve ever played. The Yankees had to play in three World Series before winning the championship. (They lost to John J. McGraw's very proud New York Giants in 1921 and 1922 before putting it all together in 1923.)
"Ah," you say, "but talk about opening day! What might we look forward to on Thursday, July 23rd, 2020?”
Well, it's possible that Opening Day 2020 could be as glorious for Yankee pitcher Gerrit Cole as it was for Cleveland Indians’ Bob Feller in 1940 who pitched a no hitter against the White Sox. Feller gave up five walks and there were two errors behind him. The final score was one - zip. It was 47 degrees in Chicago and “Rapid Robert’s” parents and sister were in the stands. That very same day, Tuesday, April 16th, might have been a bit embarrassing for another “pitcher," President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose season opening day delivery beaned a Washington sports photographer, Irving Schlossberg. For a president seeking an unprecedented third term, beaning Mr. Schlossberg was hardly an auspicious beginning — unless, of course, he was one of those elephant types!
Perhaps the most inglorious opening day of all time was Tuesday, April 17th, 1945 in Cincinnati for rookie shortstop Frankie Zach of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Zach, while standing on first base, called time to tie his shoe while the opposing pitcher was delivering a pitch to Frankie's teammate Jim Russell. Russell promptly sent Reds' pitcher Bucky Walters’ pitch into the right field stands for a two run homer. However, the home run was disallowed as, unknown to Walters, the plate umpire had actually granted Frankie Zach's request, thereby nullifying Russel's blast. (Note: The Pirates lost that day by a run. Had Russel's home run been allowed, the Pirates may well have won the game by that single blast!) For millions upon millions of people, the grandest opening day was Thursday, April 17th, 1947, when Jackie Roosevelt Robinson (named after Teddy Roosevelt) got a bunt single off Boston Braves' pitcher Glenn Elliott in a game the Dodgers won 12 to 6 at Ebbets Field.
Ever since President William Howard Taft tossed his opening season pitch to the Washington Senator's Walter (Big Train) Johnson back on Thursday, April 10th, 1910, baseball and our national "body politic" have been more or less wedded. Might President Trump display Harry Truman’s audacity to toss out the first ball of an election year season? If President Trump demonstrates such audacity, might the Washington Nationals become "The Trumpville Nine?”
The ultimate glory is that as of today, Monday, July 20th, Erie Michael knows for sure that the baby 2020 season, insignificant as many fear it could be, means…
Bring on the cold beer. Runs, hits, errors, strikeouts, homers and the best cry of all: PLAY BALL!!!
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY
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