Well, Spring has truly sprung, it’s Opening Day for Major League Baseball.
Your editor is a huuuge baseball fan, in fact he has the Yankee-San Fran game on as he writes this.
America’s pastime is reckoned to have been invented in 1846 by Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown NY. That sleepy upstate NY village is now the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Baseball exploded in popularity in the wake of the Civil War. The first professional game took place in Cincinnati Ohio in 1869. That contest featured the Cincinnati Red Stockings and the Great Western Base Ball Club of Cincinnati.. The Red Stockings won 45-9.
During World War One, 227 MLB players wore the Uniform. Most notable were future Hall of Famers Christy Mathewson, Branch Rickey, George Sisler and Ty Cobb.
In WWII, more than 500 major leaguers – and 37 Hall of Famers – served in the armed forces.
For 2023, there are some fairly big rule changes being instituted. The changes are supposed to speed up the game and improve in-game action and offensive output.
The biggest is a pitch clock. After receiving the ball, pitchers must begin their motion within 15 seconds with the bases empty or 20 seconds with runners on base, or else be charged with an automatic ball. The clock also affects the hitters, They have to be in the batter’s box and alert to the pitcher by the 8-second mark on the clock, or else be charged with an automatic strike. Batters get one timeout per plate appearance.
The other big change to the rules is the restriction on defensive shifting. For this year, middle infielders must play on their respective side of 2nd base.
Quick game note; Aaron Judge just hit his 1st homer of the 2023 season in the bottom of the 1st inning.