Regardless of your beliefs in “Evolution” the fact of the
matter is that everything and everybody changes over time. Some change for the
better, some for the worse and some change is sideways. Evolution by definition
is the gradual development or advancement of something. What’s noteworthy and
possible overlooked is that the definition doesn’t have an “End” or time in
which that something is completed.
Baseball, like everything else, has certainly evolved
over time. Some of the evolution has been more natural and closer to the vest
of the definition while other parts were more forced change for various
reasons. Within that, some was “Change for the sake of change”, while some was
change for the betterment of the game. Lastly, some was so the game can
continue around evolution of other things.
Let’s start with what’s most important, which is the on
the field stuff. Fortunately, the look and feel is that the basic “Rules” of
the game have not changed in a long while. The number of strikes, outs and
innings have all remained the same. It’s probably fair to say that if you pick
up an “Official” major league baseball rule book from 50 years ago it would
still be relevant today. As a purist around statistics (more to come on this
shortly), Mr. Clutch is very glad that this is the case and that the core game
is still that.
Once obvious glaring change in the game is the concept of
“Instant replay” and call reviews. This is a case of technology driving the
evolution of umpiring a game. Back in the day this was not possible from a
functional standpoint as there was not six zoomed in camera angles of every
play, which were incidentally instantly available for review and in high
definition. At best you had a single camera shoot in black and white, with a
30-minute lag time to “Review” a play. The question at hand is what’s right?
Getting the call exactly correct? Or keeping the ruling on the field human?
A Clutch guess would be that most people would vote for
getting the call “Exactly” right and that reviewing calls is a good thing. A
small minority of purist might think it changes the integrity of the game and
that good and bad calls are part of the game. Recalling what was stated above –
call review was born by nature of being technologically available. This would
mean that if it was possible to review calls back in the day, baseball probably
would. That sort of kind of proves the case that it’s a good thing. The other
reason instant replay works is that an umpires call is and never will be an “Opinion”.
A runner is either safe or out, a fielder either did or didn’t make the catch
and a ball is either fair of foul.
The players on the field have of course physically
evolved over time. Some of this is due to extreme workouts and paying more
attention to shape, while others were artificially driven through drugs and
what not. Just think back to the greatest players of the previous generation
and what they look like. Take Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio for example. Two icons
of the game that let’s face it – never exactly looked like a modern athlete.
Clutch’s vision of the Sultan of Swat is that he was always an old out of shape
guy. The Bambino never seemed to have a youth and/or a prime as it related to
being in shape. DiMaggio was in shape per-se, but looked nothing like the star
players of today.
The evolution of the man baseball player has certainly
led to a shift in statistics. For example, in previous eras a short-stop was
hired to play the field only, and in most cases batted eight and was a usual out.
An average SS back in the day would hit an occasional homerun and get on base
every now and again. The perfect example of this was great Met Rey Ordonez. Rey
would literally (and uncanny) hit one (1) homerun every year. He did this in
five of the six complete years that he played. Rey had a power surge in 2001
where he hit three. He batted in the .240 range and knock in around 40 runs a
year. These prestigious stats earned Ordonez a $6mm salary in his last few
seasons in the game. That’s $8mm adjusted for inflation. He earned that salary
by way of being a phenomenal fielder and all said one of the best at his
position during that time.
Fast forward to 2016 – the year of the power hitting
short-stop. Let’s start with Colorado Rockies rising star SS Trevor Story. Trevor had 27 HRs in 400 ABs before getting
injured. The interesting stat here is that he had seven (7) HRs by April 10th,
a mere single week into the season. More
interesting is that in the 2016 season 20 starting Short-stops had 20 HRs or
more for the season. In 1985 – there was one, and that was Cal Ripkin, one of
the clear exceptions to the rule. Remove that outlier and you are down to none.
It’s safe to say that this position has evolved. Anyone wanting to play it at a
high level needs to bring both a glove and bat to tryouts.
To step off the field and into the stands for a moment,
the fan experience and concept of attending a major league baseball has evolved
off the charts. Just look at any of that old grainy footage from yesteryear to
get an idea, and then compare it to the game watching of today. There are many
aspects of this to analyze, with today’s focus being on fan representation and
stadium offerings. These probably represent two of the biggest changes in
fandom and one could think that they both evolved for the worse.
Old footage shows fans sitting in the stands wearing two
or three piece suits, dresses, derbies, neckties and shoes. Going out to the
ballgame was an event that required dressing up and looking your best in a
respectful manner. It was the equivalent of going to the ball, not playing
ball. Fans also quietly watched the game in awe of what was being seen. Today
attire for attending a game is printed t-shirt or jersey, and gym shorts. Oh
have times changed! Also, fans of today seem to have a vested interested in
cursing out the opposing teams and players, starting brawls in the stands and
of course finding a need to tweet a play by play.
The in stadium experience has clearly taken a turn for
baseball purist worse. Back in the day you sat down and watched nine or more
innings of baseball and possible kept score in this thing called a scorebook.
It got you intimately close to the game at hand. Maybe you ran to the restroom
in-between innings and grabbed something quickly at a concession stand if the
concession in question wasn’t hand delivered to your seat by a vendor. Today,
stadiums have pools, wiffle-ball fields, numerous sit-down restaurants and a
plethora of “Other” things to do during the game. When cameras flash to foul
balls, many of the seats are often empty during sell outs. It has become an
unnecessary necessity to add entertainment to an entertainment event.
Darwin where are you? He’s likely turning over in the
grave over certain portions of the evolution of the game.
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