Over the past few days, media pundits have weighed in on the proposed idea of MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred called the “golden at-bat.” The idea would undoubtedly change the way baseball is played. And as you might expect, many baseball purists aren’t exactly thrilled about the new idea. That list includes famed New York City radio host Mike Francesa.
For those unaware of the golden at-bat idea, it is a potential rule change brought up by Manfred on a recent appearance on John Ourand’s podcast. The idea would allow managers to allow any hitter in their lineup to get an at-bat at any single point of the game, regardless of where the batting order stands.
On one hand, the proposed idea would create unique storylines within each and every game. Imagine when Shohei Ohtani faces off against Emmanuel Clase or any other elite closer in the ninth inning and saves the day for the Dodgers.
However, the idea quite clearly removes some of the longstanding importance of the batting order in baseball, messing with tradition in a sport like baseball that perhaps stands on its tradition more than any other sport.
On Wednesday’s edition of the Mike Francesa Podcast, Francesa predictably shared his negative opinion of the golden at-bat idea, saying that it “changes every part of the game”.
‘”I’ve also been asked to comment on the golden at-bat. The day they adopt the golden at bat, baseball and I cease to exist together,” said Francesa. “That is not the sport that I grew up with. I can not even fathom… I can not even seriously interject that that is a real possibility. That changes the game so fundamentally.
“It changes every part of the game. It changes the history of the game. It changes evaluation of players. It changes everything. To me, it’s not even something to discuss. I don’t take it seriously. And if I’m wrong and they adopt it, like I said, well then baseball has just become a clown show and it’s over. I don’t even know why Manfred would discuss that, unless he had nothing to do and he just wanted a couple of headlines.”
“The day they adopt the golden at bat, baseball and I cease to exist together”@MikeFrancesa talks about the rumors about the MLB adding a “Golden At-Bat” ⚾ pic.twitter.com/3RHmiijptr
— The Mike Francesa Podcast (@FrancesaPodcast) December 4, 2024
Later in the podcast episode, Francesa would again bring up the potential rule change when answering fan questions, asking whether Manfred “fell on his head” when considering the rule.
“I cannot under any circumstances take this seriously,” he said. “I would think the commissioner fell on his head or something. This is so patently ridiculous that it’s not even baseball anymore. What are we doing? It’s so ridiculous, I cannot even dignify it with a response.”
Francesa is certainly not alone in his critiques of the potential rule chance. Longtime Mets radio broadcaster Howie Rose notably thought that the idea was an early April Fools prank.
On paper, it seems like a rather unnecessary change to be made. Last season marked the first in quite some time where there was significant growth in both TV viewership and in-person attendance.
Maybe Manfred believes these numbers are an outlier and changes still need to be made to make baseball a more enjoyable product for the younger generation. However, he may very well lose many of the older generation of baseball fans in the process.
But with that being said, the pitch clock implementation in 2023 was also highly critiqued. And now, most largely consider the change to be a positive for the game, as it has improved the pace of the game a great deal. So perhaps people would end up coming around to this new rule as well if it is indeed implemented in the future. It doesn’t sound like Francesa’s too keen on it, though.
