Rob Manfred is discussing a new rule that would quite literally ruin the entire point of baseball.

Manfred and other league officials always have new ideas coming through about how to improve the game, whether it’s on or off the field. Some of them are good ideas, some of them are incredibly stupid.

I’m still an old-fashioned baseball fan and disagree with the pitch clock to some degree. I hate the runner on 2nd in extra innings. I also think the throw-over rule is stupid. But this new rule that Manfred is discussing would absolutely take the top spot, and quite frankly, would be hysterically bad for the game of baseball.

Jayson Stark at The Athletic:

“There are a variety of (rule change ideas) that are being talked about out there. One of them, there was a little buzz around it at an owners’ meeting, was the idea of a ‘Golden At-Bat.” 

Baseball is a team sport. That is the entire strategy of the sport, and it always has been. Here’s an example of what the “Golden At-Bat” rule could be:


The Phillies have the bases loaded in the 8th inning. Johan Rojas is up at the plate with a chance to take the lead. The rule would give the Phillies the opportunity to just send Bryce Harper to the plate instead of Rojas. It’s basically 1 pinch-hit opportunity using a player that’s already in the lineup.

The league hasn’t settled on details. This could be just a 9th inning rule. Stark points out in the article that it could be a rule only redeemable when your team is losing. You’d only get 1 per game, I’m assuming? What if you put Bryce Harper in Turner’s 2-hole? Would he hit again in the 3rd spot back to back?

Here are some details that Stark listed in his story:

  • Each team gets to pick one at-bat — at any point in the game, but only once — to play its Golden AB card. So would it save that card for The Juan Soto Moment? Or would it play it in the second inning, with the bases loaded and a chance to blow up a game? Strategy alert!
  • Or there’s this option: Each team gets one Golden AB per game — except only in the seventh inning or later.
  • Or there’s the variation I’d vote for — where only a team that is trailing (or tied) in the ninth or later gets to use a Golden AB. I’m a fan of less is more, and two Golden ABs every game (one per team) might be overkill.
  • There’s also this potential wrinkle: The Royals use their Golden AB to let Bobby Witt Jr. lead off the ninth. He makes an out. But who’s batting second? Whaddaya know, it’s Witt’s turn in the lineup. So here he comes again. Yes, that could be a thing.

The fact that this rule is even being discussed is concerning. I’d be shocked if it goes through. But why does Rob Manfred always want to mess with the beautiful game of baseball? Money, I know. But this is just stupid.