MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is tasked with keeping a group of owners happy in their millions of dollars of profits, keeping the players happy with their millions of dollars, and making sure that the sport doesn’t lose its audience to the more fast paced sports like basketball or the quick burn of the NFL season. He even has to contend with professional video game leagues. He has to do all of this while balancing one thing that almost every sport doesn’t have: tradition.
Tradition has kept the game of baseball more or less the same since its inception. Sure, the players have gotten bigger and better, but the game still moves at a natural pace, it still has the mound 60 feet, 6 inches away from the plate. The bases are still 90 feet apart. Games don’t have a time limit. Sure, the sport has made changes during its history, but the the core of the game has remained the same. And, when changes are proposed, there is a large segment of the fan base and media that will fight to keep the game the same.
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Gary Armida 