A Grip on Sports: Yes, it is a football Saturday but we’re talking baseball and its rule changes

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Here it is a Saturday in the middle – OK, “early part of” would be better – the college football season and we are going to focus upon … baseball. Rule changes, actually. Why? The decisions made yesterday have the potential to shape the future of the game for the next few decades.

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• Oh, we’ll get to the football. There are too many stories to link not to. But we were too intrigued by the changes MLB on Friday voted to institute not to wax semi-poetically upon them.

It is baseball, after all. It’s been around since the Civil War, so we have to, by rule, wax semi-poetically.

How about this? There once was a man from Nantucket, when asked to fix the game … heck, you know how it ends. And we know how these rule changes end. Or at least we think we do.

The pitch clock will work. It has in the minor leagues, though as everyone becomes more used to it, the enforcement wanes a bit and the impacts does as well. Early this season, the Spokane Indians’ game just flew by. Less than three hours, a lot less, were the norm. Now, not as much. But other aspects might account for that change.

Major league pitchers will adjust. They’ll have to. The hitters? It will be harder. Part of why guys take so long now is to process all the info they take with them to the plate. That time has to disappear, what with the clock mandating 15 seconds without base runners and 20 seconds with. Plus, the catcher must be in his spot within 10 seconds and the hitter in the box after eight.

This change is good for the game. Too much time is spent doing immaterial fidgeting and preening. Even if it saves just 10-to-20 minutes a night, it’s worth it. And will become second-nature soon.

The accompanying limit to how many times a pitcher can throw to an occupied base – two free attempts but an unsuccessful third is a balk – is designed to encourage more baserunning. But we see an unintended consequence: A runner taking a large, one-way lead just to draw a throw or two. Just making the pitcher throw once will cause consternation and indecision. That may just add more time.

The bigger bases will also work, but we’re still figuring out why they are necessary. Safety, we guess. Though if that was the main concern, how about adding a second, attached base in foul territory at first? That would limit the most dangerous plays on the base paths these days, the collisions around that bag. Too softball-ly for MLB? Must be the reason.

Banning shifts won’t work. And will add a host of issues.

The new rule will force two infielders to start on each side of second base. All four must have their feet on the infield dirt before the pitch. (If you didn’t know, the outfield begins, by rule, 95 feet from a radius anchored to the middle of the pitching rubber.) No more late-game strategy of playing four outfielders (or anytime, which would seem to impact the M’s Cal Raleigh more than anyone), though we can’t find anything in the new rules that would ban five infielders.

Is this good or bad for baseball? No one knows for sure. Everyone has an opinion. Heck, even the players are split. But we do know one thing for sure: shifts becoming so ubiquitous is bad for the game. Hitters aren’t changing because, even though batting averages (and baserunners) fall, they are still rewarded for creating runs. The best way to do that is to hit the ball out of the park. The best way to do that is to pull it. If banning shifts allow more runs to be created by encouraging line drives (and players find a statistical and financial advantage in it), the game may evolve again. If not, scrap the rule. And look for another way to force change. The game needs it.

Besides, how long before someone discovers a work-around that isn’t covered? We guess it won’t be too long. Heck, in Raleigh’s case – a slow but powerful pull hitter when hitting from the left side – why not move the left fielder into the short fielder spot just off the right-field and spread the other two evenly over the rest of the outfield? Even if Raleigh pulls one into the corner, a double is about the limit of his abilities. You still take away one of his favorite spots.

We bring that up to show the natural progression of the game. Rules are made. Players (or front-office personnel) find a loophole. It is exploited. Rules are changed.

Did you know at one time players were allowed to substitute at any time? Until Hall of Fame catcher Mike “King” Kelly in a key situation tried to substitute himself for the other catcher while a foul ball was in mid-air that only Kelly could catch. At least that’s how the probably apocryphal story goes. Kelly, the story continues, pointed out the rule stated “at any time,” so he was just following the rules. Baseball supposedly changed the rule immediately.

That was the late 19th Century. Such rule changes don’t happen as quickly anymore. But they happen. And will continue to happen.

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WSU: Do the Cougars have a shot for an upset today? Colton Clark doesn’t believe so. He’s picking the Badgers. Though he does believe the Cougars will cover the 17.5-point spread (as do two national writers). … Colton also has a preview of the game, which is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on Fox. … One last thing from Colton. He has his two-minute drill. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college football, before we get to other games today, we want to point out a few items from Jon Wilner in the Mercury News. He has a mailbag, the weekly recruiting summary and a plea for the Pac-12 to expand and expand quickly. … The one conference game tonight has USC, now the solid favorite, playing at nemesis Stanford. If the Cardinal do pull an upset, we’re guessing there is no chance of a conference team making the playoffs. … Washington hosts Portland State today in what should another rout for the Huskies. … The best nonconference game may just be in Fresno, where Oregon State will play the Bulldogs. It will be hot. And could be wet. … Eastern Washington travels to Eugene, where the host Ducks will be itching to show last week was an anomaly. … California should move to 2-0 as the Bears host UNLV today. … Colorado will probably be 0-2 after playing at Air Force today. … Utah has to bounce back and will against Southern Utah. … The Rose Bowl will probably be pretty empty again today as Alabama State visits UCLA. … Arizona has a challenge at home in Mississippi State. … Arizona State has a challenge on the road in Oklahoma State. … In basketball news, one UCLA player is using pickup games to improve. … Oregon State has made another roster change.

Gonzaga: The Bulldogs have set the date for Kraziness in the Kennel. It will be Oct. 8, the 66th anniversary of Don Larsen’s perfect game. How’s that for odd trivia? We’re here to help. Jim Meehan has a story that actually contains helpful information.

EWU: As we mentioned above, the Eagles travel to Eugene today. Dan Thompson has a preview of the game. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, third-ranked Montana hosts South Dakota. … Montana State will try to hand Morehead State a road loss. … Northern Colorado travels to Wyoming. … UC Davis faces a huge test at South Dakota State. … Northern Arizona found its punter in an out-of-the-way place. … Weber State is on the road at Utah State with a chance for an upset. … Idaho State is at San Diego State.

Preps: Dave Nichols was out and about Friday. His first stop was in Wellpinit, where the school unveiled its new artificial turf playing surface. … He then traveled to University, where the visiting Mead Panthers handled the Titans 24-7. … Dave also put together a roundup of other action in the area.

Indians: There are just two more games left in the season. And Spokane is running out the string quite unimpressively. The Indians lost again last night at Tri-City.

Mariners: The Braves are in town, carrying a hot streak that burned Seattle a bit last night. Atlanta broke on top early and won 6-4.

Seahawks: It’s taken a while but Geno Smith is once again an NFL starting quarterback as the season begins. … Russell Wilson’s return will overshadow a trio of rookies’ debuts for Seattle. … This is a new era of Hawk football. How will it go? And if it starts poorly, can they turn it around?

Sounders: One win is great. Two would be even better. Seattle needs to string some together to make the postseason once more.

Storm: This offseason has the potential to reshape the franchise.

Kraken: The team’s facility is a win for everyone.

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• We’ll be back on the website right after the Washington State game ends today. We’ll have our TV Take based off the Fox broadcast. It’s not nearly as much fun as being in Madison ourselves but it is the next best thing. Until later …