Intentional Walk Alignment

[DrungoHazewood]

No I understand, I'm just saying that shouldn't be an excuse for anything.

Should and reality are often two different things with baseball. For the powers that be and most fans the default answer is always "Baseball has done it this way for over a century. If it was good enough for Ruth and Williams and Cobb, it's good enough for us."

I guess we should be appreciative in some respects. Often doing nothing leads to more radical change than fixing the rules. Nobody changed a thing as strikeouts have gone from 2-3 a game to almost 8. Nobody changed a thing when homers went from <1 a game to 2+. Nobody stepped in when games went from 2 hours to 3+. Nobody changed the rules when bats went from 45 ounce hickory to 25 ounce maple. Not a finger was lifted as use of relievers transitioned from less than one per game to four, five even six a game.

Like it or not, baseball has changed, and a lot of the change stems directly from a steadfast refusal to change.