Written by More so than other sports, Major League Baseball is woven tightly into the culture of our society. The two evolve together. Last weekend, the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers completed the second of two consecutive weekend series. Not only were they seven great games with a sense of playoff baseball in April, but they also highlighted many aspects of the modern game in this age of semi-transparency.
Transparency has changed our society and our pastime. The world changed when advanced analytics and high-resolution cameras arrived on the scene. So did baseball. Not too long ago, those in power could control the narrative because there was no data to dispute it. We were to trust our leaders, obey their laws, and respect those that enforce them. We wanted them on that wall, and we needed them on that wall.
But those who ran our institutions were often corrupt and abused our trust, opening the door for conspiracy theories to take root. Innovations made over the last three decades have improved our institutions through technology. We now have the internet, high-resolution cameras in our pockets, and algorithms that know what we will do before we do it.
I think this is a good thing, but we are far from complete transparency. There are still too many secrets and too much control in the hands of the too powerful. The cameras are not always on, and the algorithms are not always correct. Many people do not trust what they tell us. It’s going to take a while. However, we are gaining on it—both in our society and in baseball.
First, let’s highlight the positives. Trevor Bauer is the most controversial player in baseball, but he is also one of the most engaging. His YouTube channel is phenomenal. He dedicates a lot of his time to sharing information and giving us a view of the life of a major league player. I enjoyed how he chronicled his visit to San Diego and his analysis of his battle with Fernando Tatis, Jr. last Saturday. I give Bauer a lot of credit for understanding the importance of Tatis celebrating his two home runs against him with his teammates and not getting offended by it. He spent eight minutes analyzing and rating the celebrations. I hope other players follow this lead and work this hard to engage the fans using technology.
The Padres-Dodgers series was very entertaining but involved a controversy that is creating a lot of conversation. Slow-motion video caught Tatis peeking at the catcher to realize that he was setting up outside. Tatis leaned into the pitch, which was at least a foot outside, and pulled it into the left-centerfield seats. It was once commonplace for pitchers to pitch this far outside. Bauer further fueled the discussion with his analysis of what happened.
The final game of the series was a comeback thriller decided in extra innings. The Dodgers likely would have won in the tenth inning when they had a runner on third with no outs. But they had run out of position players to pinch-hit, and the Padres loaded the bases in order to face a pitcher. Pitcher Clayton Kershaw struck out, and the Padres got out of the inning. The American League has had the designated hitter rule for almost 50 years. The National League will likely follow suit next year. Change is slow.
The rules on what is and isn’t a strike are clear, but often the umpires feel they should interpret them differently as they see fit. Putting that box on broadcasts and showing it in stadiums is a good start. I’m looking forward to the day when the game further embraces technology, starting with calling balls and strikes. Wouldn’t the game be better if there was a way to use technology to communicate signs between the pitcher and catcher, eliminating all of the paranoia around sign stealing?
Instant replay is good, but the rules governing its use are confusing, and they take way too long. On Monday, the Yankees weren’t allowed to have a play reviewed that likely impacted the outcome of the game. Replay clearly showed a runner scoring before an out being made at third base. It was the third out and the incorrect call resulting in the run not counting. The umpires ejected Yankees manager Aaron Boone for challenging their egos, which the current rules protect.
Bauer had been much less transparent regarding accusations of doctoring baseballs to increase the spin rate of his pitches. Rather than doing a thorough breakdown to the fans of how he has improved his pitches, he has resorted to the “fake news” defense and labeled Ken Rosenthal as a “gossip blogger.” Given his past accusations of other teams potentially gaining an advantage illegally, he opened himself up to conspiracy theories. None of us know what is going on. Baseball was able to get to the bottom of the Astros sign-stealing issue by trading immunity for full transparency. The fans didn’t respond favorably to the trade-off, but maybe this is the only way to get the truth to come out. What’s more important, truth or justice? It’s a tough call.
Seeing these issues regarding transparency play out in baseball is helpful for us to deal with those in society at large. Baseball is a sport, and its purpose is to entertain us. There are no victims as there are in police shootings. Our culture is grappling with how to deal appropriately with the transparency that technology has introduced. Protecting our rights and due process for the accused is proving difficult when a portion of the facts are crystal clear. How do we deal with the past and move forward at the same time?
A lot has changed since 1992 when we saw Lieutenant Kaffee coax Colonel Jessep to admit to ordering the Code Red in A Few Good Men. The more truth we uncover, the more we realize is out there to find. Indeed, transparency is hard to handle.