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It's (finally!) Opening Day! In honor of the 2019 World Series champions Washington Nationals, breaking my Twitter hiatus with a few charts, graphs, and comments as the national pasttime kicks off its strangest season ever with some new rule changes:
One of the (many) new changes this season is that pitchers must face at least 3 batters. I kind of hated it when it was announced, but upon further review, I've actually grown to appreciate it as a 'neo-throwback' approach. Just look how the avg number of pitchers has grown:
Granted, very weird contemplating this change with the reality that, as @jaysonst pointed out, each of this year's games is worth 2.7x a normal one (thanks to @JVLast of the @BulwarkOnline for flagging the piece.) But it's a good move for future years.
Less salutary? Universal DH. 2019 World Series Game 5 was maybe the last @MLB game with pitchers at the plate, which is sad not because we love to see it, but because strategy becomes so much less interesting. NINE BURLY DUDES MASH DINGERS < Double Switches every time, don't @ me
(The runner on second in extra innings is a unnecessary grotesquerie that shall not be spoken of again. Once covid is handled, kill this rule with fire.)
Expanding rosters to 26 men also gives a few more guys opportunities (though we should really be adding Nashville+Montreal as well.) This isn't 100% accurate because roster spots have become more fluid (and the population is aging,) but one look at why this is so necessary:
Of course, @MLB isn't the only game in town, but this year, it will be the only professional game in town. Pour one out for teams in @MiLB, already facing contraction threats, that provide a key source of community in non-metropolitan hubs across America.
Okay, if you've stuck with me this far, you may appreciate this excerpt from Joe @Buck and John Smoltz calling the @Astros' George Springer at bat during last year's @MLBonFOX broadcast of Game 7 of the World Series:
Coronavirus has taken many things from us, but making the @Astros 2020 season a neverending cascade of boos is one I will especially miss. (What do you think, @FightinHydrant, can we get some inserted into the artificial sound pumped into broadcasts?)
Also worth noting that (as @ThomasBoswellWP pointed out in one of his irreplaceable weekly chats,) the year with the highest % growth in attendance was 1919, following pandemic-impacted 1918. So here's hoping for plenty of chances to greet the 'Stros appropriately next year.
But most importantly, the Washington @Nationals are World Champions and get to raise a banner tonight. And that's really the most important thing to remember. (And get well soon, Juan!) #StayintheFight #FinishtheFight #Natitude 
https://twitter.com/Nationals/status/1286281474161999875?s=20
https://twitter.com/Nationals/status/1286281474161999875?s=20
(Oh and also, this week I've been reading @dougherty_jesse's "Buzz Saw: The Improbable Story of How the Washington Nationals Won the World Series" and it's just a really fun way to remember what an incredible run it was. Now let's play ball.) https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Buzz-Saw/Jesse-Dougherty/9781982152260
