I had to use my DVR to catch it: the first instance of Major League Baseball’s new no-pitch intentional walk.
Late into the evening Sunday night, tied in the bottom of the ninth, the reigning World Series champion Chicago Cubs intentionally walked St. Louis Cardinals star catcher Yadier Molina with a runner on second and one out.
Thanks to the MLB’s new “pace of play” rules, pitchers no longer have to lob four balls to avoid pitching to a hitter.
I rewound and watched, after a blink of the eye, Molina hand his bat and protective padding to a bat boy and trot to first.
It was disgusting. Naturally, I watched it again, and again.
It felt so . . . cheap.
No pomp, no circumstance, just Cubs manager Joe Maddon pointing to first base. (The official signal for ordering an intentional walk is yet to be determined, and presumably cannot be reproduced without the express written consent of Major League Baseball.)
Sure, nothing unusual typically happens in an intentional walk. Rare is a passed ball or a steal. Even rarer is the intentional walk turned into a big hit. Or turned into a strike out.
Pitchers can still intentionally walk batters in four pitches, but why bother taking the chance? Now, the only time a pitcher is likely to intentionally lob four balls toward home is when a reliever needs a bit more time to warm up.
The possibility of flubbing an intentional walk made the game more fun. Now, such instances will likely be relegated to history.
In a game that stretches hours, what’s a couple more minutes?
Make them pitch.
