Rick Morrissey’s May 12 column was itself a line drive at the heads of baseball. The crushing blow of the argument was baseball setting up protection for players in the dugout while fans directly above the dugout must protect themselves.
It all starts with the overrated home run. Bud Selig himself has pointed out the surge of fan interest that has been the result of McGwire, Bonds, Sosa and Co. The logical move was to the golf ball-like baseball. Not only does this ball soar to greater distances, its line drive has increased in speed, giving the fans less time to react. And what about the pitcher? He throws himself all out of balance to throw the hard one and is helpless to protect himself if that line drive is aimed at his head.
The ever-sensible Robin Yount mentioned this spring that just maybe the home run was overrated, that maybe it was more spectacular to keep the ball within the park and have the fielder make a play on it, while at the same time the hitter is legging it out.
Remember that professional slow-pitch softball league? They were hitting home runs to the tune of 15 or 20 a game. After initial interest, the number of fans dwindled away. The league is extinct.
