Bud Selig has announced the formation of a 14-person committee that will discuss all “on-field” matters. Selig claims there are no “sacred cows” and top of his list is “pace of game”.
What is interesting is the composition or perhaps what is lacking from from the committee. Here is list:
Current Managers
- Tony La Russa
- Jim Leyland
- Mike Scioscia
- Joe Torre
Current or Former GMs
- John Schuerholz
- Andy MacPhail
- Terry Ryan
- Mark Shapiro)
- Chuck Armstrong
- Paul Beeston
- Bill DeWitt
- Dave Montgomery
special advisor
media observer
George Will
The good news is that have some current managers on the committee. Though as the as the article points out, there will be no current players or umpires submitting their feedback. In my opinion, if you’re going to be talking about issues that relate to on-the-field or gameplay issues (for example, oh I don’t know… pace of game), it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get some input from players.
And to not include any umpires is beyond me. After all, they will be the ones who will be enforcing any rule changes, if any.
And mark my words, there will be some. Because if Selig says “pace of game” will be among the first topics discussed, those aren’t just idle words. He’s making a definitive statement that something will be done about pitchers like Jonathan Papelbon.
…and really, George Will? I respect his knowledge of baseball but whenever I hear his name in the context of the sport, I can’t help but think of this SNL video.