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Baseball’s Plan To Save Itself From Boredom: An Update

This week, The Daily is revisiting some of our favorite episodes of the year and checking in on what has happened in the time since they first ran. Major League Baseball is putting in effect some of the biggest changes in the sport’s history in an effort to speed up the game and inject more activity. As the 2023 season opens, Michael Schmidt, a Times reporter, explains the extraordinary plan to save baseball from the tyranny of the home run. Guest: Michael S. Schmidt, a national security correspondent for The New York Times.
Duration
25m
Broadcast on
29 Dec 2023
Audio Format
other

This week, The Daily is revisiting some of our favorite episodes of the year and checking in on what has happened in the time since they first ran.

Major League Baseball is putting in effect some of the biggest changes in the sport’s history in an effort to speed up the game and inject more activity.

As the 2023 season opens, Michael Schmidt, a Times reporter, explains the extraordinary plan to save baseball from the tyranny of the home run.

Guest: Michael S. Schmidt, a national security correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

  • Listen to the original version of the episode here.
  • With three major rule changes this season, Major League Baseball will try to reinvent itself while looking to the game’s past for inspiration.
  • Here’s a look at the new rules.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.


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This podcast is supported by TikTok. Sometimes the most interesting discoveries are the ones you weren't looking for. That happens every day on TikTok. A science experiment can spark a whole new interest. A recipe you stumble upon can become a meal you make for the people you love. And a restaurant you've never heard of might become your new favorite spot. That's the thing about TikTok. Follow your curiosity and see where it leads. Your next discovery is waiting on TikTok. Hey, it's Michael. This week, the Daily is revisiting some of our favorite episodes of the year, listening back and hearing what's happened in the time since they first ran. Today, we return to a historic plan that Major League Baseball rolled out this past spring to try and save the sport from the tyranny of the home run and then explore whether the plan has actually worked. It's Friday, December 29th. (bell chimes) So Mike, the last time that we had you want to talk about baseball, you came on to talk about how the sport was weathering or not weathering the pandemic. And the reason we've asked you to come back is because baseball is now experiencing another major change. So tell us about that change. - This season, baseball will operate under new rules that are the biggest changes in on the field play, certainly in my lifetime, if not the history of the game. - Wow, just give me a couple tastes of this change. There's three big rule changes coming this season. The pitch clock, kind of like a shot clock, sort of, yeah, shot clock. That is a big change, what else? - The bases are bigger. - You won't be able to notice it with your eye. (laughs) - But they are bigger, correct. - And then you have Major League Baseball creating these rules about where defenders, fielders in the field can stand. What is driving these changes, Mike? - Baseball is facing a semi existential threat
in terms of its appeal to fans. The game has become not only too long,

Transcription truncated.

This week, The Daily is revisiting some of our favorite episodes of the year and checking in on what has happened in the time since they first ran. Major League Baseball is putting in effect some of the biggest changes in the sport’s history in an effort to speed up the game and inject more activity. As the 2023 season opens, Michael Schmidt, a Times reporter, explains the extraordinary plan to save baseball from the tyranny of the home run. Guest: Michael S. Schmidt, a national security correspondent for The New York Times.