As MLB and the MLBPA discuss numerous rule changes, Steven Goldman looks at what change has wrought historically. Sometime change makes things better, sometimes it makes things worse:
THT.FanGraphs.com
This is an anxiety-provoking thought. The key to relaxation in the face of relentless change is to accept that time may bring good changes and it may bring bad, but it’s going to bring both regardless. Rage (if you must), but then roll. As R.E.M. argued, even if it’s the end of the world as you know it, it’s possible to feel fine. Bring on one of a strictly limited number of relievers and the first of the three batters he will face.
I do disagree with one part of the article, however. Goldman discusses grueling sports like pedestrianism and marathon dancing:
In both cases, legislation attempted to mitigate the danger to participants but simultaneously reduced the appeal to hardcore fans—apparently some of the fun was watching competitors push themselves to the edge of death.
It may now seem like a foregone conclusion that society would not tolerate the crueler aspects of pedestrianism, with that game playing the role of the deselected neanderthal to baseball’s homo sapien.
I don’t know about a lack of toleration. We watch the X-Games, which to me is just a way to watch people doing really dangerous things with the chance of dying. Some things don’t change that much.
In general, I agree with his premise. Let the changes happen, and see where they lead.