Here's something I never thought I'd ask: what if Rob Manfred is a genius? It seems crazy because Manfred has made everybody angry since becoming MLB's commissioner (to be fair, I think that's the job description of a commissioner), as he's implemented a lot of rule changes fans and players have taken exception to. The latest is cracking down on pitchers using foreign substances, which has led to pitchers being frisked on the field like prisoners returning to their cells after meeting with visitors.
Thankfully we haven't seen any cavity searches ... yet.
Anyway, while I think doing all of this during the middle of a season is ridiculous and potentially dangerous to the players, on Tuesday night, NBA and NHL playoff games were going on, as well as the NBA Draft lottery, but on my Twitter feed, I saw more talk about what was happening in MLB than I can ever recall seeing during June.
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The drama between Max Scherzer and Joe Girardi and Sergio Romo disrobing on the field got attention.
So what if this is all Rob Manfred being an evil genius to capitalize on drama the same way the NFL and NBA have done so well in recent years? What if he figured out the best way to get the attention of the youth is to add a real #THISLEAGUE aspect to baseball to make it more interesting?
Maybe his next idea will be to replace the seventh-inning stretch with a mandatory benches-clearing brawl. The team that is deemed to have won the fight gets a run.
All right, let's all take off our pants to be inspected for illegal substances before making tonight's picks.
All times Eastern, and all odds via William Hill Sportsbook
