Baseball is working on all kinds of changes to the game itself, even experimenting with pushing the mound back a foot in the Atlantic League this coming season, and former Mets reliever Turk Wendell is not a fan.
Wendell, who pitched five seasons with New York and appeared in the 2000 World Series, joined Moose & Maggie on Wednesday and wasn't shy in his opposition for many of the rule changes that have either already been implemented by Major League Baseball or are coming up the pike.
For a pitcher like Wendell, who watched Taijuan Walker and Luis Rojas get thrown out of the Mets game on Tuesday night for arguing balls and strikes, he would prefer that over an automated strike zone, which is likely coming to MLB games sooner rather than later.
"No, just leave the game the way it is," Wendell said. "It's been around for 175-plus years, quit screwing with the game."
Many of the newer rules are being put in place to increase pace and decrease game time, which has averaged over three hours per game in recent years, but Wendell feels if the league really wants to increase action while shortening the games, start with the current structure of challenging calls on the field.
"Who's complaining about all this stuff?" Wendell said. "They want to speed up the game or get everything right. I don't mind the whole challenging the call, but it shouldn't be 'hold on a second let me talk to the video guy.' You throw that out here, you got five seconds...you don't sit there and let somebody look at it for 15-20 seconds and then decide you want to look at it."
The use of video to determine whether or not to challenge a call is just the beginning of Wendell's feud with technology in baseball. Video has become an integral part of the game, with many players saying they struggled without it in the shortened 2020 season, but if it were up to Wendell, it would be out of the game completely.
"You play the game that's on the field," Wendell said. "They've had this controversy with computers in the dugout. Why? Play the game on the field."
Wendell also went off on other modifications, including the extra inning rule, which many have been opposed to and didn't want to see back in 2021.
"I can't stand it," Wendell said. "That's terrible. Absolutely terrible. I kind of don't mind the seven-inning doubleheader deal, I don't know why…but I don't understand putting a guy on second base, let's get the game over with? I'm a relief pitcher, I come in and they throw a guy on seconds. I get a ground ball to second, he goes to third. I get a fly ball to center, that guy scores and I get the next guy out, I did my job, and now I'm going to get tagged for a loss. Why does that pitcher get tagged for a loss when he did his job?"
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