#3,287 – Sports Week: Sluggball

In addition to a new basketball league and a new golf league we may also get a new baseball league. One dedicated to the art of situational hitting. Now you may be wondering why it’s called Sluggball if the point is hitting for average and not for power but that’s a story for another day. Today is all about explaining how we got here.

Modern baseball is all about the three true outcomes: homeruns, walks, and strikeouts. The ball is rarely put in play. Which is why Major League Baseball recently instituted several rule changes such as banning the shift, creating larger bases, and introducing a pitch clock designed to help speed up the game and make it more exciting.

The changes seem to be working but the founders of Sluggball think that today’s game neglects a large segment of the population. People in the 20s and 30s who perhaps played high school baseball and then segwayed into softball, pickleball or golf if they wanted to stay active since the options for continuing their baseball careers were limited. They believe that Sluggball could give millions of people an opportunity to keep playing since it’s purely focused on just one aspect of baseball, the one aspect that most people who love baseball enjoy the most: hitting.

According to the Sports Business Journal:

“Team rosters run from six to eight players, and each brings its own batting-practice pitcher. Lineups consist of four hitters, with at-bats limited to eight swings or 35 seconds. Points are scored by hitting the ball successfully based on the situation in each the four rounds.”

Think of it like TopGolf where the goal is to hit the ball in a specific area instead of just trying to drive the ball for distance. Japan has long held a hitting competition like this with calls to bring it to MLB all-star weekend alongside the Home Run Derby but that hasn’t happened yet. Chics dig the long ball after all. So, could Sluggball actually succeed?

I could see it being fun to play so it could have recreational appeal. But I’m not sure people would be filling up arenas to watch non-athletes lay down bunts or produce seeing eye singles. But it is an intriguing idea in that baseball does need a mini-sized version of itself so that it’s fans can continue playing past high school. If more people continue to play baseball, then more people would continue their baseball fandom as well which is good for the long-term health of the sport. And perhaps the Yankees can learn a thing or two about timely hitting.

So, I say let’s give it a shot. Batter up!

Is Sluggball the Greatest Idea Ever?