Rob Manfred is the Tenth Commissioner of Baseball, specifically Major League Baseball (MLB). He was appointed in 2015, well into the MLB’s continual popularity decline. The MLB’s audience is the oldest of the four major North American sports leagues, with the average age well over fifty. Although MLB revenues have increased nearly thirty per cent – from $8.2 billion in 2015 to over $10.7 billion in 2019—the MLB has realised it must generate a younger audience or risk losing future fans to the quickly growing NBA. However, Rob Manfred’s questionable leadership and decision-making regarding the MLB raises serious questions and doubts over the future of baseball.
When Manfred first took over as Commissioner, his first mandate was to increase the pace the games were played at. He limited the ability for batters to leave the box, decreased the amount of time pitchers had to throw warm up pitches, and eliminated the need for the manager to approach the umpire for a challenge. These changes have not worked. Baseball games still take well over three hours on average to complete. Although most fans say they respect Manfred for attempting to tinker with various inconsequential aspects of baseball to increase the pace of a game, there have been serious issues when Manfred attempted to change fundamental elements of the game.
Offensive numbers such as base hits, home runs and slugging percentages surged shortly after Manfred assumed the role of Commissioner. A 2017 investigation revealed that during that period, the MLB had changed the literal baseballs the players were using. Baseball manipulation has been a huge controversy ever since Manfred has become Commissioner. If you change the seams of the ball, or the material of the ball, you gain control over how pitchers pitch and how hitters hit the ball off their bat. The most extreme examples were in 2019 and 2021. In 2019, the MLB changed the ball so that home runs would be more prevalent if hard contact occurred between the bat and the ball. This led to 2019 being the greatest home run year in league history, with 6,776 total home runs being hit. This destroyed the second greatest tally, set in 2017 at 6,105. However, viewership was still declining despite the increased home run tally. The theory was that fans actually wanted to see more balls in play, and less home runs.
In 2021, reports showed that the MLB had used two baseballs. The first ball was used in the beginning of the season, and heavily decreased the amount of home runs being hit. However, balls hit into play and base hits also cratered. Thus, after the All-Star break in July, the MLB introduced a second ball that would again facilitate home run hitting and offensive stats. The problem was not that Manfred has been openly manipulating the baseball—the problem was that Manfred was widely inconsistent with his decision making, a folly that foreshadows a poor leader. Manfred changed the baseball because he wanted to increase offensive numbers to draw in younger viewers. When he saw that increased offence via home runs had not drawn in enough viewers, he opted to follow a theory that younger fans wanted more balls in play. When this also failed to attract viewers, he made a U-turn. This is not the sign of a good leader.
Manfred’s manipulation of the ball is probably not even his worst scandal. In 2017, the Houston Astros won their first World Series. In 2020, MLB conducted an investigation that found the Houston Astros had created an elaborate sign-stealing system that had allowed them to signal to a batter in the box what pitch would be thrown. In short, the Astros cheated their way to a World Series. Manfred ended up suspending none of the players, and the Astros got to keep their World Series. Opposing players and fans were furious with the decision. They were even more infuriated when Manfred called the World Series trophy “a piece of metal” in a 2020 interview. In 2021, Manfred heavily cracked down on the use of illegal substances by pitchers. The problem was that the crackdown began in the middle of the season and there were essentially no alternatives. Pitchers have been using substances since the advent of the game to ensure that they can grip the ball properly. Pitchers then complained that they could not grip the ball properly and that injuries would spike as a result. Manfred was also involved in the ninth MLB lockout, when players and owners could not come to terms on a bargaining agreement. MLB lockouts are completely out of scope of an article such as this.
In defence of Manfred, he has at least shown to be willing to try to move the game forward. Baseball is a very conservative game, and hardline fans and players will raise issues to any sort of change. Manfred has explored automatic strike zones to replace human umpires and a pitch clock which has shown to cut game length by as much as thirty per cent. It is clear that Manfred will keep tinkering with the game. He does not “hate” baseball in any measure. He has stated his love for the game, often citing his love for New York baseball influenced by his father like so many others. Manfred does not “hate” baseball, but his weak leadership, questionable decision making, and insensitive comments towards the game suggest that he would like to see it destroyed. Take that as you will.