Major League Baseball is going through a bit of a growth period right now, and many fairly wild changes to the game have been proposed (robot umpires, starting a runner on second base in extra innings, pitch clocks, etc.). But one of the craziest – eh, you know what? the craziest – but legitimate proposals is already being tested out in independent pro leagues:Â stealing first base.Â
That’s right! Right now, in the Atlantic League, a player can actually steal first base if a pitch is “not caught in flight” by the catcher (like a dropped third strike … in any count). But until this weekend, it hadn’t happened.
Indeed, on Saturday, Southern Maryland Blue Crabs outfielder Tony Thomas became the first person to actually steal first base – successfully! – and it’s just so strange to see.
Check it out:
For the first time in baseball history a player stole first base thanks to the Atlantic League-MLB partnership rule changes! @ESPNAssignDesk pic.twitter.com/yj4FkcZg6O
— SoMD Blue Crabs (@BlueCrabs) July 14, 2019
Wow.
I have absolutely no idea where I’ll land on this idea yet – it’s just so very out there – but I’m willing to keep an open mind for now. I think it would pretty fundamentally change the game and the value of certain players, but, hey … it could be fun.
Let’s check back in, say, a year from now and see how it’s going, eh?