rest - http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/2...next-big-thingIt's a cliche to say something "came out of left field," but when you're writing about baseball, you get to use that particular cliche. MLB's league office sent out a press release Thursday that came out of that proverbial left field, and it raises some very fundamental questions about the game.
Here's the big one: What does baseball want to be?
The surprising news was that MLB had received the results from a comprehensive study on the ball itself, spurred by the surge in home run rates across the sport since 2015. In a nutshell, as independent studies suggested, baseball has been played with a livelier ball in recent seasons.
Until now, baseball's response to the homer surge was that the ball was no different than it had been. We know now that isn't the case, and it's heartening to see the league being transparent about this issue by announcing the details of the study along with some steps to address its conclusions.