Commish on rules discussion, young stars

HOUSTON — There were 2,400 defensive shifts put on in Major League Baseball five years ago. There are expected to be around 28,000 this season.

When Bill Mazeroski’s walk-off homer lifted the Pirates to a 10-9 win over the Yankees in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, the nine innings were completed in two hours and 36 minutes.

Commissioner Rob Manfred shared those facts after the quarterly Owners Meetings wrapped up at the Four Seasons Hotel on Thursday, examples of the sort of information the attendees received during an unprecedented presentation that was intended to provide historical context as MLB contemplates what sort of changes might be appropriate moving forward.

Chief operating officer Tony Petitti, senior vice president, league economics and strategy Chris Marinak and Steve Hirdt from the Elias Sports Bureau led the discussion, which included a video presentation.

“It was a really comprehensive look at how the game has changed in the last 50 years,” Manfred explained. “The point of the conversation was that the game has changed dramatically. It’s changed organically. It kind of has flowed where the competitive juices of managerial and general managerial decisions have taken it.

“And the question is, you take a snapshot of that and you say, ‘Wow. Here’s what it looks like. Here’s what it used to look like and should we be thinking about what has occurred and whether we want to allow it to continue to go on the path it’s on.'”

Manfred stressed that this will be a lengthy process that will include input from fans as well as the game’s bigger shareholders like ESPN, FOX and Turner Broadcasting. But he also made it clear he believes that baseball must have a firm understanding of where it’s been before it decides where it wants to go.

Some ideas that have already been appropriately debated include limiting shifts, restricting the number of pitching changes a team …

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