“A stalling game is a game between coaches. But the [shot] clock gives the game back to the players.”
—Jacksonville basketball coach Bob Wenzel, 1982
This is the year baseball gives the game back to the players. The bans on shifts and stationing infielders in the outfield help restore baseball as an athletic competition, not an intramural competition among analytics departments as to who can build a better algorithm.
The Shift Era is over. Good riddance. May it never come back.
