Any takers for the designated-hitter rule?
Or the hockey fiasco.
Ah, the DH is the result of an evolutionary arms race between baseball, basketball, & football. I don't know much about basketball & football history, but wasn't there some change done to professional basketball several years ago to make it more TV-friendly, which many basketball purists say has destroyed the game?
Well, the DH rule appeared in the early '70s, so maybe it wasn't in response to that. But I do remember the flavor of the debate back then: Baseball was seen as boring & stodgy, what with all those pitchers coming up to bat & killing their team's rallies, or else having to pull the pitcher (who may be doing great on the mound) for a pinch-hitter in order to try to keep the rally going. Too many 1-0 games for TV when viewers can turn to basketball. Etc. etc.