During this 2023 MLB season, we've seen insane celebrations, game-changing rules, hot dog madness, and much more. Many of the poorest teams are the strongest, and many of the richest are in utter disarray. We've also seen a team that is so bad that their franchise is seemingly coming to an end.
During the offseason, the MLB made new rules that have changed the game immensely. A pitcher now has only 20 seconds until they have to pitch the ball and can only attempt a maximum of three pickoffs per plate appearance. Hitters also now have only 30 seconds to get into the batter's box. Another big rule change was the banning of the shift. The impact of these new rules has been astronomical. At the end of April, steals were up a staggering 54%, runs were up 14%, hits were up 9%, and the average length of a game was down an insane 27 minutes due to the pitch clock. Aside from the many pitches and hit clock violations because of confusion, the rule changes were a success.
There have been some great dugout celebrations in the past, but none like some of the ones that we've seen in 2023. For example, whenever an Angels player hits a home run, they wear a Samurai helmet that is almost a replica of the helmets that Samurai wore. The Pirates have a sword given to them by fans, the Mariners have a Trident, the Nationals have a colonial wig, the Reds have a Viking helmet, and the Twins have a fishing outfit. The wackiest celebration belongs to the Orioles, who spit onto the field in unison when a teammate hits a double. These celebrations have also contributed to a culture shift in the MLB that has lasted nearly ten years, that the sport is becoming flashier. Celebrations such as bat flip as well as dancing have also contributed. That will have to be covered in a future post, though. (https://www.gameday-analysis.com/post/baseball-is-more-flashy-than-it-has-ever-been)
In the MLB, the teams that spend the most money on players are often the strongest. However, this season, matters are completely different. The 2nd and 4th worst payroll teams, the Orioles and Rays, are two of the best teams. The Rays tied an MLB record by winning all 13 of their first 13 games. They hold the best winning percentage in the league and are on pace to win a record-tying 116 games. After years of misery, the Orioles are finally relevant, as they are 38-24 and are on pace to win 99 games. Will O's and Rays continue to perform well throughout this season? The Rays have more depth, making it difficult for an injury bug to stop them. As for the O's, the outlook is a bit more uncertain. Both teams play in the same division, along with the Yankees, Blue Jays, and Red Sox. Every team in the AL East is over .500 and the division is one of the strongest in MLB and even sports history. Also, just two years ago, the Diamondbacks were the league's laughing stock, with the worst winning percentage. They are now in first place in the NL West, ahead of the Juggernaut Dodgers. The D-Backs rank just 21st in payroll yet have won more than 60% of their games. While some of the poorest teams are the best, many of the richest are in complete shambles. The Mets rank first in payroll with a record-breaking 344 million dollars. Yet the team hasn't even won half of their games. The bats have been ice cold, but the more significant cause of the underachieving has been dysfunctionality on and off the field. The 3rd-ranked payroll Padres haven't been quite as dysfunctional, but many of their big signings such as Juan Soto, Josh Bell, Blake Snell, and Yu Darvish have not lived up to their hype. When this occurs, the primary cause is often subpar coaching. The defending National League champion Phillies have also fallen victim to the high-payroll slump. The Phillies rank 4th in payroll but have been none other than a disappointment. Veteran pitching struggles such as Zack Wheeler, Craig Kimbrel, and Taijuan Walker have been a prime cause. The loss of Andrew McCutchen in the offseason has hurt, as well as the slumps that Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos are in.
While the Phillies' on-field play has been mediocre, they and the Blue Jays decided to bring back dollar dog night, which was a massive success and complete chaos. Joey Chestnut threw the first pitch for the Blue Jays, and over 51,000 hot dogs were sold. That's 1.7 hot dogs per fan, which broke a Blue Jays record. But that is nothing compared to what happened in Philadelphia, as dollar dog night caused an attendance of over 43,000 at Citizens Bank Park, and the fans ate an insane 74,000 hot dogs. Towards the end of the game, a fan stood up and told everyone that he was going for his hot dog record, but ran out of hot dogs. Thus the fans responded by throwing hot dogs at him. Despite the madness that had occurred, the Phillies scheduled two more dollar dog nights, on April 25th and May 9th. Over 80,000 hot dogs were sold on the 25th. It ended with hot dogs thrown onto the field. But the third dollar dog night was the craziest, as a staggering 88,000 hot dogs were sold and the fans started the first-ever dollar dog wave. The entire stadium did the wave while throwing hot dogs in the air. Dollar dog night was a huge success, but the Oakland A's season has been anything but that.
After shedding payroll by letting every franchise cornerstone leave in free agency, the A's are the worst MLB team in over 100 years. They currently sit at 18-50 with a point differential of -193. So few fans come to Athletics games that 11 of 13 triple-A games drew more attendance than the A's on opening day. 4 of those games even doubled the A's attendance. The few fans that do show up to Rickey Henderson Field come in protest, chanting, "Sell the team!" Their owner, Bob Fischer is now trying to move the team to Las Vegas. "Vegas A's" does not roll off the tongue very well. Fischer has been trying to get a new stadium for nearly a decade but is never willing to negotiate a deal, thus his requests for a new stadium have been continuously denied. It sure makes sense why an A's owner would want a new stadium, though. Rickey Henderson Field is a mess. There have been multiple instances of possums, cats, and rats on the field as well as possum poop in the commentator's booths. There are also over 100 feral cats living on the property. Last season, the visitors' locker room had flooded, so the Mariners and A's had to share a locker room. There isn't anything more to say about this hapless franchise than that their only hope for success is better ownership.
To conclude matters, this 2023 season has certainly been weird. One can only hope that it gets even weirder.
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