Speial Pinch-Runner rule

This is strictly my OPINION!

I think the brain trust of baseball experts at Williamsport has done something to irrevocably hurt the game with the "special pinch-runner" rule!

I don't know what they were trying to accomplish, but it appears that one result has been to slow down a game which is in many people's minds too slow now.

But the more subtle thing I think we'll soon see happening is, that rule is the perfect excuse for coaches to introduce another "specialist" into a game already overloaded with specialists, especially at the youth level.

I think we're going to start seeing All Star teams especially, putting at least one player on the team who literally does nothing but run the bases. Given that opportunity, some coaches will use that as just another excuse to refrain from teaching the skills of base running to the players who need them the most.

To those who would argue that it only brings a new and more exciting dimension to the game, let me say this. Any coach, good or bad, who is honest about it, will tell you there are far to many "dimensions" to the youth game to deal with effectively now!

When I think that a child who has proven himself to be worthy of being chosen as an All Star will passed over in favor of one who possesses little skill other than being fleet of foot, it makes me sad! What those guys have done is open just one more can of worms and thrown it into the already volatile situation of choosing and playing All Stars.