MLB's Extra Innings Proposal is an Awful Idea

[MLB plans to test new extra-innings rules in rookie ball, with Joe Torre's approval]

I love the sport of baseball. Everything about it from the strategy, to the history, to the stats, are just perfect in my opinion. Simply put, baseball is the most pure of the four major sports. And if you're reading this, odds are you agree with me too. However, it appears those in the league office does not share this point of view.  As Jeff Passan said in the Yahoo Sports article I've linked above, former Hall of Fame manager (and current Chief Baseball Officer) Joe Torre is a vocal supporter of this. He's said "Let’s see what it looks like, It’s not fun to watch when you go through your whole pitching staff and wind up bringing a utility infielder in to pitch."  The only problem with that is that it is fun to watch when a team wears out the pen and has to bring in, say, a Mitch Moreland to pitch in the 18th. Moments like these get people talking. New fans will talk about how cool it was to see a seemingly-inexperienced player be thrust into a pressure situation and old fans will talk about their appreciation for the manager's strategy. Torre then said "As much as it’s nice to talk about being at an 18-inning game, it takes time." and I will concede him this point. An 18-inning game will undoubtedly take long. This is simply because they are playing that many innings. An 18-inning game is the equivalent of playing 2 full baseball games back to back with no break. “It’s baseball. I’m just trying to get back to that, where this is the game that people come to watch. It doesn’t mean you’re going to score. You’re just trying to play baseball.” Torre said. What's real interesting about this quote is the whole "It's baseball, just trying to play baseball" thing. Joe, hate to break it to you, but this isn't baseball. This is technically baseball in the same way a lot of wings and beer at a Super Bowl Party is technically a meal. This is basically stripping baseball of all its complex strategy and dumbing it down so anyone with a brain cell and a half could understand what's going on. And while there is never anything wrong with attempting to bring in new fans, it's also important to keep the old fans around. This move, should it go into effect, would ultimately be disastrous for the sport of baseball. While it would bring in some new fans, the amount of fans that would leave would be nearly-fatal. That percentage of fans leaving would also include me, for what it's worth. And while others would turn to other sports, I simply couldn't do that. Baseball has been there for me since day 1. Literally. I was born on the same exact day Barry Bonds hit his 500th home run. The Red Sox beat the Rays 10-0 on that day. Manny homered. In fairness to Joe Torre and MLB, this is only an experiment in rookie ball, and one unlikely to catch on at that. And while I wouldn't stop watching entirely, the amount I'd watch would definitely decrease. All in all, this proposal would spell an increase in imperfections in an already perfect game.