What? Are they moving second base? Where exactly would it move?
As part of the experiment, the minor leagues will also have larger bases this season, increasing from 15 square inches to 18 square inches. That change will go into effect at the start of the season and will help close the gap between first and second base.
In the second half of this season, second base will be moved, it will sit even closer to first base and third base, about 13.5 inches. Second base is currently 88 feet, 1.5 inches from first base.
Not in the big leagues, at least not yet. But this will happen in most ballparks at all levels of the minor leagues, as part of wide-ranging experiments for further contemplation in potential MLB rule changes, which will include pitching clocks, at-bat limits and robot umpires. , all of which could come in the near future.
The goal of the experiment is to create a shorter distance between bases and encourage more base stealing and more exciting action from first to third base.
The reason: It dates back more than a century to where second base on the diamond was originally located.
For 135 years, this base has been located in the wrong place on the ground.
According to a 2010 analysis by baseball researcher Tom Shieber, since 1887, second base has never been placed in the same way as other bases. How can that be? First base and third base are located at their natural corners on each side of the diamond. But the second baseman, in the middle of the infield, is not located in his own corner of the diamond. Instead, it is placed so that the imaginary corner passes right through the middle of the base.
Why? The short explanation is that first base and third base were repositioned to help umpires make fair/foul calls, because once they were moved to the spots they currently occupy, any ball that hit the base was obviously fair. But that wasn’t a problem at second base, since there are no fair/foul lines down the middle of the field. So when first base and third base were moved in the late 19th century, second base stayed in place.
That is an almost irrelevant detail, the little relevance it has is that since that point is not established like others, it gives the opportunity for today to experiment with that change.
With the second base moving in, so that the outside edges of the base (finally) line up with the imaginary corner of the diamond. The point is that the effective distance between first and second base will be reduced by more than a foot. Then it will work like this:
“Old” distance: 88 feet, 1.5 inches
“New” distance: 87 feet
In the minors, the size of the bases will increase from 15 square inches to 18 square inches at the beginning of the season. Now these two changes will work together. Here’s how: Now, the combination of larger bases plus a mobilized second baseman cutting a foot apart will combine to cut that distance even further, to a total of 13.5 inches.
