Happy Hump-day Athletics Nation.
Is the “Golden At-Bat” in our future? Before we get into this new development out of the Commissioner’s Office, let’s flash back to the final at-bat of the 2021 World Baseball Classic (WBC). It was March 21 and with two outs and the game on the line, Mike Trout came up to bat against his MLB teammate and friend Shohei Ohtani. What ultimately happened was irrelevant, but unforgettable to those of us watching, was the pure drama of the moment. Two generational players in a showdown for the ages. It’s this level of drama that MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is hoping to generate each game with the “Golden At-bat.