“I think it would be good for the game to get rid” of the shift, the Cardinals’ Carpenter said at his locker during spring training last week.
When a shift begins during a game, a reaction for some is to sigh and think — here we go again. It’s hard enough in baseball to hit baseballs hard. And with a shift, even lefties who do hit the ball hard have to avoid hitting it into a web of webs — sometimes as many as six gloves on the right side of the field.
But it’s time we become more accepting of the shift, even if it’s grudgingly.