'Stealing first base' and baseball's experimental Atlantic League rules

WALDORF, Md. – Tony Thomas is already a folk hero.

It’s up to Major League Baseball to determine whether he’ll ultimately be more than a footnote.

Thomas, a 32-year-old outfielder for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, became the first professional player to “steal first base” in an Atlantic League game, exploiting the zaniest of several experimental rule changes the independent league is floating in its partnership with MLB.

In the seventh inning of a tie game on July 13, Thomas paused for a moment as a wild pitch went to the backstop. The catcher instinctively asked the umpire for another ball. And then came the cry from the Blue Crabs’ dugout: “Go! Go! Go!”

A midseason rule change gave batters the right to take off for first base on a passed ball or wild pitch, presenting an immediate quandary for hitters: Stay, and try to do greater damage, or go?

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Thomas chose go, reached first, sparked a three-run rally and now his cleats are in Cooperstown, at the Hall of Fame's request.

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Those cleats – and today’s Atlantic League – may symbolize a period of time where baseball went radical in the name of survival.

“Change is always different; there’s always going to be backlash no matter what,” says Thomas. “Will it stand? I don’t know.

“It’s pretty cool to be a part of history, though.”

Certainly, some Atlantic League experiments have a greater chance of catching on than others. Here’s a look at all that’s different in that eight-team league – and the chances of each rule tweak catching on in the big leagues:

Automated strike zone: Known colloquially as the “robot umpire,” it has been generally well-received for its ball-strike capabilities, but does have its bugs, and takes away a certain human quality to game-calling and pitch-framing. Consensus: It seems inevitable, but may take up to five years for all stakeholders to feel good about the technology.

“Stealing first base”: Designed ostensibly to create action, this seems like a rule in search of a question. Sure, fans want more action, but has anyone ever asked, “Gee, I wish we had more plays like the dropped third strike?” Consensus: A longshot.

An extra foul bunt: You can foul off one two-strike bunt attempt and not yet be struck out. With the bunt headed toward extinction, anyway, this seems a harmless revision that would at least give pitchers another crack at a sacrifice attempt rather than go down meekly. Bunting’s also pretty hard in an era when everyone throws 97 mph. Consensus: Sure, why not.

No mound visits: At all, except for pitching changes. “I like that,” says Blue Crabs right-hander Daryl Thompson, the reigning Atlantic League pitcher of the month. “I guess because I don’t mind pitching in traffic but also because as pitchers, we’re grown men, we’re professionals. You can’t always have someone say something when we’re in trouble. You have to slow the game down and handle yourself.” Consensus: Sounds good to us. If reduced mound visits have been good, zero is better.

Three-batter minimum for pitchers: It’s coming in 2020, with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred expected to unilaterally impose it. We’re still lukewarm on the idea; while mid-inning pitching changes are a bummer, the bigger drag on game pace is bad pitching, period. Forcing a reliever who can’t find the plate or is unwilling to challenge a batter who has a platoon advantage won’t help the game aesthetically or from a pace standpoint.