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 Baseball was gone for the winter and finally returned for late spring.  Wait, isn't that the normal baseball schedule?  Close enough.  After having an entire offseason to negotiate The Major League Baseball Players Association and Baseball Owners finally came to terms after spring training was supposed to start.  We thought we were great procrastinators but guess we aren't in Major Leagues, yet.  The lawyers put forth the standard negotiation practice of waiting until the last minute and combined that some warning track power to get some results.  After a few balks and many low and outside pitches, we thought the sides would eventually walk or strikeout before a deal got done.  They eventually dugout of the hole they were in and both sides finally stepped up to the plate.  This new deal gave players guaranteed contracts... wait, they already have that?  Oh, well the new deal gave owners the ability to lock players in the minor leagues for extended periods of time with very little pay.  They had that too?  They still have that?  Oh, geez.  It turns out the new deal actually was just about money and finding an excuse to finally get the DH into the National League.  We're sure at least one of those will have an impact on the game.

This marks the end of the pitch hitting era in baseball.  Wait, we mean pitchers hitting era, right? (We hope someone makes contact with the baseball this year.)  This era has established without any doubts; if you pitch, you cannot hit.  This idea has been continually reinforced early on in a players career because it is physically impossible to throw the ball very fast and use that same arm in a swinging motion to hit a baseball very far.  Some say the motions are very similar but it is not true.  You throw or you hit because the physics and biomechanics simply don't allow for both.  It has been proven if you try to do both; you will not make it to the Major Leagues and no one will know who you are.  Seriously, have you ever heard of Babe Ruth or Shohei Ohtani?  Unlikely.  They are nobodies and have proved it with their stats.  Last year Shohei only hit 46 bombs with 100 RBI's as a hitter.  As a pitcher he only struck out 156 batters and hit over 100 mph on the gun on his way to AL MVP.  Babe Ruth only hit 714 home runs with a lifetime era of 2.28 and is widely considered to be one of the best players of all time.  Now, some may consider these accomplishments as "impressive," because they irrefutably are, but they shouldn't.  We established earlier about the preconceived notion that one person can not possess the ability to do both things well.  The numbers, physical proof, and data do not matter.  It is the traditional ideas that have been founded with years of ignorance that matter to the game.   Any evidence to the contrary of those ideas should be completely ignored.  The perpetuation of stereotypes should continue starting at a young age and percolate onward.  Keeping things the way they are makes them better.  That is the way.  Or, maybe there is an entire talent pool of players abilities that scouts, coaches, and the game is missing out on?   Nah, that doesn't seem right.  The arm physical limitation thing definitely sounds right and not at all idiotic so, lets stick with that.