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MLB ALL-STAR GAMEJuly 13, 2015Robert ManfredCINCINNATI, OHIO JB LONG: Hello, everyone, and welcome to MLB.com Commissioner's Town Hall Chat for 2015, live from Cincinnati. I'm JB. I'm very excited what began over a decade ago, answering a handful of emails from the Commissioner's office has grown into a worldwide event. Appreciated both in the host city and by fans around the globe. It's an opportunity for fans to talk directly to the Commissioner. To help us do that, to host that, a voice, a man who is great in baseball and Cincinnati fans know quite well, Thom Brennaman is with us. And the man of the hour, the tenth Commissioner of Baseball, presiding over his first All-Star festivities and more importantly, sitting down for his first MLB.com Town Hall Chat, Commissioner Rob Manfred. THOM BRENNAMAN: Commissioner, you have been nonstop. Welcome to Cincinnati. For all of us that are from Cincinnati, consider this the best place in the world to call home, we welcome you. You've been here a number of days. I would imagine this is probably the longest you've had a chance to actually sit down. COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: We've had a lot of fun activities here in Cincinnati. The Reds and the Castellini family have just been great hosts. Equally important, we've done a fantastic job with their legacy dollars. I was out this morning for the dedication of a field in Covington, Kentucky. Just a fantastic facility. Then I stopped and saw the Reds' youth academy; also a real tribute to what the Reds and the Castellini family have done here in Cincinnati. THOM BRENNAMAN: That's one area, Rob, that I know is very important to you, and it always has been important to baseball. I don't know if it's more important now than ever. But certainly, since you've become commissioner, it's about getting so many of these kids exposed to baseball, whether it be a chance to see a game, play a game, get involved like they have at the Urban Academy here in Cincinnati. Talk about that and how baseball is looking at that. COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: You have to begin from the proposition that kids have lots of alternatives, way more than they had for sure when I was a child. We have to be competitive in that space. We have to be competitive to get kids playing the game, participating in our great sport. We have to be competitive in terms of encouraging parents to get their kids into the ballpark at an early age. Those two things, participation and going to the ballpark, is what makes life-long fans. THOM BRENNAMAN: You can be told what it's like to be the Commissioner of Baseball from now until the end of time. Since you've become commissioner, what's the coolest thing about being Commissioner of Baseball? COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: I think the greatest thing about being commissioner is the opportunity to see the good work that our clubs do in their communities and with young people. I have to tell you, today has been really exhilarating. You go into a community and you see how important the money that the Reds spent on a baseball field is to that community. Literally, hundreds of people show up to say "thank you". It's absolutely the best part of the job. THOM BRENNAMAN: Coming to your first All-Star Game as commissioner, you see FanFest, and you start to look around. But in your job, you also have to find areas that you really like, maybe some things you'd like to see done a little bit different. As far as our city, Cincinnati, is concerned, this is a mighty big deal here, as you know. Some of the bigger cities, maybe it's not as big a deal. This is huge for us in town. Outside of some of the things you talked about, in terms of the community and the business community involvement in Cincinnati, so far, so good? COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: It's been unbelievable. I mentioned before, every year, baseball and the hosting club leaves behind about a five million dollar legacy in terms of projects that we complete in the community. Here in Cincinnati, the Reds foundation, P&G, a number of local sponsors have added an additional three million dollars of legacy dollars to our five. It's made for a tremendous event in this community. THOM BRENNAMAN: We're excited to have you and we're excited to have the Home Run Derby tonight, the All-Star Game tomorrow night. Right now, it's time, we call this the Commissioner's Town Hall. We've accepted questions from not only all over the United States, but as we know, baseball is all over the world. So I think you're going to like this one, Commissioner, right out of the gate. Are you ready? Bob C. "I was there when you caught the last out in Carl Weaver's perfect game. But who did you hit better, Chet Vinci or Joe Abone? COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: He says Abone, this is actually funny, out at the field dedication this morning, Tom Browning was there. As you may know, Tom Browning went to Le Moyne College in Syracuse, where I went for a couple years, my wife graduated. So Tom Browning, Joe Abone that they're talking about there and Jim Deshaies were all on the same staff. It was one heck of a Division II staff. So it was easier to hit Chet Vinci than Joe Abone, okay? THOM BRENNAMAN: Thank you very much, Bob. Matt M., all the way from India. He's a huge San Francisco Giants fan. Mr. Commissioner, what do you plan to do to promote baseball internationally, specifically in India? COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: Well, our international strategy varies market to market. In some of our more developed markets, we want to take games to those markets, live Major League games, let people see what Major League Baseball looks like. In places like India and China, what we really think is important is to make our content available, broadcast over the Internet, so that people become familiar with our game as a prelude to us taking the game to those markets. THOM BRENNAMAN: Randall R., Mr. Commissioner, what do you think about each team doing 14 doubleheaders a season to shorten the season by two weeks, while keeping 162 games, thereby allowing for a longer playoff series, which could also include doubleheaders? This is certainly talked about. A lot of people in the game talk about the schedule, Mr. Commissioner. COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: The schedule is an important issue for us. People forget, we ask our players to play 162 games in 183 days. A lot of those 21 days are consumed by travel. It's a rigorous, rigorous schedule. So there is a lot of conversation in the game about the schedule, the demands it puts on our players. My own view is that if we were to do something dramatically different with the schedule, we would be better off shortening it, rather than adding doubleheaders. I think if we were going to change the schedule, it should reduce the burdens that we currently impose. THOM BRENNAMAN: Joshua W. writes, Is there any possibility that the replay rule could be fixed so that it takes less time and does not interfere with the pace of play? COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: Well, as you know, pace of play has been an important focus for us this year. Thanks to great cooperation from our players, we've had really positive early returns. Making replay as quick as possible is part of that pace-of-play effort. I think the key there is to constantly improve our technology. Bob Bowman and the people at MLB.com have provided the absolute best possible technology for instant replay. Every single year, we'll continue to make it better and it will take less time to complete the reviews. THOM BRENNAMAN: Before we get to the next question, I want a follow-up on that one: This has really been important to you in baseball about the pace of play. For those of us blessed enough to be part of baseball each and every day at the local level and at the national level, we're already seeing dramatic improvement. But in the minor leagues, you put in a pitch clock. So far, what has that been, at least the response to that? COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: I'll tell you, we started experimenting with the pitch clock in the Arizona Fall League. Some of our more traditional people in the office thought we had really lost our minds a little bit, the idea you're putting a clock on a baseball field. But they went and they watched the games in Arizona and we got really positive feedback. The experiment really turned people's views around. That's why we went ahead, made a major investment to install clocks in AA and AAA. The returns on that have been even better than the great results we've seen at the big league level. THOM BRENNAMAN: I've talked to a number of friends of mine who have been to a number of minor league games and they very much feel it's been a positive influence on the game so far, for whatever that's worth. Adam P, How do you view the view of data science in MLB. What are the opportunities not yet tapped into and what educational/professional experience do the League and or its teams look for when hiring in these positions? COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: I think probably the biggest change that's taken place in baseball in the 20-plus years that I've worked in the game is the move to data analysis. In most of our organizations, their baseball decisions are driven largely by data analytics now. I think what you will see going forward is you'll see technology developments like our Statcast system, that captures even more data than we have today; data about the way players move on the field, data that allows you to evaluate defense in ways that have not been possible traditionally. So I think you'll see a continuing growing emphasis on data analytics. In terms of skill set, it's the core quantitative capability, mathematics, computer science people like to see when filling these types of positions. THOM BRENNAMAN: You're a baseball fan and have been a fan your whole life. For a lot of us who grew up in baseball, a fan our whole lives, some of this new stuff, it takes a little bit of open-mindedness. What's that been like for you as a baseball fan? COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: I'll tell you how I think about some of the newer technology. I was doing an inning with Ned Colletti during a Dodger game this spring. Joc Pederson made a great catch. Ned, because he's a 40-year baseball executive, explained because he could just see it with his eye, that he could make the catch because he took a perfect path to the baseball. The way I think about Statcast and those kinds of developments is that allows the average fan, with the untrained eye, to understand the game on the field, the same way that an expert does. I thinks over the long haul, people will enjoy the game more if they understand it better. THOM BRENNAMAN: Lee wants to write, I should have followed this up when we had it originally, You have the pitch clock at AAA and AA. Do you foresee that coming into the big leagues? COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: I'll tell you what I think about pace of game going forward, including the pitch clock. We got tremendous cooperation from our players on the pace-of-game initiative. One of the reasons we got that cooperation was we involved them in the process from the very beginning. After all, whatever you do on the field, it begins and ends with the players. So I think there will be ongoing dialogue with the Players Association about what additional pace-of-game initiatives we can undertake, and I think we'll try to continue to be responsive to what the fans want, and that's a nice, crisply played baseball game. THOM BRENNAMAN: Randy M., With all of a sudden the runs scored in baseball on the decline, and I would imagine that's probably a preface to this, is there any talk of consideration about lowering the pitcher's mound? COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: Let me say this about offense, we watch very carefully what goes on on the field. Generally, where we are on lack of offense is we're trying to decide whether we're seeing an aberration or a downward trend that's going to be continuous, that needs to be addressed. Actually, kind of interesting, some of the offensive numbers have ticked up this year. Everybody keeps talking about offense being down. The numbers actually belie that a little bit. So we're trying to decide whether we have a problem and solutions like lowering the pitcher's mound are just down the road for us at this point. THOM BRENNAMAN: We are going to be taking some questions in a little while from some of you here in Cincinnati at Major League Baseball's FanFest. But let's go to Luis C. Is there any chance that you can change the way All-Star players have been selected? Now, Mr. Commissioner, I would imagine this is something that's probably been on your mind a little bit, based on everything that's been going on there for quite some time in Kansas City. COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: Let me talk a little bit about selection. Three weeks ago, obviously, everybody was worked up about the number of Royals that were leading at the various positions. And I said at that time that I have great faith in our fans. I thought fans would correct some of the things that people were seeing, that they were not happy about. For example, people in Detroit turned out big time because they thought Miguel Cabrera should be the first baseman. I think that is a demonstration of the fact that fan voting is an important source of fan engagement. Over time, if you leave them alone, fans make pretty good decisions. I also like the idea that player voting provides a backstop against our fan balloting. Nobody knows better than our players who's best at what they do on the field. So I thinks the combination we have right now is a pretty good one. But are there room for tweaks? Certainly. There certainly are. THOM BRENNAMAN: Tom R. Would like to know, Will you allow teams to trade their draft picks in the next Major League Baseball labor agreement? COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: What happens with respect to the trading of the draft picks obviously will be a product of negotiation with the MLBPA. Personally, I do believe that the trading of draft picks is a good thing for baseball. I think that our teams are sophisticated. They realize that draft picks and dollars to be spent on amateur players are resources. You can make trade-off among those resources. I think we have 30 GMs that more than capable of making those decisions THOM BRENNAMAN: Rob, before we get to the next question, you were involved for so many years. Many people out there, you're so humble, times I've been around you, you're not going to accept the credit for this. But on both sides, the players and the ownership feel like you being at the negotiating table over the last 20 years made such a significantly positive impact on labor peace for the last number of years. A lot of people frequently want to know, does that trend continue, do you believe, moving forward? COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: We made a great announcement this morning with the MLB -- along with the MLBPA that we've dedicated $30 million to the development of youth baseball and softball in the United States. I think that is a reflection of the fact that over two decades, we have built a very positive working relationship with the MLBPA. We don't agree with the MLBPA about every issue. They don't agree with us about every issue, but we've built the kind of relationship that has allowed us to make agreements. I think that we will continue that trend going forward. THOM BRENNAMAN: Alex C., Mr. Commissioner, will we see foul tips added to the list of reviewable plays in the future? COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: I think you will see, in the replay area, a modest continuation of the expansion of the type of plays that are subject to review. There's been a lot of conversation about foul tips in that category. Whether or not that's the one we go to next, it's just probably too early to tell. THOM BRENNAMAN: Allen would like to know, can you see baseball adding a man to the 25-man roster to give teams another arm, perhaps lighten the load on young starters in hopes of preventing injuries? COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: Let me say a couple things about this one. Number one, some people are not aware, when we play split doubleheaders now, we actually do expand our rosters by adding a 26th player, to make additional pitching available during that one day when we're asking teams to play two games. In terms of injuries, it's interesting. I think our clubs do a tremendous job once they sign players in terms of monitoring how much they pitch, when they pitch. Our data suggests that if we have an overuse injury problem with respect to pitchers, it's what goes on in the amateur ranks. That's one of the reasons we worked with USA Baseball to deploy the Pitch Smart program to help people working in the youth space, make sure they make good decisions about the use and overuse of pitchers. THOM BRENNAMAN: I know the Reds director of medicine, Dr. Timothy Kremchek, has been very active in that as well. COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: He has, indeed. THOM BRENNAMAN: Stephane would like to know the chances for Montreal to have a Major League baseball team again from the greatest sport in the world once again? COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: I think it's important. We view ourselves as a growth business. I think it is important for growth businesses to identify and nurture markets that are interested in having the sport expand. Montreal is certainly one of those markets. The mayor of Montreal is a very persuasive, engaging fellow. He's been in to meet with me. I think the city's done a fantastic job the last two springs; sold out two games, 90,000-plus people for a couple of exhibition games. So I think that Montreal is an important market for us to monitor and cultivate as we look forward to expansion at some point in time in the future. THOM BRENNAMAN: JB, I understand we're ready for questions from some of the fans here in Cincinnati at Major League Baseball's All-Star FanFest. Coming up to the monitor, wearing his old-school White Sox shirt. JB LONG: What's your question for the Commissioner. Q. My name is Mike. I'm from Beavercreek, Ohio. I was curious, looking into the past with some of the stuff that's happened, there any plans to revisit the Buck Weaver issue from the 1919 White Sox? COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: I do get letters about the 1919 White Sox players. I have to tell you, I see the White Sox players a little differently than I do Pete Rose. Those players were eligible to be elected to the Hall of Fame. They were on the ballot for a number of years; it didn't happen. The underlying events took place decades ago. I think that how history should treat Buck Weaver and the other players that were involved in that scandal is better left to the historians than Major League Baseball at this point. THOM BRENNAMAN: Rob, since we are in Cincinnati, and that's the one thing, among many, I think many of us who follow baseball and love baseball have admired the way you've sort of taken the reins and moved forward. You're never ducking a question. You know when you come to Cincinnati -- and I asked you this at the Fox Baseball Seminar about, is the Pete Rose situation a Cincinnati or an Ohio thing or is it a national kind of thing as far as your mail as Commissioner of Baseball? COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: Well, there's no doubt that the vast majority of the mail that I get is from people who live in Cincinnati or who were from Cincinnati originally, big Pete Rose fans. I get mail from people all around the country on the topic. It is a topic that's of interest to people. And it's one that we'll deal with going forward. JB LONG: Another fan from Cincinnati: What's your name, were where are you from? Q. Joe from Florence, Kentucky. My question is concerning the disabled list. You have the seven-day concussion list and the 15-day disabled list. With advances in medical technology, lots of players get injuries that last only a few days they can recover from. Would be there a chance to include more injuries in just a seven-day list so teams don't have to play, say, short on their roster for a series against a certain team or something? COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: Well, they rarely elect to play short, to be honest with you. It just doesn't happen all that much. But there is constant conversation during each off-season about the length of time that the disabled list lockup should go on. And I would not be surprised to see a shortening of the 15-day number at some point in the future. THOM BRENNAMAN: We have got some youngsters who want to come up, JB. JB LONG: We've got some youngsters, Thom. What's your name, where are you from? Q. I'm John. I'm from Ft. Thomas, Kentucky. Mr. Commissioner, what are you doing to help kids play baseball? COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: Well, we have a number of programs that are directed at encouraging youth participation. The one that I've been talking about a lot recently is a program called Play Ball. The idea of Play Ball is to encourage grass roots activity outside of formalized play. In other words, getting kids to play Home Run Derby, play catch, play Wiffle ball, even if they don't have 18 kids in uniform and an umpire. We had a great event at the University of Cincinnati yesterday, a hitting challenge. We're going to have 120 events like that around the country in partnership with the U.S. conference of mayors during the course of this summer. THOM BRENNAMAN: I can tell you, for anybody here in Cincinnati that has not had a chance to see that new Urban Academy that the folks from Procter & Gamble and Major League Baseball put together, the things they're doing out there for youth, not only youth baseball but the kids in general who may not have some place to go, and they need areas of help in other areas, nobody's doing what Major League Baseball is doing in that category and that area in our country right now. Not even close. COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: We're really proud of our system of urban youth academies. It was actually very interesting. I was out there visiting this morning and Dayton Moore, the general manager of the Royals is out there visiting because the Royals are building an academy. Each team wants theirs to be better than the next. Cincinnati's certainly state of the art on that one. JB LONG: We have another young baseball player. Q. Mr. Commissioner, when you're ready to retire, I was wondering what it would take for me to be the next commissioner. COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: I tell you, I think becoming the Commissioner of Baseball has changed a little bit in recent years. Used to be that they would look outside the game and hire somebody who had been successful in another business. If you look at all professional sports now, there's a real trend. Most of us who are now commissioners came up through the game. So I think it would be important for you to get a start with a team or the League and work your way up through the organization. THOM BRENNAMAN: We'll take a few more. Now, I've got to ask you, of all the things about being Commissioner, I heard you say one time the coolest thing about being Commissioner is -- COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: The name on the baseball. THOM BRENNAMAN: Absolutely. The first ones that came off the rack, okay, what did you do with the first one? COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: I know where the first one is. The first one that was made with -- they make up prototypes and you actually get to pick among about five baseballs which one you really want to be your signature. So I picked out of the five prototypes, I took that ball. That weekend, I went to North Carolina for my dad's 85th birthday, and that's what I gave him for his birthday. So I'll always know where that first one is. THOM BRENNAMAN: Big round of applause, ladies and gentlemen, for the Commissioner of Baseball, Mr. Rob Manfred. Thanks so much for this Town Hall Meeting. It's been a pleasure. COMMISSIONER ROB MANFRED: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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