Los Angeles Times

Bill James on MLB: Too much is foul, and more thoughts on making the game better

General view of Comerica Park in the fifth inning in a game between the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers during the home opener at Comerica Park on July 27, 2020 in Detroit, Michigan.

It would be too much to say Bill James and Rob Manfred are kindred spirits. But, when the father of modern analytics talks, we listen.

"Baseball has terrible aesthetic problems," James said. "We all know that. But, in many cases, it isn't the rules that are causing them. It's the lack of new rules."

These days, Manfred is the face of the owners' lockout, the chosen representative of the billionaires who stand between America and spring training. In happier times, and for years now, Manfred has tried to nudge a tradition-bound sport toward changes

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