Good morning!
Former Red Sox boss Theo Epstein has been making the rounds reassuring fans that baseball’s rules changes won’t turn the game into a “s**t show” as some players have predicted.

Epstein helped win two world championships in Boston and one with the Cubs by using analytics to micro-manage and strategize. Success breeds imitation, and winning became a joyless means to an end.

Realizing this, Epstein left the Cubs after the 2020 season to help commissioner Rob Manfred put the genie back in the bottle. “The game has evolved away from the action by data and front office optimization,” he told reporters. “Twenty-five years ago nobody would’ve chosen .240 league batting averages, strikeout rates higher than Bob Gibson’s career strikeout rate, generational lows in doubles and triples, and having to wait more than four minutes to see balls put into play.”

Baseball went about fixing that by testing proposed rules changes in the Arizona Fall League, the California League, the Atlantic League and other minor leagues and then analyzing the data that was culled from those 8,000 games.

What they found is what longtime hardball fans already knew. “Watch a Red Sox game from the 1970s and Luis Tiant’s throwing a pitch every 10 to 12 seconds, none of this 30 seconds,” Epstein recently told WBZ’s Dan Roche. “A line drive one-hopper to the right fielder used to be a base hit, now it’s a routine play to the third baseman moved over to short right field.”

Late last summer the competition committee put the proposed rules changes to a vote. The committee was composed of six owner reps, four players and an umpire. The players voted unanimously against, everyone else voted in favor. They knew that fans were losing interest. Attendance was down six percent from 2019 according to baseball-reference, and ballparks had averaged 6,130 fewer fans per game than in 2007.

When spring training games start this week, pitchers will have 15 seconds to pitch with the bases empty and 20 seconds when a runner’s on base. Pitchers can step off the rubber twice; a third time results in a balk.

The batter must be ready at eight seconds, the catcher at 10. Violations result in an automatic ball or strike.

The size of the bases will be enlarged from 15 square inches to 18 square inches to help prevent spiking and encourage base stealing. Maybe the idea came from the Twilight Zone episode when a Mets fan used his freeze-time stopwatch to move the bag closer to a Met player’s foot.

“There will be an adjustment period,” warned Epstein, “but ultimately the rules will fade into the background and the pace of play will improve.”

Banning the shift is cause for celebration. According to Sports Info Solutions, the insidious, excitement-stealing strategy was used more than 68,000 times last season.

“Now,” said Epstein, “fans can cherish moments absent extreme defensive shifts when games are decided not by whether their team’s infield is positioned by the perfect algorithm, but by whether their team’s second baseman can range to make an athletic diving play.”

Thank you, MLB, for giving us our game back.

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Red Sox owner John Henry blames the media for “putting out a false narrative,” but what’s false about a 78-84 record? The Vegas books don’t think the Red Sox will break .500, and the starting rotation will be decided from amongst Chris Sale, Nick Pivetta, Corey Kluber, Garrett Whitlock, Tanner Houck, James Paxton and Brayan Bello — seven hurlers who were a collective 31-37 last season.

Bello was shelved a few days with forearm stiffness. If he can’t go, lefty James Paxton will try to return to his form from 2019 when he was 15-6 for the Yankees. Don’t hold your breath, he’s pitched 22 innings the last two seasons.

Kiké Hernandez is filling in at shortstop for broken down Trevor Story, and catchers Reese McGuire and Connor Wong aren’t the second coming of Fisk and Varitek. Jorge Alfaro, you ask? Sorry, I can’t get excited about another long-haired Red Sox player with a .256 career average, strikes out every third at-bat and turns 30 in June.

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Pioneer superintendent Patricia Kinsella has tabbed Erin Thayer to take over the school’s struggling track program. Thayer has requested $12,000 for new equipment.

When the school’s fiscal year budget comes up at town meeting it will include $10,000 for a new batting cage. The appropriation is an acknowledgment of the Panthers’ deep run in last year’s playoffs under coach Kevin Luippold. “The district is committed to ensuring that our student athletes have access to high-quality equipment and fields,” promised Kinsella.

At this writing the UMass softball team (3-6) was on a three-game winning streak, sandwiching a 6-1 win against Charleston Southern with two wins against North Dakota.

Outfielder Chloe Whittier is the only hitter batting over .300. The junior from outside Rochester is 10-for-27 (.370) with nine singles and a double. Bella Pantoja has the team’s only home run in 222 at-bats, and pitchers Jesse DiPasquale and Julianne Bolton have allowed 49 hits in 46.2 innings.

The UMass women’s lacrosse team (2-1) beat Siena, 14-5, on Wednesday and hosts Dartmouth today at noon at Garber Field. Coach Jana Drummond’s team is ranked 22nd by Inside Lacrosse. Alas, the team’s cumulative stats are a needle in the Google haystack.

The undefeated men’s lacrosse team (2-0) moved from 23rd to 18th in the latest D-1 Media Poll. Today Garber’s Gorillas host BU (1-1) following the women’s game. The Terriers fell out of the Top 20 after they lost to UVM on Feb. 11.

The UMass baseball team’s season opener is Wednesday at Central Conn. State in New Britain. The high is forecast to be near 40 degrees with 5-10 mph winds from the northwest.

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At Hinsdale High School last Saturday I perused the banners on the gym’s walls while my grandson Carter’s hoops team was getting clobbered and saw Joe Sarsfield’s name among the high school’s 1,000-point scorers. Joe was the race secretary at Hinsdale Greyhound Park the same time Greenfield’s Jim Hickey and I were writing press releases about Elvis sightings and free continental breakfasts.

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SQUIBBERS: Amherst College is ready to replace its 69-year-old hockey rink and will name the new facility in honor of coach Jack Arena. Amherst hosts Tufts tonight at 7 p.m. in the NESCAC quarterfinals. … The Mets are trying to encourage fans to buy tickets using smartphones. The club is offering four-packs of tickets for $57 for all Sunday through Friday games (except the Yankees) but they must be purchased online. … Freshman Cutter Gauthier looked like the ghost of Cale Makar during BC’s 3-1 win against UMass on Saturday night. The Flyers’ top pick (fifth overall), Gauthier has 14 goals and 14 assists in 26 games. … Note to all on air media types: the Mike Tyson-punch-in-the-face analogy is getting old. … The four most irritating words in the English language: “I have no idea.” … Memo to Sue Antonellis: you were right after all. … Baltimore will be fun to watch this season. Catcher Adley Rutschman was the AL’s runnerup for rookie of the year, third baseman Gunnar Henderson and pitcher Grayson Hernandez are both on the ROY watch and outfielder Jackson Holliday (son of Matt), was last year’s No. 1 overall pick. … Deion Sanders made the argument to Peter King that Devin Hester belongs in the Hall of Fame for returning 14 punts and five kickoffs for touchdowns. He was such an explosive player, said Deion, “You couldn’t get up to pee. You would hold it on fourth down for Devin Hester.” … Greenfield’s John Dobrydnio took three dates to see “80 for Brady” at the Garden — all on the same night. “Tuesday is $5 night. I didn’t want to look cheap so I told them to buy all the popcorn they wanted.”

Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for decades in the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached at chipjet715@icloud.com

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