And so we begin sliding down the slippery slope.
Beginning with the 2020 season, Commissioner Rob Manfred has decided that - rather than have umpires enforce a rule that has existed in some form for almost 120 years - he would rather introduce new rules to limit a manager's strategy options, in the hopes of shaving a few minutes off the time of games.
The Players Union did not formally agree to the three-batter minimum rule, but it will not challenge MLB's plan to implement it in 2020.
For 2019, the commercial time between innings will be reduced by five seconds for local broadcasts and 25 seconds for national broadcasts.