Maybe Sal Was Right

While I vociferously disagreed with Sal Cipriano about his suggestion that we divide playing time evenly, in the seventh inning on Sunday I found myself not sitting lesser fielders in the seventh inning. My team did have a five run lead, so putting in the lesser fielders was not bound to lose me the game. As is often the case with civil rights issues, the goal of a protest is the changing of a law or a rule, but as great a gain can be in the hearts and souls of those administering a rule. Congratulations, Mr. Cipriano.
With my new found outlook, I thought "how can we apply this evenness in a positive way? It came to me that if the lesser fielders on a team played when the team was ahead it would be more likely that the opposing team would catch up and we would have a close game. Concurrently, if a team were behind and played its finest fielders it would be more likely to catch up. The combined effect of such a system (the team behind using its best fielders and the team ahead using its worst fielders) could produce the close results we strive for. Each week, the opposing captains would list the five worst fielders on his opponents team. In any inning in which a team held the lead, those weaker fielders would have to play. In any inning that a team was behind they could play the best fielders (with the priviso that no one sits more than two innings).