The length of MLB games is back to what it used to be in the 1980s:

In other words, a couple of decades of foolish innovations have been rolled back, and the game is much closer to the way it used to be played. This is great news.

The graph tweeted by Ian Bremmer is from this New York Times piece that is worth reading in full.

This Tyler Kepner piece, meanwhile, points out an advantage of eliminating the shift that I hadn’t thought about — it makes playing second base meaningful again:

“You can’t hide the second baseman on the shift anymore,” Red Sox shortstop Kiké Hernández said. “I feel like there were a lot of really offensive second basemen that didn’t necessarily field their position that well, but they could get away with playing second base because they got hidden in the shift. Now you’ve got to be a little more athletic again.”

In some ways, the shift was like a cheat code. The data showed where a batter would most likely hit a ball, so defenders stationed themselves accordingly. Without the shift, intuitive infielders with a passion for preparation have an edge.

“I like the spacing of how the defense is now; it’s just so pure,” said Seattle’s Kolten Wong, a two-time Gold Glove winner at second base. “You’ve got to really pay attention to pitch calling, hitter tendencies, what guys are trying to do in certain situations. It makes the game more intriguing.”

And it’s safe, once again, to be a left-handed pull hitter after a long interlude of insanity:

Overall . . . left-handers are hitting 37 points higher on pulled ground balls and 28 points higher on pulled line drives. Future generations of lefties may never know the angst of their predecessors.

All baseball fans should be saying, “Thank you, Mr. Rob Manfred.”