Spring has officially arrived and with it, a new season of Major League Baseball. I caught the Braves opener (yesterday, as of this writing), and while the Phils got the better of them, I still have high hopes for another winning season. Ender Inciarte, Freddie Freeman and Ozzie Albies are all poised to put up another great season. We can’t forget about Rookie of the Year Ronald Acuna Jr., who had an unbelievable freshman season last year. I think he’s a player we are all going to be talking about for a long time to come. Sean Newcomb and Julio Teheran are both returning to the mound and looking to put up Ks. And let’s not forget we are welcoming Brian McCann back to the ATL. I’m excited about the upcoming season. #ChopOn

The rules and regs of baseball don’t seem to change very much, but there is some interesting stuff on the horizon.

Technology, strategy changes, and new rules could really change the face of the game.

“I think the commissioner’s just trying to stay ahead of the curve, do what’s best for the game. There’s a lot of intelligent people who thought this stuff over, and there’s a lot of people involved,” said Jim Leyland, the longtime manager who is now a special assistant for the Detroit Tigers. “I’m a big believer that when you’ve had something in place for so, so long, any time there’s a change, there’s going to be a reaction. Some of it’s going to be pro, some of it’s going to be con.”

According to the AP, “Major League Baseball and its players’ union agreed recently to a deal that included rule changes for 2020. When a pitcher enters the game, he’ll need to face at least three batters or stay in until the end of the half-inning.”

And while the commissioner’s office has agreed not to implement a pitch clock before the 2022 season, other changes are being looked at including, possible changes to the strike zone, the height of the mound and even the distance from the mound to the plate.

Plus, there is still the fact that only AL stadiums utilize a DH. It’s been this way since 1973. Considering Interleague play started in 1997, I think it’s time to take a look at getting a DH in every stadium. According to union head, Tony Clark, “We think the changes in the game, how the game is being played, some of the concerns that the other side continues to voice in relation to pace and activity during the course of the game warrant a discussion about a DH in both leagues.”

One of the most interesting developments that I have read recently has been about the independent Atlantic League. Beginning in late April, computers will be used for ball/strike calls, and the distance from the mound to home plate will be extended by two feet for the second half of the season.

I am extremely curious about the use of ‘robo-umps’ and how that could affect the game. Also, I feel like it’s going to be far less fun to yell at an artificial blue.

It should be an exciting couple of years for Major League Baseball, and I’m excited to see where it goes.

So y’all know I tried the hottest ramen. And if you caught my video on Facebook, you know I took some ghost pepper tortilla chips to task also. If you haven’t seen the video yet, it’s posted on the Webb Weekly Facebook page. Go check it out.

Next up was supposed to be the scorpion pepper hot sauce, but that didn’t work out. Steve didn’t think that there would be enough of a difference between that and the chips, so I tried it out, and he was right.

In trying to figure out what to do next, Steve mentioned that Buffalo Wild Wings has a hot wing challenge. Now, I don’t really care about eating any of this stuff is a specific amount of time, so I didn’t really care too much about the challenge itself. I was just in for the wings. The ‘Blazin’ wings, specifically. The wings that come with a warning and you have to ask your server about said warning before ordering.

I wasn’t looking to get carried away, so I ordered the ‘snack size,’ which is five wings. BTW, who decided to make it five wings? Wings come in ½ dozens. But I digress…

So I ate a couple of mozzarella sticks before the wings, and I did get ranch and celery to go along with.

Then I dove in. The wings were…really hot. Probably the hottest thing I have ever eaten. I think it took a good three hours for my mouth and belly to finally cool off. There was for sure some sweat rolling. But overall, I think I handled it pretty well. I finished all five wings — and a beer — and was pretty much set.

So next up will be the ChocoLoco challenge. I’ll be doing a video of that one for sure. I didn’t film the wings, because quite frankly, no one really wants to watch someone eat wings.

The ChocoLoco looks to be about twice as hot as the Blazin wings, so this should be something to watch for sure. Wish me luck!