So a funny thing happened to me this week.

I was sitting in my living room, minding my own business, reading on the internet about all the ways Rob Manfred and his merry band of helpers were going to help “fix” baseball, wondering if these meeting were going about as well as the ones for “New Coke” went back in the day …

And, look, I am not a man who generally opposes progress. I no longer own even one cassette of my favorite albums. I do not own a typewriter. I hardly ever pay for stuff in cash anymore. I even let my wife cut the cable cord recently, and have somehow adjusted without breaking into a rash whenever the stream on my television freezes up.

But baseball …

Well, call me what you will: stodgy, old-school, immovable, intractable. Guilty on all counts. I admit I will likely adjust to any of the things that Manfred the Fixer and his Greek Chorus come up with, because I just like the game so much (well … unless they ever do start an extra inning with a man on second. Then, we go to the mattresses).

Anyway, I turned to Twitter, as all great statesmen must, and I typed out the following:

“I realize this is an increasingly shrinking opinion. But I like baseball exactly the way it is.”

At 17 words and 95 characters, that’s among the shortest tweets I’ve sent out in a long time. No hashtags. The click-bait police would have a hard time building a case against that tweet as anything other than the kind of declarative sentences our grammar-school teaches taught us to craft.

And, well, it’s funny what happened next.

It got retweeted. And liked. And replied to. And included in dozens of group discussions. I am always fascinated by what reaches people on social media and what doesn’t, but for two full days I would check in periodically and see what people were saying. And here’s what they were saying:

“Thank you!”

“Not shrinking at all!”

“We are the silent majority!”

And on and on. And look, I realize this is no scientific poll. I realize that there are just as many reasonable people who love the game every bit as much as I do who don’t believe our social mores will collapse if the National League ever adopts the DH, or if that three-hitter minimum rule is applied (though I do fear some social unrest if the shift is ever legislated out, but I am a worrier by nature).

But here was the general sense I got from the 2,000-plus people who reacted to that on social media, and the 50 or so who decided to actually e-mail me their thoughts on the subject:

1. We like the game as it is, too.

2. We don’t think 3½-hour games invite a Caligula-like dissolution of morals and public standards.

3. Why doesn’t anyone ever think about us?

It’s the last one that gets to me, honestly. It seems like Manfred the Fixer obsesses over the various and sundry groups who don’t watch baseball, and seem to care very little about the ones who do. Part of that is because he can: We are quick to declare our undying loyalty for the sport, can’t imagine life without it, so we shrug our shoulders and accept stuff.

But what if that doesn’t happen? What if by the time Manfred the Fixer is done fixing a sport that generated $10.3 billion in 2018 — a sport that isn’t exactly in dire need of fixing, in other words — he doesn’t attract the masses of indifference, but also manages to alienate the core fans who keep his sport alive?

That probably won’t happen — again, we like the sport too much, we’re addicts, we’re supplicants.

But what if it did?

Note to self: After watching his first year as a wheeler and a dealer, whenever Derek Jeter invites you to play in his home poker game, say “yes.”

More and more it sounds like “Janis Porzingis” is Latvian for “Yoko Ono.”

Thank goodness we once again live in a world where you can believe in “True Detective.”

As you watch the overmatched city of Atlanta scuffle through a Super Bowl, it is utterly staggering that there was actually an Olympics there once upon a time.

Jack Anez: I see where Hal, son of George, doesn’t understand why Yankees fans consider him cheap. We are not concerned with corporate bottom lines, only winning titles — something that has not happened for the past 10 years. There is “no crying in baseball” but, also, there is no “whining in baseball.” Hal is whining!

Vac: If any of the Yankees brass wants fans to lower their expectations, then maybe it’s time to cease and desist with the annual “title or bust” bluster every time they’re eliminated earlier than they deem appropriate.

Steve Tranchina:

I would take anti-tanking it a step further. The drafts in pro sports were started to help bad teams improve and compete, but that was before free agency systems existed. Now teams have that avenue to utilize, making the draft a less important tool. I would open up the drafts so that every team in the leagues has an equal chance. No more jockeying for draft position.

Vac: Well, that’s certainly one way …

@crashcolucci: The only real solution to end tanking is get rid of the draft. Let kids choose where to play. Choosing more money or playing time or coaching staffs/front office or whatever.

@MikeVacc: Also one way, although that’s what MLB had pre-draft and unless lesser teams were willing to hand over exorbitant bonuses, all the good players went to the Yankees, Dodgers and Cardinals.

Frank Giordano: Is there a rule in the NFL rule book that states “Do not cover Julian Edelman”? The guy is always wide open. It’s the only logical explanation.

Vac: I say the same thing five times a game. Fifteen in the playoffs.