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The Plan to Speed Up Baseball
The Wall Street Journal ^ | APRIL 3, 2015 | MATTHEW FUTTERMAN

Posted on 04/03/2015 7:25:56 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican

As the 2015 Major League Baseball season dawns, the lords of baseball are asking for our forgiveness. They want a second chance, and to get it they are making changes that could shake the game to its foundations.

This isn’t about tinkering with the playoffs to make a few extra dollars from the television networks. The 30 team owners have ordered the new commissioner to modernize baseball and make it appeal to an audience that is increasingly weary of the game’s slow pace. There will of course be cries of sacrilege from traditionalists about putting the national pastime on a clock. Many players are resisting, too. But they are unlikely to slow the transformation.

(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Sports
KEYWORDS: baseball; mlb
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To: pepsionice
The problem here would be lesser revenue

Maybe but maybe not. Sometimes less is more. It's counterintuitive but it does happen. Very hard to convince people though. Try arguing that lower taxes leads to higher revenue for govt. to lib morons.

121 posted on 04/04/2015 4:48:13 AM PDT by xp38
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To: FatherofFive

To me soccer is extremely boring despite all the action. All that nonstop running around for 1-0 results. Sometimes even 0-0. It’s demented.


122 posted on 04/04/2015 5:05:12 AM PDT by samtheman
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To: MinorityRepublican
I'm sure congress will get involved... and then man child in the Mom pants will sign


123 posted on 04/04/2015 5:07:49 AM PDT by maddog55 (America Rising a new Civil War needs to happen.)
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To: Some Fat Guy in L.A.

That is pitcher warmup between innings....not commercial breaks

But I agree that the warmup is too long.


124 posted on 04/04/2015 5:08:29 AM PDT by Ouderkirk (To the left, everything must evidence that this or that strand of leftist theory is true)
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To: MinorityRepublican
While I do think baseball is the most social of all sports, the game has slowed to a crawl in recent years.

It is now beyond boring.

125 posted on 04/04/2015 5:21:46 AM PDT by SkyPilot ("I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6)
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To: Ransomed

Higher scoring is preferable to shorter games, in my opinion. Higher scoring means more action, more chance of see-sawing leads, more suspense.


126 posted on 04/04/2015 5:23:57 AM PDT by samtheman
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To: raybbr

I see a lot of humor in baseball. They’re friends and competitors and watching them interact and clown around is part of the game.

Things like this make the game funny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT7FGQls0KM#t=29

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92ch-9WdysQ#t=13


127 posted on 04/04/2015 5:36:49 AM PDT by cripplecreek ("For by wise guidance you can wage your war")
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To: Churchillspirit

Indeed.

And the provenance is impeccable...MOM!


128 posted on 04/04/2015 5:38:31 AM PDT by left that other site (You shall know the Truth, and The Truth Shall Set You Free.)
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To: a fool in paradise

Oh yeah...Double headers! :-)


129 posted on 04/04/2015 5:39:13 AM PDT by left that other site (You shall know the Truth, and The Truth Shall Set You Free.)
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To: VRWCarea51

That’s actually part of the plan. A hitter must now keep his toe in the box throughout his at-bat. He can step out only after he swings or calls timeout.

They’re also going to monitor time between pitches. Rule says 12 seconds between pitches. They’re not going to be rigid about it, but they are going to tighten it up quite a bit.


130 posted on 04/04/2015 6:01:57 AM PDT by BuckeyeTexan (There are those that break and bend. I'm the other kind. ~Steve Earle)
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To: samtheman

Wanting higher scoring games is fine, just so it’s not ridiculous. I think just putting the ball in play more so you get more action on the field is needed. Strike outs are walks are a huge problem for the casual fan excitement wise. As far as suspense, I think pitching duels are the classic way to get there, but they don’t interest the casual fan. I’m not sure the casual fan is even interested in suspense, but more constant and steady gratification. Most casual fans seem to think scoring = excitement.

FReegards


131 posted on 04/04/2015 6:32:25 AM PDT by Ransomed
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To: Ransomed

good points


132 posted on 04/04/2015 6:45:22 AM PDT by samtheman
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To: MinorityRepublican
Call balls and strikes by computer. Drives me crazy that the fat guy behind the catcher uses his own strike zone...REALLY!!!!

And update the uniforms. The pants look sloppy. I think George Castanza did something about that when in worked for the Yankees.

133 posted on 04/04/2015 6:54:28 AM PDT by Awgie (truth is always stranger than fiction)
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To: raybbr
Baseball used to be my favorite sport to play as a 10 year old back in the sixties.

But even then, I simply could not watch, it was never, ever a game I could watch. It isn't that it doesn't have exciting plays, as you described in your post. It is just that there are two few of them.

I enjoy going to a game, but even then, I get antsy around the 5th inning.

My favorite use for baseball is as background environment on a radio. If I am with friends, and we are hanging out, having a few beers, at the beach, or something like that, I like hearing the game at low volume in the background. Something nostalgic about it, I suppose.

Because my family was military and spent extended time overseas, I wasn't into spectator sports until we came back to the states and my dad was stationed near Washington DC.

The first real television sport I saw was an NFL football game between the Redskins and Bears 1n 1971, and what I remembered most was Dick Butkus catching a touchdown pass. I knew nothing about football, but every school kid knew who Dick Butkus was...:) It was an extremely exciting game, and I was hooked.

The think I like best about football, and conversely, is the same thing I dislike about basketball, baseball, and even hockey, my other favorite sport, is that there are too many games.

If you lose a baseball, hockey, or basketball game, generally it doesn't mean much. But in football, losing one single game at any time can be the one to make or break a season.

The other thing I really, REALLY like about football is that it is played in almost ANY weather (except lightning). I adore going to nasty, winter games, the snowier and nastier the better. I always found the Rockwell painting with the three umpires both humorous, and true...:)

I love football...each play is a set-piece offense vs defense. Individual man on man, group on group, team on team. On each play, there is the potential for a game changing play (the interception at the end of the last Superbowl is a good example of that!) Not to say other sports don't have that, it just isn't as concentrated or as meaningful. Of course, if you are in the seventh game of a World Series game, THEN it is exciting and really means a lot.

134 posted on 04/04/2015 7:04:25 AM PDT by rlmorel ("National success by the Democratic Party equals irretrievable ruin." Ulysses S. Grant)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Up here in Green Bay the radio is saturated with Brewer games when they are playing. Not only is baseball not suited for radio since listening to it is as exciting as a snail race the stations seem to think they are actually performing a service. Some have two stations, one especially for sports but they simultaneously have Brewers on both. Love it until April when their nothing to hear in the evening.


135 posted on 04/04/2015 7:11:39 AM PDT by JayAr36 (Reagan said, "Government is the problem." And it certainly is!)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Softball is speeded up baseball. It’s designed for one hour games. I love softball, it’s a great game that everyone can play. It has no viewers or market.


136 posted on 04/04/2015 7:33:33 AM PDT by The Public Eye
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To: Some Fat Guy in L.A.

Did you not read that article...

That IS one of the things to be done.
Max 2.25 for local/regional games, and 2.45 for national broadcast.


137 posted on 04/04/2015 7:48:18 AM PDT by BlueNgold (Have we crossed the line from Govt. in righteous fear of the People - to a People in fear of Govt??)
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To: Ransomed

For the younger generation, going to the ballpark is an opportunity to grab some brews with friends. They aren’t really watching the.game lol.


138 posted on 04/04/2015 8:02:07 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: JayAr36
Not only is baseball not suited for radio since listening to it is as exciting as a snail race...

I strongly disagree with this.

On a long drive, sick of listening to music and talk, alone in the car, no conversation... a love listening to baseball in that situation.

139 posted on 04/04/2015 8:54:20 AM PDT by samtheman
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To: dfwgator

Bingo! He was a Christian basher. Good riddance to him.


140 posted on 04/04/2015 8:59:29 AM PDT by SgtHooper (Anyone who remembers the 60's, wasn't there!)
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