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 ...
Alas, such a rule is very likely to result in an injury. If a pitcher loses his stuff (or command) and is unable to get anybody out, the pitch count can get out of hand.
I've seen pitchers throw 45 pitches in an inning (the average is around 15) and, at that point, they're subject to hurting themselves.
Good point, but they really do go way overboard on pitcher swapping and that eats up a lot of time.
It’s so bad now that they swap in specific pitchers for specific batters.
Maybe there should be a limit on the number of pitcher swaps during a game, with some allowance for extra-inning situations?
And for that matter, maybe they should limit the number of extra innings to something reasonable? In other words, allow tie games to stand after maybe 12 innings.
"...United Press International: November 14, 1971; Bobby Douglass' 35-yard touchdown conversion pass to burly Dick Butkus squeezed the Chicago Bears to a 16-15 victory over the front running Washington Redskins Sunday. The Bears seemed doomed to settle for a tie when, after Cyril Pinder's 40 yard touchdown dash in the fourth quarter,Gene Hamlin's center snap to Douglass, who was holding for kicker Mac Percival, sailed over Douglass' head. Hardly fazed, Douglass raced back, picked up the ball and dodged at least two tacklers around the 35 yard line as he steered downfield. Then spotted Butkus, the all-pro middle linebacker, who gets into the offensive backfield only to block in kicking situations, in the end zone. Douglass laid the ball perfectly in Butkus' arms and, although the Redskins protested feverishly, the reception and the vital one point stood up for the Bears' victory..."
The single best way to speed up baseball is to call the strike zone as it’s written in the rule book.
Series against the Minnesota Twins do not count. We’re absolutely rancid. Our best hitter is our manager.
The Twins will be around at the end of the season aggravating the hell out of Tiger fans. It never fails.
The Twins will be in last place for the fifth consecutive season and may hopefully finally be on the way to finding a new general manager.
The organizational incompetence in the Twins’ organization is truly staggering. They’ve got great prospects like Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton and Eddie Rosario sitting in AA ready for blooding in the big leagues. Sano and Buxton are two of Baseball America’s top five prospects in the game yet we have rejects like Jordan Schroeder playing center field.
Naturally, the Twins are more concerned about saving service time so they put a crap team on the field. Fans here have had it. This used to be a model organization. Now it’s a dumpster fire.
Say, isn’t it time for Joe Mauer to experience some kind of mysterious injury?
Joe Mauer is 32 and his statistics are already declining.
Typically athletes hit their peak when they turn 27 years old.
AH okay...I see where the discrepancy is...this wasn't a touchdown but a reception for a 1 point conversion AFTER a touchdown...not technically a touchdown. But I see your point...this would have been a really exciting play to see!
Interestingly, I never knew it was one of the highlights (for him) of his career (from this ESPN online live chat session)
Matt (Chicago):
What is your best memory from your playing days?
Dick Butkus
I guess catching a wayward extra point attempt. A ball was snapped over Bobby's head. He recovered it around the 35 yard line and then threw it to me in then end zone for the extra point. I caught it with one eye, because like a boxer, I was hit in the eye and it was swollen shut. I jumped up to catch it and caught it around my waist. My teammates saw it on tape and were getting on me about it.
Isn’t that a coincidence...I just picked up and was replying to your earlier post at the same time you were typing another response, days later...:)
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