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 ...
“Most veterans agree that the easiest way to speed up the game would be to start calling the high strike—the one that passes across the letters—more consistently. Yet many fear that would give the pitchers too great an advantage. “You can talk about expanding the strike zone, but we’re in this offensive drought right now, so how is that going to affect it?” said Torre.”
If they called the high strike with the relief pitching and hitting approaches of today there would be a lot of 1-0 13 inning games played in 2 hours. At least until new players started coming up that actually put the ball in play with two strikes. It’s still the best solution.
The problem with upping offense in baseball is you then get longer games, and it’s the longest it has ever been right now as it is. Too long.
Freegards
I prefer a pitchers’ duel to a slugfest, every pitch matters.
I miss George.....
One thing that has also slowed the game down is the evolution of base stealing.....now pitchers spend so much time when there is a runner on first holding him there, before Maury Wills, base stealing wasn’t nearly as big of a part of the game as it eventually became.
I liked Carlin when he wasn’t talking politics or religion.
I feel your pain. I'm not a fan of the American League due to the damned DH rule. It's heresy!
The game would speed up by at least a half hour maybe a full hour if they only allowed batter stepping out of the box between pitches for 7-10 seconds.
Each pitch it seems the batter has to step out, adjust his junk, wrist band, helmet, reset velcro on his glove, dig a hole, spit, look for a sign...fer gods sake your paid millions to play a game. Play it.
Grab some dirt on your way to the plate rub your hands and take your swings
MLB conducted a poll among fans attending a game and found the favorable/unfavorable opinion toward the DH was almost exactly 50/50.
Breaking the vote down by league, it was like 92-8 in favor of the DH in the AL and 92-8 in favor of the pitcher batting in the NL.
In other words, the fans of both leagues are getting what they want.
I never could get interested in a game of scratch your ass and spit and wait for them to do it again!
Get a hold of Bob Gibson and Tim McCarver.
In the golden age of baseball...it was 153 games played, but under the circumstances of bus/train travel only.
It would be curious to carve the season to 146 (from the present 162). Allow for a full week off after the All-Star Game. Then get into the playoffs around the last day of August. I’d also limit double-headers to just make-up games because of rain.
The problem here would be lesser revenue, which would trigger lesser profit, and lesser salaries for everyone (especially the baseball media crowd and the players). It would never sell to the baseball union.
I’m right there with you, but a lot of low scoring games now aren’t necessarily indicative of absolute pitching skill. It’s that the majority of hitters now just don’t cut down on their swing with two strikes and also don’t try to put the ball in play early in the count as walks are valued more today than they used to be. Strike outs are at an all time high. Combine that with the best and most used relief pitching ever, and you get low scoring long games with lots of strike outs.
Usually the lowest common denominator fan thinks that scoring = excitement. It worked for the NFL, at least if the measure is pure popularity among the masses. Maybe the solution for MLB is just count every run as 6 runs, ha ha.
Freegards
Perfected by the likes of Curt Flood and Lou Brock. Those guys would steal you blind.
Take away bathrooms privileges from the players and have them drink a 12oz caffeinated drink every ending. OK only one one pit stop per player during game.
I have been working on a plan where you may tackle the base runner while he trying to steal a base. The batting team could use the 3rd base coach as a defender and a guy at first base could help the runner get to 2nd. This would lessen the time pitchers spend trying to stop someone from stealing bases.
You can throw someone out like in kick ball. But if the runner caches the ball he gets the next base.
Instead of rain delays just use a softball instead while it rains. That way they don’t need to worry about hurting themselves. They could be a lighting exception.
Have all contracts with a speed of play variable in their pay.
Interesting.
THAT is quite an inheritance !
Mo’hip hop, mo’dubstep, mo’brocountry jamz on the PA system.
What happened to ‘Murica’s favorite passtime???
They need to bring back double headers and put the Astros back in the National League.
With the strict drug testing today, the result is a massive falloff in offensive output with a game so dominated by pitching that it gets too boring to watch at times.
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