IMO...
Baseball needs a major upgrade for the 21st century.
many don;t have the patience or the attn span anymore.
maybe institute a “shot clock” for pitches.
A timer for innings change overs.
Some sort of 3 pointers for home runs.
Blocker in the base lines
Water traps/ alligators between 3rd and home..
Anything!! Just speed up the pace and get more excitement in there!!
> Just speed up the pace and get more excitement in there!! <
I couldn’t agree more (see my post #13). As it is, you could walk away from a baseball game for 15 or 20 minutes, and hardly miss a thing.
But no way will MLB change a thing. Because of tradition and such. And that’s a shame. Because baseball could be an interesting sport, if only it were updated.
He was there to promote changes in the game, such as a day-glo orange ball, just telling they were going to walk that batter, so just send him to first, etc.
“Anything!! Just speed up the pace and get more excitement in there!!”
indeed. i personally don’t know anyone who’s a baseball fan; to me, baseball is more boring than watching paint dry ...
They’re considering a 20-second clock for pitchers, with a ball called if the pitcher doesn’t pitch within 20 seconds. The current average time between pitches is 23 seconds, and the average nine-inning game contains about 300 pitches. That’s 900 seconds, or 15 minutes, of dead time you can eliminate with just that rule change.
Another problem is the parade of pitchers. Phil Mushnick of the New York Post says the managers are looking for the pitcher who can lose the game. They’re considering a three-batter rule, whereby a pitcher would have to face a minimum of three batters unless he finishes the inning.
Batters need to re-learn bunting, so when the shift is on, they can bunt for a hit through the open part of the field.
There is talk of moving the mound back (to compensate for the excessive speed of today’s fastballs), but that’s a no-go as far as I’m concerned. Lower it, don’t move it.
One of the problems is that last year for the first time, there were more strikeouts than hits. This year, despite tighter, virtually seamless balls that have led to an explosion of homeruns (four guys are over 40 already, and several teams are on pace for an all-time team high), the trend of more strikeouts than hits continues.
The DH contributes to the excessive length of games too, because it causes more pitching changes, all for half a run per team per game.
The rule is that if a third strike is dropped, the batter can run to first base. in the Atlantic League, they are experimenting with a rule that allows that on any pitch that is dropped, regardless of the count.
We have a less strategic, thus less interesting brand of baseball, with more dead time and delays. I’m a traditionalist, and I hate changing the game, but some change is needed if there is to be any appeal to future generations.
Exactly. For tv there should be more crowd noise as well as louder fields of play noise to create a better natural sound. For live play, the game needs faster play which helps tv viewing.
I have to laugh. A while back, someone made a clever video showing the entire Kentucky Derby race starting and ending between two pitches.
There is no reason for a game that sluggish. Hell, golf tournaments move faster.