Posted on 05/01/2014 2:10:31 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
The Boston Red Sox spent last winter basking in the afterglow of their World Series victory. They also spent some of it pondering a couple of questions: Why do their games take so long? And what should Major League Baseball do about it?
At the request of commissioner Bud Selig, the perennially slow-paced Red Sox formed a committee of seven team executives to study the issue and recommend changes for the league as a whole. A volunteer corps of 30 front-office staffers spent over 350 hours combing through video of Boston's 2013 regular-season games, charting every little drag on the pace of play.
The Red Sox, whose games averaged an MLB-high 3 hours 15 minutes in 2013, are only about halfway done with the project. But the fact that such a committee even exists shows how little progress MLB has made in its attempts to speed up the game.
"This is one of the most critical issues facing baseball as we move forward into the next three, five, seven years," Red Sox chief operating officer Sam Kennedy said.
Selig has expressed concern about the pace of play for years. It has become almost cliché for fans to grumble about hitters stepping out of the batter's box, pitchers pacing around the mound and—no, not another pitching change! But for all of the attention the issue has received, the speed of the game continues to reach new lows.
Entering Thursday, the average game time this season was 3:08, according to Stats LLC. Never mind comparisons to the days of flannel jerseys and black-and-white telecasts: That is 13 minutes longer than the average time in 2010.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
You could always add monster trucks.
It is faster than grass growing, but not much.
Five minutes of excitement jam packed into three hours.
The Red Sox are the elite team of liberals everywhere in the USA. So, their games must be slow and stately like a minuet.
Try a Yankee game. Last time I went to one, I was out in 90 minutes!
I can’t watch a pro baseball game. Too boring.
Hey, don’t mass with my favorite nap background. I can turn on a game on the TV and get the nicest naps!
More time for beer!
As opposed to soccer or hockey, which are thirty seconds of excitement packed into three hours.
Its a detail game. While some say its slow, I’m watching players on both sides position themselves for constantly changing strategies.
Maybe they just need more black players. /s
For later
I remember the days of ten-man pitching staffs and complete games.
The solutions are in the article—make the batters stay in the box and give the pitchers a time limit to throw the ball. Don’t monkey around with the number of strikes/balls/fouls, though, as the consequences might be very undesirable.
Are we all sold on the idea of nine innings? ;-)
I really should be the next commissioner. I would fix up a lot of things.
I love going to an afternoon game in the late summer or autumn, sun shining down, filling out the scorecard, catching all the details...and then, here come the race between ketchup, mustard, and relish!
Add a few dozen scantily clad cheerleaders along the first and third baselines and that should make watching a 3 hour game more tolerable for the average NFL/NBA fan.
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