3 innings to keep up with the iphone generation's attention span. Leave catering to the lowest denominator to football and basketball, keep baseball pure.
OK, the umps are never going to enforce the "shot clock" between pitches rules...so just fine a pitcher (and team) $10,000 every time he takes longer than 12 seconds to throw the next pitch
In the same vein, fine a batter $10,000 every time he steps out of the batters box after a pitch
Would have cost steroid boy Ortiz or that punk Josh Beckett a few hundred thousand a game, but overall could change players habits
How fair is it when Team A has the middle of the order coming up and Team B has the bottom?
They would have to start with each team's top of the order coming to bat.
I remember back in the days when Charlie Finley wanted to make major changes to MLB....orange or colored baseballs, hand signal for intentional walks instead of throwing 4 outside pitches, etc.
Baseball is steeped in tradition and those who want to radically change the game will hit the same wall that Charlie O hit - the desire to keep tradition
They should just move first and third bases closer to home...
Make it 70 or 80 feet instead of 90 feet and forget about second base altogether, so that runners go directly from 1st to 3rd without the need to touch second base. In addition, during extra innings three balls is a walk and four strikes is a strike-out.
Home Run Derby, make it a joke like the NHL? Perhaps only 6 fielders in extra innings?
MLB is taking on all the worst aspects of the NFL tinkering with the game. Want to speed up the game? Enforce the existing rules re time between pitches, staying in the batters box, etc.
were it to happen, I would do what I do now for reg season NHL OT:
I'm out as a fan. And get rid of that horrendous DH rule already.
The DH makes the game better. I don't want to hear about strategy and double switches. People overrate managing in the NL it's actually easier. Considering you have an automatic out/sacrifice bunt from your 9 hitter. Pitchers shouldn't get a "break" with the 9 hitter. It kills rallies kills momentum it's just brutal to watch
Reminds me of the stupid college football OT rule where teams start at the 25 yard line. When you start screwing around with the fabric of the game you're well on the way to outright ruining the sport. Let's hope this one dies a quick death.
Oh, how deprived we AL fans are in not seeing pitchers taking feeble swings and occasionally tapping one back to the pitcher or pop one up to shallow RF. Who doesn't want more batters who make Aaron Hicks look like Babe Ruth?
it's been around now for close to 50 years. A couple of generation of baseball fans have grown up with it. That the NL would ok this extra inning rule and act like the DH is a desecration of the game is unfathomable to me.
I just think the AL and NL should play with the same rules.
They should both have a DH or both have pitchers bat.
And I don't care which way it goes, I tend to lean toward pitchers batting, just seems more pure then having a guy whose only job on the team is to hit when the pitcher comes up to bat, but I don't feel strongly either way.
Thats like saying second basemen don't play first base so why should they hit. pitcher is a position in the field. in the field everyone has their job.
Or to flip your position, the DH doesn't play in the field, why should he bat? everyone else who bats (except PHers) plays in the field.
I'm not going to debate it. like i said i don't feel strongly. I really just think it should be consistent. And my gut says it should be pitchers batting, but if they decided to make DH's standard across leagues I wouldn't be bothered either.
I have always liked the idea of extending some stars' careers
to speed up the game ,get more attention from the social media crowd etc.
They prefaced the study by pointing out how often a game is essentially over with a 2 run lead in the 7th, but the games get slower and People tune out.
Last year there was a presentation made that had studied the effect of allowing the manger to flip his lineup once a game. So if Sanchez hits a home run to tie the game for the yanks the manager could go out at that point and submit a new lineup and Sanchez is at the plate again etc.
They think would neutralize allot of bullpen strategy and create massive social media buzz as fans speculated as to when the manager would make his move.
the phrase "social media buzz" makes me want to kick a puppy
Schemes like the "no pitch" intentional walk directly affect the integrity of the game, the possibility of the pitcher choking and uncorking a WP, the catcher with the yips launching one over the pitcher, or the pitch being close enough to hit a la Gary Sanchez.
The runner starting on 2nd in extra innings is beyond ridiculous. If that passes the only "real baseball" I'll be able to see is my son in Legion Ball
ther are also only 5 intentional walks on a given day
so it saves 1 minute per Intentional walk or 5 of so...if there are fifteen 180 minute games a total of 2,700 minutes played on a given day .. 5 minutes saved is .18%
how stupid .. plus I agree the chance of a pitcher freaking out and throwing a 60mph scud is awesome...
The line-up flip discussion will be addresses again - its a BIG idea but would really make the game more exciting and they claim it will shorten the game
The easiest way to handle extra innings is change a walk from four balls to three balls in extra innings. That would make scoring easier in extra innings, but still have some historical basis, as well as not making a radical change to the game.
Before 1890, you needed nine balls for a walk. That was whittled one at a time until the current limit of four was established in 1889.
Why try and shorten the game. The game is fine and has been well over a century.
If people complain about being "too long"...no one is locking you in your seat at game..get up and leave. On tv..turn it off and do whatever. Stop messing with the product..as like the nfl stop messing with something not broken..period.
Let's say in the 15th inning. I would consider it like college football forcing you to go for 2 in the OT when it gets past a certain limit. This I could see being a legit experiment
First, this is just a bush league rule you would find in a little league, probably one that doesn't keep score. Second, and more importantly, how does this speed up games? How many games go to extra innings in a season? I would guess less than 10%, possibly less than 5. This doesn't address the issue of speeding up the 90+% of regulation games.
To me, this is just some stupid idea they fell in love with in a meeting and then tried to sell it to everyone as speeding things up. This would be one of the worst rule changes in all of sports, in my opinion and doesn't accomplish its supposed goal.
Maybe a runner on 1st would be okay. Maybe but no
Stop trying to fix things that aren't fucking broken!
Focus on limiting mound visits and enforce the pitch clock.
While I agree, many fans do not. And in any case, the union would have to approve it and they're never going to.
I'd love to see Collins or Freddie Coupons running the bases.
I think you could talk me into a runner on first but then I'm not precious about the game.
In the same vein, fine a batter $10,000 every time he steps out of the batters box after a pitch
Would have cost steroid boy Ortiz or that punk Josh Beckett a few hundred thousand a game, but overall could change players habits
They would have to start with each team's top of the order coming to bat.
Baseball is steeped in tradition and those who want to radically change the game will hit the same wall that Charlie O hit - the desire to keep tradition
There you go, problem solved.
MLB is taking on all the worst aspects of the NFL tinkering with the game. Want to speed up the game? Enforce the existing rules re time between pitches, staying in the batters box, etc.
They already have a softball lineup in the AL, why stop there, let's put in a designated runner rule so David Ortiz can play another 3 years.
If the game makes it to the 12th, the winner is decided by a managerial dance-off. Boom, problem solved.
The DH makes the game better. I don't want to hear about strategy and double switches. People overrate managing in the NL it's actually easier. Considering you have an automatic out/sacrifice bunt from your 9 hitter. Pitchers shouldn't get a "break" with the 9 hitter. It kills rallies kills momentum it's just brutal to watch
They should both have a DH or both have pitchers bat.
And I don't care which way it goes, I tend to lean toward pitchers batting, just seems more pure then having a guy whose only job on the team is to hit when the pitcher comes up to bat, but I don't feel strongly either way.
Thats like saying second basemen don't play first base so why should they hit. pitcher is a position in the field. in the field everyone has their job.
Or to flip your position, the DH doesn't play in the field, why should he bat? everyone else who bats (except PHers) plays in the field.
I'm not going to debate it. like i said i don't feel strongly. I really just think it should be consistent. And my gut says it should be pitchers batting, but if they decided to make DH's standard across leagues I wouldn't be bothered either.
If it wouldn't screw with the statistics of the game I'd have been in favor of a DH AND the pitcher hitting, (i.e., ten player lineups).
They prefaced the study by pointing out how often a game is essentially over with a 2 run lead in the 7th, but the games get slower and People tune out.
Last year there was a presentation made that had studied the effect of allowing the manger to flip his lineup once a game. So if Sanchez hits a home run to tie the game for the yanks the manager could go out at that point and submit a new lineup and Sanchez is at the plate again etc.
They think would neutralize allot of bullpen strategy and create massive social media buzz as fans speculated as to when the manager would make his move.
Schemes like the "no pitch" intentional walk directly affect the integrity of the game, the possibility of the pitcher choking and uncorking a WP, the catcher with the yips launching one over the pitcher, or the pitch being close enough to hit a la Gary Sanchez.
The runner starting on 2nd in extra innings is beyond ridiculous. If that passes the only "real baseball" I'll be able to see is my son in Legion Ball
how stupid .. plus I agree the chance of a pitcher freaking out and throwing a 60mph scud is awesome...
The line-up flip discussion will be addresses again - its a BIG idea but would really make the game more exciting and they claim it will shorten the game
Before 1890, you needed nine balls for a walk. That was whittled one at a time until the current limit of four was established in 1889.
If people complain about being "too long"...no one is locking you in your seat at game..get up and leave. On tv..turn it off and do whatever. Stop messing with the product..as like the nfl stop messing with something not broken..period.
4 hour regulation games are awesome and all, but I've got work in the morning.
To me, this is just some stupid idea they fell in love with in a meeting and then tried to sell it to everyone as speeding things up. This would be one of the worst rule changes in all of sports, in my opinion and doesn't accomplish its supposed goal.