Apart from possibly being "juiced", the stitching used for MLB baseballs apparently changed materials before last season. This is what a few have speculated led to the spike in blister problems for pitchers. Us Blue Jays fans saw the trouble Aaron Sanchez had last year, missing most of the season with something you'd think would be fairly benign and easily remedied. He even had part of a fingernail surgically removed.
As for the pace of game debates, I tend to agree that they don't need to tinker with the rules in order to try to shave a few minutes off the game. The TV commercial breaks and in-game sponsor plugs are what I think are making the games too long. Baseball is a thinking man's game (as previously mentioned). The team in the lead can't just run down the clock -- they still have to throw strikes and make the plays. Football I can never understand. The guy snaps the ball, they all pile on top of the guy with the ball, then get up, walk around a bit, and slowly line up to do it all again. All the while the clock is counting down. Nine minutes per game of actual play action seems like a generous figure!
Canadian member collecting John Olerud, Toronto Blue Jays team sets, and Topps base sets.
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