Off-Topic Forum

Just read this and thought it was interesting to consider. 

Most, if not all of these changes are stupid and unnecessary. The only one I wouldn’t mind is the roster expansion.

I'm all for anything that improves pace of play. 

3-batter minimum for a pitcher - dumb as it takes some of the strategy out of the game.

20-second pitch clock - try enforcing it.  Maybe should have a rule that the batter is not allowed to step out of he batter's box for more than 5 seconds between pitches.

Designated hitter in both leagues - now they're talking sense.  The only suggestion I like.

Baseball doesn't have a clock. The only thing that draws a game closer to its conclusion is an out. Lowering the mound would increase hits. Adding a DH to the national league would increase hits.   Adding an additional player to the roster would increase pitching changes. None of these things shorten games.

 As much as the original idea of pitch clocks annoyed me, I go to enough minor league games to realize that it doesn't actually bother me when I'm watching.  Its not like a game clock in basketball where you would see it on your TV.  The mound visit restriction has been great. The thing that really slows the game down now is that after every play the manager has to look back to the clubhouse to see if they want to review it. Most of the time they don't review it, but it eats up so much time while some coach in the back rewatches a play to make the decision. 

David, you bring up a good point about the manager's reviewing each play.  To me, the manager should have to decide whether to review a play or not from what he saw as the play happened (with the advice of his coaches and/or players on the field).  The umpires have to make the call from what they see as it happens.  Let the teams do the same.  There would be  a lot less reviews and would still correct those calls that are really bad.

This first paragraph is exactly my feelings. Baseball is eating itself alive from the inside out. They complain about games taking too long, yet they want to increase offense. They complain about not enough fans (especially kids) going to or watching games anymore, yet ticket prices continue to climb and games continue to start later and later.

I consider myself a huge baseball fan - have been all my life, after playing for 18 years all the way through college. Want to know how much of the World Series I watched in 2018? 3 innings. The first three of game two. Why? Because I had to get up and go to work in the morning. Kids have to go to bed to get up for school the next day. I know it's all driven by money - I'm a finance guy; I understand it fully, but that doesn't mean I hate it any less.

I'm okay with expanded rosters. I hate the idea of the DH in general, and wish the AL would drop it; I hate the idea of pitch clocks; I hate the idea of replay; I hate the idea of limiting mound visits. Ultimately, I think that's the purist in me talking, and maybe some of those ideas wouldn't be so bad once they're implemented, I don't know.

Personally, I'm not sure why they feel the need to change, but baseball is losing me as a fan, and me saying that makes me very, very sad, because the game has been a huge part of my life since I could walk. But then again, change happens, and that's life, I suppose.

I'd just as soon get rid of the DH as anything. I've never liked it. I agree with you, Bru, try enforcing the clock on pitchers when batters take their sweet time getting prepared after each pitch.

 I wonder how spin rate woulc come into play for pitchers with a lower mound? I wonder what Bob Gibson would have to say about that, too?

Look, I'm mostly a traditionalist, but I understand the need for change. In the last week I watched the 1968 show on Baseball's Seasons, which talked about the raising and lowering of the mound and the eventual advent of the DH, and I talked about the lights at Wrigley Field. Things change and need to. The question, of course, is how to change them well. My thoughts? Sure!

Pitch clock. Fine. Baseball still wouldn't have a clock in the sense that you can't lose because time runs out. You'd still need 27 outs (at least) to win a game. But a pitch clock would speed up the game, which is clearly taking too long now. It shouldn't operate when players are on base. But otherwise, just throw the damn ball.

Universial DH. I'd hate it, but could tolerate it, if need be. I see no need for it. Nor do I see the need to have the DH at all. Pitchers hitting adds strategy and fun (see Bartolo Colon).

Minimum hitters faced. Would speed up the game, but would take away strategy. I could live with a two hitter minimum, but I wouldn't like it.

Limited mound visits: Do it. It's just a stalling tactic, usually. Get your stuff together and throw the ball.

Expanded rosters: Sure. 26 seems reasonable. I don't care how many are pitchers. You should be able to make your roster what you want it to be. Have 26 catchers for all I care.

Replay: It's not tooooo bad now. I like the idea of keeping technology out of the dugout. Watch the play live and decide whether to challenge.

Eliminating the shift (not discussed so far): I'm neutral. I think hitters should be able to kill the shift every time. Gwynn would have. Boggs would have. Ichiro would have. Ted Williams would have and did. But I wouldn't be crushed if they decided to forbid it.

Changing extra inning rules (not discussed so far): I'm against. 17 inning games are annoying, but rare, and intense. Seeing catchers pitch is fun. That said, if they wanted to change the rule after, say, innning 15 to put a runner on second, I suppose I wouldn't really care.

Changing the intentional walk: I'm against, but I guess it really wouldn't matter that mu...oops, too late.

Interleague play: No! Make the World Series special....oops, too late.

Mound adjustments: No. Just leave it. It's worked just fine for the last 50 years. Hitters don't need any help. They strike out all the time because they always swing for the fences. Let's not panic, people.

But, yes, the average game just has to get back down to about 2:45 or less. Five minutes here or there doesn't matter, but 30 minutes does. And the average game is more than 30 minutes longer than when i was a kid. TV is a big part of it, too. I might even tolerate the split screen at time, with ads on half the screen for about 30 seconds at the beginning of each inning. That's almost 10 minutes right there.

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Here's a link with some relevant stats about game times, etc.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/misc.shtml

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