What I find interesting is the step off rules. Pitchers must disengage the rubber before throwing to a base. Not sure how it will be interpreted. No more LH leg hang? Only 2 step offs or pick offs per plate appearance - does that mean a good runner who doesn't get picked off in 2 attempts can now take a 30 ft lead and can't be picked off by the pitcher? Anyone have the avg # if times a pitcher throws over to first per plate appearance?
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@NewUmpire posted:What I find interesting is the step off rules. Pitchers must disengage the rubber before throwing to a base. Not sure how it will be interpreted. No more LH leg hang? Only 2 step offs or pick offs per plate appearance - does that mean a good runner who doesn't get picked off in 2 attempts can now take a 30 ft lead and can't be picked off by the pitcher? Anyone have the avg # if times a pitcher throws over to first per plate appearance?
RipkenFanSon was talking with me about these changes last night. He wishes they were all given at all levels for the year. Player who moves up or down in levels will have to reorient himself as to what is legal at the specific level. As for average # of throws over to first, I am not sure. Three throws over is typical for him. He recalls one pitcher who threw over 6 times in one hitter's AB. As for your big lead after two throws question.. Son interprets that as you can still throw over on throw #3; but if runner gets back it's a balk.
I see the problems with the rule and not sure I have good suggestion for improvement on it outside of letting it playout to what tweaks are needed to make it work. That being said the concept I think is good, it speeds the game and more importantly puts some action back in the game.
I think the game of MLB is suffering and ultimately will go on decline due to the way the game is played. I am not saying it will die, not saying the world is ending...I am saying that with the shift, deep deep counts, the gyrations on the mound and in the box, the amazing amount of pitching changes etc that I think the game has a problem. I love playoff baseball but lets face it 4 hour games are to long, games with the majority of AB that end in a HR, K or flyball are really that exciting...for the game to continue to grow and prosper I think it needs to be tweaked.
I realize in advance that every person on this site is a hardcore baseball person and many or most will disagree but I am thinking on the business model. No matter what anyone's opinion of baseball is, the business model is the most important thing. Somehow they have to figure out how to put more action into the game at a quicker pace.
Somehow they have to figure out how to put more action into the game at a quicker pace.
I agree. The MLB game is barely watchable if your team is good. It’s unwatchable if they’re not.
I'm just waiting on a couple more guys who are smart enough (and able) to put down a bunt a couple times early in the year against the shift. Guess what....just like magic....the shift on that guy will be gone. It's painful to think that MLB players aren't willing (or able) to just lay down a bunt to third and take the easiest base hit they will ever get when the shift is on.
I think most of the changes seem reasonable. I also like the reduced lefty benefit for pickoffs (yes, I know this is fighting words coming from a righty dad). I do agree that some sort of a time clock or reasonable amount of time between pitches is helpful (and having the batter call time should be limited as well). We always teach that it is the "pitcher's mound", but when somebody tries to overuse it, it ruins the pace of the game.
@Ripken Fan posted:RipkenFanSon was talking with me about these changes last night. He wishes they were all given at all levels for the year. Player who moves up or down in levels will have to reorient himself as to what is legal at the specific level. As for average # of throws over to first, I am not sure. Three throws over is typical for him. He recalls one pitcher who threw over 6 times in one hitter's AB. As for your big lead after two throws question.. Son interprets that as you can still throw over on throw #3; but if runner gets back it's a balk.
Obviously a speedy player would prefer to have the rules be consistent, but I think what MLB and MiLB is doing is exactly right. Different rule changes in different leagues will give them a better idea of what the effect of each change is.
That said, I think most fans want to see more players running the bases, so I'm hopeful that the bigger bases and the rule on lefty moves will help. I hate watching a pitcher throw to first a zillion times as much as the next person, but limiting throws seems like too much of an intrusion into the basic nature of the game.
Band-aides people, just band-aides. Over the last couple years, I find myself watching college baseball more and more than ever before.
@RJM unfortunately I'm a fan of one of those "unwatchable teams". After all, I stopped caring to watch after Bundy stop caring to cover home 
....and the bad thing is I didn't blame him in the moment.
Even watching the Sox in ‘18 often I would have the tv on but not watching. I would look up when I heard crowd noise or the announcer’s voice increase in volume. Now the Sux are unwatchable.
What’s everyone’s rush? By the time you buy tickets for decent seats and modest refreshments a game cost hundreds of dollars for a family to attend. Relax, enjoy it and savor it as it was made. Stop trying to alter it to suit your diminishing attention span. There are plenty of us who love the game the way it’s played.
Couldn't a maximum number of pick off throws be abused by a baserunner by drawing that maximum number of throws by "dancing around" and then he can take a huge lead?
@22and25 posted:What’s everyone’s rush? By the time you buy tickets for decent seats and modest refreshments a game cost hundreds of dollars for a family to attend. Relax, enjoy it and savor it as it was made. Stop trying to alter it to suit your diminishing attention span. There are plenty of us who love the game the way it’s played.
I don’t get bored at the park. But I only go to a game or two a month. The rest are on tv. It’s not about diminishing attention span when games on tv end after 11pm or midnight. It’s not about attention span when watching baseball is as bad as sitting and watching all of Godfather 3 (The Godfather movie that sucks) with commercials.
@RJM posted:I don’t get bored at the park. But I only go to a game or two a month. The rest are on tv. It’s not about diminishing attention span when games on tv end after 11pm or midnight. It’s not about attention span when watching baseball is as bad as sitting and watching all of Godfather 3 (The Godfather movie that sucks) with commercials.
So you want a juicy slow cooked meal when you sit down inside the restaurant but then expect a totally different product rushed to you through the drive through window when you can’t go inside? 😁. I kid, but maybe you just need to follow a better team! I am more of a fan of the game than a specific team, although I have my favorites, so I tend to watch good matchups, particularly pitching matchups, so I can usually find a game I enjoy watching.
@22and25 posted:So you want a juicy slow cooked meal when you sit down inside the restaurant but then expect a totally different product rushed to you through the drive through window when you can’t go inside? 😁. I kid, but maybe you just need to follow a better team! I am more of a fan of the game than a specific team, although I have my favorites, so I tend to watch good matchups, particularly pitching matchups, so I can usually find a game I enjoy watching.
I had trouble watching when the Sox had their greatest season ever and won it all. The MLB game sucks more and more every year. The game is changing... for the worst. It’s why MLB is constantly looking for improvement. No one wants to watch the ball not be put in play. The only strategy left is how hard is the hitter going to swing from his heels.
Everyone not in denial knows MLB is losing its luster. Going to a game is a social event. It’s what keeps the game going. Watching a MLB game on tv is slow death.
I’ve been a diehard fan for over fifty years. The game is losing me. There are a lot of people like me and baseball knows it. They’re not attracting an adequate number of younger fans. My kids played college baseball and softball. They have little interest in watching on tv. They enjoy going to the park once a month and having a few beers. It’s long term death. Baseball is turning into a sedate old man, couch potato game. At the homes for the elderly there are lots of fans. They watch until they fall asleep in the 5th inning.
A lot of people discovered when sports was down last year they didn’t need or miss them.
Fortunately it’s March Madness time. When it’s over the college baseball season will be in crunch time (second half)) of the regular season. I don’t even have to think about MLB until late June after the CWS. By then there’s so much to do outdoors until nine at night.
Yeah, baseball has been on its death bed since 1900 yet here we are..... everyone has an option as to why it’s in trouble and what needs to change, just as they have for 120 years. Some want more action while others think games need to be shorter....none of these arguments are new.
Great article about the generational lamenting of the pending death of baseball.
https://www.si.com/mlb/2019/08...all-is-dying-history
What is changing is the was people consume baseball. My youngest is 14 and there is a healthy population of kids his age that follow mlb online, on social media and streamed on TV.
I passed on 2020 numbers as an aberration.
Tv viewership for Workd Series down 40%
| 16 | FOX | 12.9 | 22 | 22,847,000 | 28. |
| 2017 | FOX | 10.6 | 20 | 18,705,000 | 33. |
| 2018 | FOX | 8.3 | 17 | 14,125,000 | 42. |
| 2019 | FOX | 8.1 | 16 | 13,912,000 | 44 |
(2019) Why baseball attendance is down 7%
https://www.forbes.com/sites/m...n-over-7-since-2015/
Yep, everything is perfect with the game. It’s why MLB is working so hard to maintain the present course.
4 straight years of decline...nothing see here folks move along.
i think the key is not that it is going to die but that it is going to decline, decline leads to loss of revenue which will 100% result in change. You can take that to that bank
Your evidence of the demise of a 120 year old industry is Neilson ratings? Yawn........ ticket sales are mostly stable year over year, despite rising prices people are still attending games. Buying $12 beers and $7 hot dogs and $150 player jerseys.
Total league revenue 2001= $3.5B
Total league revenue 2010= $6.14B
Total league revenue 2019= $10.37B
Total revenue has grown by $500M+ every year since 2015.
As I stated earlier, the way people consume baseball away from the ballpark is changing. Get back to me when revenues start to decline and we can talk.
Attendance is down before 2020. That’s loss of revenue. With World Series ratings in a free fall what do you think happens at the next tv contract negotiations? Fortunately for baseball it’s not for several years. The desire for people to watch MLB baseball on tv has a slow leak that doesn’t appear it will be patched anytime soon.
Are you aware streaming services are dumping regional sports coverage and most viewers don’t care? In 2020 a lot of people discovered they can manage with a lot less tv sports. MLB is aware of it. It’s why they are conducting so many tests at the minor league level.
Maybe you should contact MLB and tell them they have it wrong. Advise them to stay the course. Give me more! Shoot for the four hour game.
I looked at the attendance for the last 20 years before making my post, the slight dip that you note is a few percentage points and is within the same range of variance for other dips going back in time. There is no trend there that I can see. And revenue grew $500M year over year for the years you note, so what loss of revenue are you seeing?
As for the rest, the appetite for watching all things on traditional TV has a slow leak. The traditional way people obtain content is dying. Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS are all scrambling to adjust their business models to keep up with these changes. People want instant access, on any device on demand without regional restrictions. Fundamental changes to the game in order to be more palatable for traditional network and cable TV distribution models in 2021 is tantamount to jockeying for shelf space at the grocery store and refusing to distribute your products through Amazon.
If baseball wants to impact viewership they should focus on distribution, not the product. People still want the same Coca-Cola, they just want Amazon to drop it at their doorstep.
