Suggestions for Selig's committee to save baseball

The human rain delay is what I believe would have the greatest impact in speeding up the game. I don't mind relievers coming in and warming up, a break in the action is ok.

However, when you have batters that step out after every pitch and go through their rights of gyrations with batting gloves, helmet adjustments, crotch rearrangements,etc., that's the dragger. Then there's the Joe Nathan school of pitching, where every pitch requires a walk around the mound, readjustment of equipments, and at least three deep breaths and exhales...before he gets his sign.

Those are pace of the game issues and I believe that's what drags it down. Taking a break to sing God Bless America, or making pitching changes are just breaks in the action, not the death by a thousand paper cuts that players are allowed to dish out. JMHO

As an addendum...the SEC just revised it's conference tournament rules to include a 20 second clock between pitches, when no runner is on base, and 90 second clock between innings.

With the pitch clock, the hitter is awarded a ball if the pitcher has not begun his windup in 20 seconds, and the pitcher is awarded a strike if the hitter is not in the box ready to hit with at least 5 seconds left on the clock. I'm not sure that I like the idea of a clock in baseball, but something needs to be done. The games in the SEC tournament drag on and on and never run on schedule. A couple of years ago at the Big12 tournament, Texas and Texas A&M started a game at 11 pm because the earlier games had gone so long.

Define the strike zone. Specifically the "high strike". Is it at the belt the letters? where is it? Define it, implement it and enforce it. The reason why it's not enforced is that the advantage would go to the pitcher. Which translates to pitcher duals.

Chicks love the long ball! Baseball purists, love a no hitter.

A major feature of the sport of baseball is NO TIME LIMIT and no clock--adding a clock and time limits makes it like all the other sports

We play in a load of wood bat tournaments that 2HR time limits only because of the number of teams and staying on schedule but most are completed in 7 innings before the 2 HR time limit---time can be saved if the trips to the mound by the catcher are curtailed

I don't like the idea of a pitch clock, but it sure would attack the problem at its source. At least for MLB, all the between inning stuff and pitcher changes is opportunity for advertising. So that isn't a real problem.

But the between pitch time can at times be so offputting that I switch the channel. If there are 300 pitches thrown in a ballgame, shaving 6 seconds off the average time between pitches will shorten games by a half hour.

I would love to see some actual data on what IS the average between pitch time in MLB. I wonder if anyone has done such a study.

But as I said, I hate the idea of a pitch clock. There might be a different way to go about it, similar to how the PGA tour battles slow play. If a pitcher is taking too much time between pitches in the opinion of the umpire (based on someone actually timing it) then perhaps the pitcher could be put "on the clock" and have to quicken his pace.

This is imperfect, to be sure. But if the goal is to quicken the games and make them more entertaining, I do think the between pitch time is the place to look.

Let us not forget that baseball is a special and very unique game, unlike any other---why do people want to change it after all these years--keep changing things and the stats, records etc will not be comparable from decade to decade, not that they are now, but it will not be the same unique entity that it is now,

MLB once had a twenty-second rule between pitches. They got rid of it. Maybe they felt it wasn't needed after the Human Rain Delay, Diego Segui retired.

Is baseball looking to cut fifteen minutes out of the game time, or add fifteen minutes of ad revenue? I'll bet the ad time is much more now than thirty years ago.

TR -
I think the desire to change certain things is motivated by hoping to keep its appeal strong. Every sport adjusts rules to keep its product marketable.

I am somewhat of a traditionalist, and I do realize that baseball is special in large part due to its timeless nature, but I would hate to see audiences shrink and the appeal of the game wither away because the length and pace of the games get out of hand.

So I think the discussion Selig is apparently starting is very healthy. I don't have much clue as to what the answers should be, but I do think there is a long term problem in terms of the younger generation not caring about the sport.

quote:

a long term problem in terms of the younger generation not caring about the sport

What happens to the next generation of youth baseball when the dads played lacrosse or spring s0ccer instead of baseball because it was boring? My son has friends who could care less about the Phillies despite their success because baseball bored them when they played.

My son is a pitcher who has been taught to work quickly, get the ball, throw it back, repeat. Drives me nuts when batters slow it down with their rituals and step out of the box every pitch to adjust their gloves, helmet or crotch.

But that's part of the mental side of the game, it wouldn't be the same without that stuff.

My son has friends who could care less about the Phillies despite their success because baseball bored them when they played.
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it's easy to see. baseball is/can be a boring game. it's difficult to teach, difficult to learn.

but,once you learn it (not sure you ever stop learning it). you have a love affair for life.


with the exception of the dh it's a game that hasn't really changed in a hundred years.......why now?

BTW, strong feeling TLR could be the next commish of baseball.

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:

quote:

a long term problem in terms of the younger generation not caring about the sport

What happens to the next generation of youth baseball when the dads played lacrosse or spring s0ccer instead of baseball because it was boring? My son has friends who could care less about the Phillies despite their success because baseball bored them when they played.

I could see how some of your son's friends could be turned off to baseball from watching MLB games that drag out for 3-4 hours, but if they found baseball boring when they themselves played--with continuous batting orders and hot metal bats--then it mostly proves that the game isn't for everybody.

Your point about the next generation of dads is well taken. Could be interesting down the road.

I stopped watching as much football when they implemented the challenge rule. It was already boring enough.. timeouts, penalties, huddles, injuries. I'm guessing if you added it up there's about 10 minutes of real action in a football game.

S****r is too simple for me and 1-1 ties just aren't the ticket.

Basketball has far more action, but even so, the last 1:30 takes as long as the first 46:30.

If they want to speed up the game of baseball, I have a suggestion. Start fining the players who take too long in the box or between pitches. That way, you don't need a clock but can speed it up another way.

I find the commmittee members having a fun yet challenging job.

What I find most interesting is when Selig says
- "There will be no sacred cows."
- "We're open to talk about anything,"

Yet in the same breadth, Selig says:
- What will never happen is cutting the 162-game schedule. "That idea gets zero votes" from owners,"

Until Selig finds a way to collaborate with the
MLBPU, the 14 man committee findings will collect dust and in a hurry.

quote:

MLB once had a twenty-second rule between pitches. They got rid of it. Maybe they felt it wasn't needed after the Human Rain Delay, Diego Segui retired.

The MLB rule is now 12 seconds after receiving the ball if the bases are empty.(8.04). In FED and NCAA, the rule is 20 seconds. The delay is more in the enforcement than in the existence of a rule.

Just enforce the rules that are already in place. That should do it.

3FG - I did not know that. Thanks!

So all they have to do is enforce it. They obviously do not at this time.

it does drive some folks a little nuts with the Pitcher/Batter dual...pitcher has his rituals and the batter has his...someone said it earlier...that's part of the game and it's PRICELESS!

quote:

Originally posted by Rob Kremer:
3FG - I did not know that. Thanks!

So all they have to do is enforce it. They obviously do not at this time.

The rule IS enforced, but the method of enforcement does not lend itself to immediate remediation.

MLB decided some time ago to avoid confrontation over the 20 second rule. When a pithcer continually violates the 20 second rule, a report is written after the game by the UIC and forwarded to MLB. The pitcher is then fined. No one, during the game, is aware that the violation is being noted.

Some leagues in MiLB do the same. Additionally in MiLB the batter is required to keep a foot in the box, similar to the FED rule. That is enforced in most MiLB leauges and has lead to many ejections over the past two years.

I have said this before but it bears repeating---baseball is a game unique until itself--those that are into the game are possibly the most passionate fans in any sport