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MLB convenes committee to shorten games
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terrisus
Member
There is a time limit for pitchers to deliver a ball when no one is on base.
The issue is with it actually being enforced.
Ah, I wasn't aware of that actually. Then yeah, enforce that shit.
terrisus
Member
Agreed.
theepicoftyler
Member
What about limiting batters from stepping out between pitches to do unnecessary things like adjust gloves after taking a ball, or pitchers taking exorbitant amount of time to deliver the next pitch?
terrisus
Member
Or fitting in one more beer commercial during the break?
Until MLB cuts back on between-innings advertisements, I can't take any other "timing" thing that they suggest very seriously.
I kind of feel the same way. That's a big difference in baseball is that it's a game of patience just as much as anything else. But definitely there are ways to speed it up without really changing the nature of play no? Sometimes some guys take unnecessarily long.
But my plan for MLB would first and foremost, would cut a large number of games from the schedule. Maybe trying 100-120 games a season would work better, as well as a league contraction, removing some of the poorer performing teams.
theepicoftyler
Member
I'm typically fine with the commercial breaks (as they are) because they at least do us the courtesy of not cutting to a commercial in the middle of at bats.
terrisus
Member
Instead, they delay the start of at-bats.
10 strike Max thing wasn't really serious, but I think shorter season (probably higher than 80), quicker side changes, and 7 inning games are reasonable.
My basketball ideas are all 100% serious. If there's an obvious flaw to changes anyone notices please say so. The main problems with NBA imo are: (1) regular season is meaningless because it's too long and everyone makes the playoffs; (2) the end of close games can take too long due to excessive fouling.
Soccer isn't totally serious either, but I'd love to see that at least once. It could be cool and cut down on walking and bellyaching.
theepicoftyler
Member
I prefer it to TV timeouts taken in other sports.
Nobody would ever stop fouling in an NBA game if it was just an automatic point. A three possession lead would turn into an extra hour once the last two minutes hit, unless you're also saying the team that gets fouled gets possession of the ball.
ViperVisor
Member
Good graphs.
Replay time is about the same time as throwing a fit and getting ejected. I saw Bobby Cox get tossed many a times and while it was fun it was a waste of time.
Replays need to happen quicker but 1st year roll out bumps were to be expected.
Nothing extreme is needed but a few tweaks.
2014 pitchers average 23 seconds between pitches.
280-300 pitches thrown per game
approx 6 pitching changes per game getting 8 mound warmup throws.
Small adjustments and 10 min of time is cut.
Replay time is about the same time as throwing a fit and getting ejected. I saw Bobby Cox get tossed many a times and while it was fun it was a waste of time.
Replays need to happen quicker but 1st year roll out bumps were to be expected.
Nothing extreme is needed but a few tweaks.
2014 pitchers average 23 seconds between pitches.
280-300 pitches thrown per game
approx 6 pitching changes per game getting 8 mound warmup throws.
Small adjustments and 10 min of time is cut.
Yeah. I just want to eliminate the fouling that drags out the last two minutes of a game to 45.
Calamari41
41 > 38
The only thing they should do to shorten MLB games is cut down on commercials. Everything else is part of the players playing the game and managers managing the game... baseball is baseball. If you don't like it, you don't have to watch. Clearly a massive number of people in this country enjoy it as-is.
Rock And Roll
Member
But then league revenue goes down due to loss of advertising dollars and they wouldn't be able to spin the "league revenue is up!" line.
Living in Toronto, I love going to a game when Buehrle is pitching and the whole thing is done in 2 hours. It's not like having a pitch clock would rush the pitcher and give the hitter the advantage, it's completely up to the pitcher to use an aggressive pace to make the batter feel uncomfortable.
SteveWinwood
Member
wheres kyle farnsworth nowadays
thiscoldblack
Unconfirmed Member
It would be nice if it was 100 games per year, 6 innings games. That should make games more interesting as teams will feel more pressured to play aggressively/harder and less passive because of shorter games/season. However, I know this will not happen because of advertising money and super conservative hardcore fans..
terrisus
Member
No it wouldn't.
Always a great tactic to disparage and discredit anyone who thinks differently from you.
Let's say they cut 1 commercial out of each half inning break. That's ~10 minutes back right there.
If they cut commercials between changing a pitcher or making it so you can only 1 minute to put the commercials in, there could be another 5 minutes saved per game.
If they enforce it so that the pitcher and batter are ready right when the commercial is done, that could save another couple minutes. In total though, that's averaging only 15 minutes or so.
I shouldn't be able to use 30 second skip between pitches, if the batter doesn't swing the bat they shouldn't be able to leave the box. Other than to use say one allocated time out.
A majority of the viewing audience is 50+ year olds who have watched baseball forever. They're trying to look at the long term viability of the product.
Thaedolus
Member
If they could increase the pace of the commission "looking into" the A's stadium situation, that'd be great too.
But fuck pitching clocks. I like the idea of not letting the batter step out or setting some limits on shit, but clocks and baseball sound like oil and water to me. I love that there's no clock. And I stayed up until like the 18th inning of a game that ended around 3AM my time a couple years ago...I don't mind the occasional long ass game. Makes it exciting
But fuck pitching clocks. I like the idea of not letting the batter step out or setting some limits on shit, but clocks and baseball sound like oil and water to me. I love that there's no clock. And I stayed up until like the 18th inning of a game that ended around 3AM my time a couple years ago...I don't mind the occasional long ass game. Makes it exciting
Calamari41
41 > 38
Things like that are ok and follow along with the rules or at least the spirit of the game. I'm talking more along the lines of ideas people in this thread have thrown out there like only allowing the pitcher to attempt to pick off a runner a certain number of times. But yeah, there's no reason to allow a batter to back off of the plate four times and pace around causally swinging the bat before a single pitch is thrown.
I totally understand, and I get frustrated at the length of games sometimes too. But there are a lot of ways to tighten them up without adding in new rules that will fundamentally change the way the game is played.
Joe Shlabotnik
Banned
The rules are relative to the end of the break, no?
terrisus
Member
Basically, they want things to start immediately at the end of break.
Already there are instances when play has started before the television feed is back.
So trying to line the timing up so precisely now will likely just lead to more of that.
Yeah, I wouldn't want to change anything that breaks the spirit of the game. I wouldn't change the length of the season or the number of innings per game. No limits on fouls or pickoff attempts. The only part of the season I would change would be eliminating the annual "rival" interleague series.
A huge part of the speed issue is on the pitchers. They should enforce pitching the ball within 15 seconds (the rule is 12 sec) after getting the ball when no one is on base. There is a reason certain pitchers like Buehrle have consistently shorter games. Good article here: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/pitcher-pace-time-between-pitches/
Shake Appeal
Member
Yeah. No clocks on anything, especially pitches.
And I'm not down with not letting batters rewrap their gloves either, because I don't want anything to throw off Miggy's rhythm.
There is no reason, none, not to have computers calling balls and strikes now, though.
Joe Shlabotnik
Banned
I wouldn't be against pulling the season back to 150something games again to avoid November baseball, but that's it as far as season changes go. It's long. That's the point.
See, this is basically just "not liking baseball".
See, this is basically just "not liking baseball".
helloresolven
Member
100+ games made a lot more sense when only the National and American league pennant winner made the World Series. (As it should be.)
njean777
Member
It's the same problem I have with the NBA. Way to many games for me to care. I am use to the NFL where the play offs are one and done and that one game actually matters. Not best of 7, you can skip the first three games of a series in MLB/ NBA and not miss anything becuase the last 4 games is where it actually starts mattering. In the NFL there are 16 games a season which is nice (not counting play offs). Though I would appreciate less commercials per game, but that will never happen.
Calamari41
41 > 38
I definitely agree with this
Exactly. Baseball is a game that is more ruled by statistics than most others. The long season basically ensures that the teams that make it into the playoffs actually are the best teams in the league, which deserve to be there without much controversy. Compare that to something like college football, where none of the top teams even play each other or even have common opponents, or college basketball where it seems like every team just gets into the playoffs automatically. Even in the NHL, more than half of the teams make the playoffs.
terrisus
Member
njean777
Member
That is debatable. All leagues have their problems.
Rock And Roll
Member
Why would extra innings matter if they are trying to cut down the overall length of the game?
SteveWinwood
Member
thats when baseball is at its most exciting though
and it cant end in a tie as thats unamerican
and no one wants to default to some decision
If regular season games ended in ties we would rarely ever see a non-pitcher pitching again
That's the NBA though
terrisus
Member
If regular season games ended in ties we would rarely ever see a non-pitcher pitching again
Fun stuff.
terrisus
Member
That makes no sense whatsoever.
In that case, if a pitcher throws over once and doesn't get the runner, the runner can basically walk over to the next base on the next pitch, since there's nothing the pitcher can do about it.
Well, that explains that...
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