2014 MLB Season Thread

[PhantomDreamer]

Enforcing existing rules would be a start. Implementing a pitch clock would also make sense. Putting a limit on mound visits and reducing the time it takes to make a pitching change would be great as well.

MLB would kill to have the NBA's demographics. The average NBA fan is a decade younger than the average MLB fan.

So a demographic with less money to spend on tickets and merchandise, and without families that they also bring to the games and buy stuff for

Link please.

[rams80]

Enforcing existing rules would be a start. Implementing a pitch clock would also make sense. Putting a limit on mound visits and reducing the time it takes to make a pitching change would be great as well.

MLB would kill to have the NBA's demographics. The average NBA fan is a decade younger than the average MLB fan.

So a demographic with less money to spend on tickets and merchandise, and without families that they also bring to the games and buy stuff for

Link please.

Link you to the real world? No, that can't be done.

Enforcing existing rules would be a start. Implementing a pitch clock would also make sense. Putting a limit on mound visits and reducing the time it takes to make a pitching change would be great as well.

MLB would kill to have the NBA's demographics. The average NBA fan is a decade younger than the average MLB fan.

Again. Start your own arena baseball league with these rule changes.

[PhantomDreamer]

It's not arena baseball, it's improving the current game and not being content with the status quo. They're charging more. Want more. Demand more.

[rams80]

It's not arena baseball, it's improving the current game and not being content with the status quo. They're charging more. Want more. Demand more.

If you're adding gimmicks, its arena league style. Embrace it, love it. Let the offense come.

[dbadefense1990]

It's not arena baseball, it's improving the current game and not being content with the status quo. They're charging more. Want more. Demand more.

Baseball is the sport with the most traditionalism in root. While younger fans crave short-attention spanned action sports such as basketball and football, older fans love the status quo of baseball and will fight flesh-and-carcass to keep it that way. Take a look at all the bickering made by baseball purists in issue with steroids and the HoF vote, instant replay, division setups and any other baseball-centric topic which even with the slightest change can create a ruckus with the establishment.

And what makes you think your proposal for an increase in offense will solve all the (in your words) "boring defensive lapses" in MLB right now? The NHL added numerous rules to increase offenses post-2005, while the NBA began to penalize even the most tediously-efficient defenses to increase scoring and fan interest, but we've reached a point of offensive saturation in both leagues (shootouts in the NHL are mostly boring, while players are afraid of making contact in the NBA because of the risk of being called for a foul for the slightest touch). I won't be surprised if the NFL reaches the same saturation point as a consequence of rule-changes which make quarterbacks the Demi-God of football positions.

[Sport]

I read yesterday that the seven most recent seasons are all the 7 highest pitches per plate appearance seasons in major league history. That's how you can have 2-1 games that last over three hours. Do you want to tell the hitters to swing at first pitches more? If you change the rules of how they approach at bats then you change the fundamental aspect of the game.

[The_Admiral]

I know everyone gives PhantomDreamer crap because of his weird pullover fetish, but the guy has a point. Baseball games have gotten really freakin' slow, you guys. Between the obsession with pitch count over the last ten years and this cockamamie replay system, games are grinding down to a crawl. You don't need to propose "arena baseball" to wish that the existing game could just pick up the pace a little bit here.

[infrared41]

I know everyone gives PhantomDreamer crap because of his weird pullover fetish, but the guy has a point. Baseball games have gotten really freakin' slow, you guys. Between the obsession with pitch count over the last ten years and this cockamamie replay system, games are grinding down to a crawl. You don't need to propose "arena baseball" to wish that the existing game could just pick up the pace a little bit here.

I agree. Something has to be done to pick up the pace. A few simple changes could speed things up considerably. 1. Once a batter steps into the box, he stays there for the entire AB. No more putting your OCD on display between every pitch. 2. Dump this "cockamamie" replay system until you come up with a better way to do it. 3. I don't like the idea of a pitch clock, but if that's what it takes to get the game moving then that's what it takes.

Baseball is a good two notches above hockey as my favorite sport, but it's gotten to the point where even a baseball nut like me finds the games slow and boring. Something needs to be done.

[Sport]

I think only Cardinals fans really wanted the replay system so they wouldn't get no-hit by Johan Santana. The rest of us were fine without it until the same Cardinals benefited from an infield fly ball that landed in the middle of left field. I blame the St. Louis Cardinals.

Are the games taking longer? Sure. Is that a problem? Not to the extent that future banned member Phantom Dreamer believes it is. Are they THAT much longer that this guy needs to continuously disrupt the thread with every post every single time he posts in this thread? No. They're like 3 minutes longer. We've already devoted more time than that to this person today.

Here's my ideas to make the game go faster:

A. no more Nomar-esque rituals at the plate. Does a guy need to step out of the box on every pitch to readjust his batting gloves and helmet and nutsack? No he doesn't. Get back in there and ground out to short.

Two: enforce the pitch clock.

iii: Limit mound visits to one per inning. I saw an atbat where the catcher ran out to talk to the pitcher three times. That's what hand signs are for. You get one visit to say whatever and if he's still not doing what you want then shout at him from behind home plate

4: start the games at 6:30 sharp. Why did we all agree that sports have to begin at 7:10 anyways?

V: less time in between innings

Six: Pullover jerseys and sansabelt pants to make the players faster. Just kidding that would be moronic.

[CS85]

I blame the St. Louis Cardinals.

This is the best baseball mentality anyone can ever have.

[The Six]

No. They're like 3 minutes longer.

Not according to Verducci. Apparently in the last 10 years the average time of a game has increased by 29 minutes. And that's not 29 minutes of action with the ball in play. That's mound visits, batters leaving the box to adjust their gloves, pitchers walking around the mound after every pitch, etc. The pace is horrific.

[infrared41]

No. They're like 3 minutes longer.

Not according to Verducci. Apparently in the last 10 years the average time of a game has increased by 29 minutes. And that's not 29 minutes of action with the ball in play. That's mound visits, batters leaving the box to adjust their gloves, pitchers walking around the mound after every pitch, etc. The pace is horrific.

All I know is games take a lot longer than they used to. Case in point...

I'll qualify this by pointing out that the game I'm about to reference took place in 1971*. I'm sure there have been many non-baseball related changes that have also added to the time of games since then. That said...

To this day, I still remember an Indians - Twins game I attended when I was a kid. The reason it stands out among the hundreds of games I've been to is because I got to see my favorite player at the time (Indians catcher Ray Fosse) hit a grand slam. The final score of that game was 9-8. It was a slugfest. The Indians scored 9 runs on 9 hits. The Twins scored 8 runs on 13 hits. (Each team had two pitching changes which I'm guessing is far less than a game today would have.) So how long did a game with 17 total runs and 22 total hits take to play? Two hours and 36 minutes. Does anyone here really believe a 9-8 game could be played in under 3 and a half hours today? Just for fun, I looked up another high scoring game from that same season. The Indians and Red Sox played a game in which the final score was 11-9. The Indians scored 11 runs on 12 hits, Boston scored 9 runs on 14 hits. (Boston had 4 pitching changes which is probably closer to today's average.) Time of game? 2:47. The point being that in 1971, a slugfest took less time to play than a typical 4-3 game does today.

Then, I decided to dig up an old game on YouTube. Take a look at the first couple ABs in this clip and the pace of the game overall. (Dave Stapleton's trip around the bases is pretty funny too.)

http://youtu.be/VzwpEbQ5FgI

Just some food for thought.

*Thanks again, Baseball-Reference.com

[PhantomDreamer]

MLB brass have talked about the pace of the game and they've done literally nothing about it. It must be the same blue ribbon panel that was supposed to solve Oakland's stadium issue. Good job all around fellas.

Back to actual baseball, if the season ended today, the generic looking Mariners would be one of the wild card teams! Ooh aah. Excitement! Of course, after 59 games, they had the same record in 2011 and ended up finishing 67-95.

[SuperLeafsFan]

Why not imply the mercy rule then, like Little League? That would quicken the games.

THERE YA GO PHANTOMDREAMER

YA HAPPY YET????

OR DO WE HEFF TO SIII PULLOVERS AGAIN???????

Btw, I like the Trident logo myself. Wish it would be used, but with Teal.

[SFGiants58]

No. They're like 3 minutes longer.

Not according to Verducci. Apparently in the last 10 years the average time of a game has increased by 29 minutes. And that's not 29 minutes of action with the ball in play. That's mound visits, batters leaving the box to adjust their gloves, pitchers walking around the mound after every pitch, etc. The pace is horrific.

All I know is games take a lot longer than they used to. Case in point...

I'll qualify this by pointing out that the game I'm about to reference took place in 1971*. I'm sure there have been many non-baseball related changes that have also added to the time of games since then. That said...

To this day, I still remember an Indians - Twins game I attended when I was a kid. The reason it stands out among the hundreds of games I've been to is because I got to see my favorite player at the time (Indians catcher Ray Fosse) hit a grand slam. The final score of that game was 9-8. It was a slugfest. The Indians scored 9 runs on 9 hits. The Twins scored 8 runs on 13 hits. (Each team had two pitching changes which I'm guessing is far less than a game today would have.) So how long did a game with 17 total runs and 22 total hits take to play? Two hours and 36 minutes. Does anyone here really believe a 9-8 game could be played in under 3 and a half hours today? Just for fun, I looked up another high scoring game from that same season. The Indians and Red Sox played a game in which the final score was 11-9. The Indians scored 11 runs on 12 hits, Boston scored 9 runs on 14 hits. (Boston had 4 pitching changes which is probably closer to today's average.) Time of game? 2:47. The point being that in 1971, a slugfest took less time to play than a typical 4-3 game does today.

Then, I decided to dig up an old game on YouTube. Take a look at the first couple ABs in this clip and the pace of the game overall. (Dave Stapleton's trip around the bases is pretty funny too.)

http://youtu.be/VzwpEbQ5FgI

Just some food for thought.

*Thanks again, Baseball-Reference.com

It's just a matter of cutting down on things that McCarthy described, and then the pace will certainly be sped up. It'll happen eventually, it just has to (by probability). Off topic, here's a wonderful little vine:

https://vine.co/v/MptdYeqY3Ep

[McCall]

The irony of phantomdreamer's rants is that he thinks the games are too long and that there's not enough offense... the more offense, the longer the game. The better the pitching, the faster the game.

[The Six]

The irony of phantomdreamer's rants is that he thinks the games are too long and that there's not enough offense... the more offense, the longer the game. The better the pitching, the faster the game.

There's no reason to conflate two issues. Offense is good and fun to watch. An extra HALF HOUR of guys stepping out of the box is not. The context here is not difficult to understand.

[TrueYankee26]

My Yankees stink this year. Sigh. Heads would roll if The Boss was still alive.

[cmm]

Enforce the rules about batters not being allowed to step out of the box and pitchers needing to pitch within 12 seconds (with the bases empty) and let's see where we are with pace of game then. I'd love to see the time between innings shortened too, but that would mean less commercials and therefore less money. So it won't happen.

And there's always an easy way to shave five minutes off all Sunday games (and all Yankee home games)...

[TrueYankee26]

Cubs are leaving WGN Radio:

http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/11031139/chicago-cubs-leaving-wgn-radio-90-years-reports