A sharp, crisp game...

[919191]

Here is part of an article on MLB's efforts to speed up games. The whole article is here.http://www.bizofbaseball.com/index.p...2200&Itemid=42

I love a clean. crisp game.

MLB Addresses Pace of the Game Rules


Written by Maury Brown
Wednesday, 21 May 2008
Following a discussion on pace of game at last week’s Owners Meetings in Milwaukee, Major League Baseball today held a series of conference calls with each Club’s field manager, general manager and in-game entertainment staff and with all Major League umpire crew chiefs. The calls were organized by MLB’s Baseball Operations Department, headed by Executive Vice President Jimmie Lee Solomon.

During the calls, Major League Baseball advised all participants that umpires will be more vigilant in the enforcement of matters pertaining to the improvement of pace of game efforts, including, but not limited to, Official Baseball Rules 6.02(a), 6.02(b), 6.02(c) and 8.04.

“Improving pace of game is an important goal that will be emphasized,” said Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. “Clubs and fans share the common objective of seeing a game that is played as sharply and crisply as possible. We have reminded our staff and our umpires to enforce the rules in order to achieve the progress we need in this area.”

[Larry Schuler]

I like mine extra crispy.

[redsrule2500]

Bud's an idiot.

[Unassisted]

It has been discussed in these parts before that efforts to speed up the game are intended to improve the game's appeal to young fans. Young fans have said repeatedly in focus groups that baseball moves too slow for their taste. I don't want my favorite sport to have trouble finding an audience among young people, because that means eventually it will have trouble finding a TV network willing to show the games.

Furthermore, it has been shown that the game moves more slowly than it used to. The average MLB game in 1983 was 20 minutes shorter than the average game in 2008, so it's not like speeding things up is messing with tradition.

What's not to like here?

[gonelong]

What's not to like here?

A lazy game on a Sunny Sunday afternoon? No problem. A 4 hour game on a Wednesday night with 1.5 hour drive afterwards. No thanks.

GL

[George Anderson]

Maybe its just me but it seems like a college game goes alot faster than a MLB game does. Part of the appeal to watching a college game for me anyway is it seems to lack the slowness that MLB games have.

[Roy Tucker]

I forget the numbers, but much of the additional time added to the game since 1983 are longer and more frequent TV breaks.

At-bats are longer now. More batters are selective about what they swing at and grind-it-out at-bats are more common.

I've always wondered why relief pitchers get to warm up on the field when they come in to pitch. Aren't they already warm? No other players entering the game (pinch hitters, pinch runners, etc.) don't get to do this. Particularly in the late innings when managers start to go all Tony LaRussa. Just bring 'em in from the pen and start pitching.

[REDREAD]

I would like to see them institute some kind of limit to the number of times a player can step out of the batter's box and the pitcher can step off the rubber. Or some kind of clock that requires the pitcher to throw the ball (when no runners on base).

Realistically, we aren't going to be able to shorten the commerical breaks.

I don't have a problem with the reliever throwing a few warm up pitches on the real mound. That gives him a chance to get the "feel" of the mound, which might be different than the bullpen mound.

[Dom Heffner]

They could make the games one hour, I still don't know that baseball is that exciting.

It's my all-time favorite sport, but I find myself looking over box scores and watching all the games live with the CBSSportsline Gamecenter up.

I like the data, not the pitch by pitch.

I went to a Rays game a few weeks ago and watched the eye candy more than anything. The second I got home, I checked out the box scores for the entire day and got more out of it, honestly.

[RedsManRick]

For me it's not about the overall length of the game, it's the pace. I've seen 2 hour games which were pretty boring and incredibly exciting 4 hour games. My biggest concern in regards to pace is pitching changes and visits to the mound.

Players are big boys, let them play the game. You don't need a fat manager to waddle over there and pat him on the butt because he gave up a few hits. You want to use some strategy, that's what signals are for. In football and basketball the coach only has a small number of chances to stop the game and discuss the situation. Otherwise, there's a clock urging the game on. In soccer and hockey, there is no stoppage of play. These work.

Baseball's biggest problem isn't about TV timeouts or extra long at bats. It's a bunch of people standing around doing nothing for minutes on end. Fix that problem first.

[macro]

I've always wondered why relief pitchers get to warm up on the field when they come in to pitch. Aren't they already warm? No other players entering the game (pinch hitters, pinch runners, etc.) don't get to do this. Particularly in the late innings when managers start to go all Tony LaRussa. Just bring 'em in from the pen and start pitching.

I agree completely, or at least reduce the number of pitches to, say, three or four.

“Clubs and fans share the common objective of seeing a game that is played as sharply and crisply as possible. "

No one plays the game more crisply than this guy:



Hey, somebody had to say it.

[KronoRed]

Lets go to 3 balls for a walk and 2 strikes for an out

[M2]

There will always be players who slow the game down. You simply cannot make El Duque throw a pitch until his sundial says it's time to throw a pitch. I'm surprised he doesn't stop to take in fluids between each pitch (he should wear one of those hiking fluid packs on his back). He also surely would like to be fanned with palm fronds. You can ask umps to herd the cats, but don't expect a herd of cats to be the result of those efforts.

As others have already noted, longer commercial breaks and hitters doing a better job of working counts are the main culprits in the games taking longer. No one's going to do anything about that. The one game-elongating thing that can be addressed is mid-inning pitching switches. Managers take the air out of the game with the endless pitching matchups late in the contest. They make the game drag right when it's getting to its most interesting point.

Bill James has already come up with the solution - one mid-inning pitcher switch per game. The great thing about that is it would add a lot beyond just the time savings. It adds a whole new strategy component to the game - is this the spot where the manager should use his one switch? It would also change the nature of relievers from one-out specialists to full-inning generalists, which might actually lead to teams carrying fewer relievers (something the game sorely needs). Best of all, it would add drama. If you've got an offense getting to a pitcher and he's got no cavalry coming to his rescue, can he suck it up and get himself out of the inning?

They might have to add a kill rule circuit breaker (e.g. the pitcher can be relieved if his team is losing as the other side has batted around), but that's a simple modification to an idea that absolutely needs to be implemented if MLB is serious about putting a pacier game on display.

[flyer85]

hitters doing a better job of working counts

I assume you meant other than the Reds.

[WebScorpion]

There will always be players who slow the game down. You simply cannot make El Duque throw a pitch until his sundial says it's time to throw a pitch. I'm surprised he doesn't stop to take in fluids between each pitch (he should wear one of those hiking fluid packs on his back). He also surely would like to be fanned with palm fronds. You can ask umps to herd the cats, but don't expect a herd of cats to be the result of those efforts.

As others have already noted, longer commercial breaks and hitters doing a better job of working counts are the main culprits in the games taking longer. No one's going to do anything about that. The one game-elongating thing that can be addressed is mid-inning pitching switches. Managers take the air out of the game with the endless pitching matchups late in the contest. They make the game drag right when it's getting to its most interesting point.

Bill James has already come up with the solution - one mid-inning pitcher switch per game. The great thing about that is it would add a lot beyond just the time savings. It adds a whole new strategy component to the game - is this the spot where the manager should use his one switch? It would also change the nature of relievers from one-out specialists to full-inning generalists, which might actually lead to teams carrying fewer relievers (something the game sorely needs). Best of all, it would add drama. If you've got an offense getting to a pitcher and he's got no cavalry coming to his rescue, can he suck it up and get himself out of the inning?

They might have to add a kill rule circuit breaker (e.g. the pitcher can be relieved if his team is losing as the other side has batted around), but that's a simple modification to an idea that absolutely needs to be implemented if MLB is serious about putting a pacier game on display.

What you are proposing is the death of the LOOGY!?!? Heresy!