Quote Originally Posted by Rojo View Post
As well-put by Bill James, it's about "draining the inaction" from the game. Lazy throws to first, batters stepping out of the box, 3 in-inning pitching changes -- all of that needs to be kept to minimum.
Of course they never discuss the real reason games go so long, the ever expanding time taken for ads between innings and during pitching changes. That's what I like about soccer, no timeouts for ads. I watched NFL football in Europe once and it was unwatchable. The Euro broadcaster didn't insert ads, so you got to see all the time they waste standing around.No ads, no studio guys talking, no announcers talking. Just guys standing around. I swear American football involves more standing around than actual play. The Europeans we watched the game with got bored after one quarter and started playing foosball.