How to fix the game

flyers19rw 2018-10-11 23:55:23 UTC #21

Changes would depend on whether one wanted more offense in the game or to speed it up. If there was more offense in the game, I doubt that the phans would be as concerned with the length of the game.
To add more O, I would suggest, as others have, to lower the mound 4-6 inches. Additionally, I would demand that the strike zone be from the arm pits of the batter to the tops of their knees. As it is now, it seems that the strike zone is from the waist to the batters ankles. That creates the launch angle swing which makes for the TTO game that we have now.
As for the shift, if a major league hitter can take the ball to the opposite field or even bunt the ball on the short side of the IF, they don't belong in the show.
IDK how to deal effectively with the BP roulette that goes on these days. Perhaps shrinking the pitching staff to ten pitchers-5 and 5 along with somehow eliminating the rotating of BP arms back and forth with the minors would help. It's a tough nut to crack but the BP roulette does slow down the game and often results in changing pitchers until one of them fails which we've seen often enough here.

zambonir 2018-10-12 01:34:19 UTC #22

But the game doesn't currently lack offense.

BostonRoss 2018-10-12 04:41:42 UTC #23

I like strategy and variety, both of which are more important parts of baseball than any other sport. The DH decreases strategy, and so I want it gone. But I'd rather see it only in one league than in both. That adds variety and keeps more strategy at least in one league.

Since I like variety, I enjoy that the ballparks are different and that the dimensions may favor one type of hitter over another. That adds strategy to the game (for example, saving your lefty starting pitcher for a game in another park more favorable to LHP). Having different ballparks also adds to the strategy of team building.

I also think the pennant races should be made fair, so that teams competing for the same playoff spots play the same schedule. It would be a shame if the Nationals beat out the Phillies by a game for a playoff spot because they had more games against the Orioles while the Phillies were playing the Red Sox. I think interleague play makes fairness impossible; so I'd get rid of it. I'd like to get rid of the wild cards as well, but with 30 teams, that would be impossible. If they expand to 32 teams, they can do away with it and have teams compete for playoff spots only within their divisions. Their interdivision scheduled can be the same.

I think a pitch clock would help. Teams have learned to deal with the limit on mound visits, and players can adapt to a pitch clock.

I wouldn't rule out a split season format, but I would need a specific proposal to react to, complete with how trade deadlines and roster expansions would work.

flyers19rw 2018-10-14 21:04:42 UTC #24

During Friday night's game, Buck brought up a comment made by Yelich about the launch angle swing. Yelich said that it creates a huge hole in the swing; that he would never use it and couldn't understand while organizations would push the concept, especially with younger players. Hmmm.

Lucky_Beagle 2018-10-14 22:47:54 UTC #25

I suggest limiting trades during the season. Let's move the trade deadline up to June. Make a team build a team during the off season instead of adding to their team the last month or two of the season. I know the good teams don't want to do it the bad teams want the ability to trade off current players for future players. It would limit the signing of some FA, those willing to sign with a bad team to show they still have it and looking to get traded into a pennant race.

BostonRoss 2018-10-15 04:17:34 UTC #26

Just curious. What would that "fix"?

mdougherty12 2018-10-15 05:53:56 UTC #27

Yelich is a bit of an outlier in the fly ball revolution era, in that he significantly increased his number of HRs without actually hitting more fly balls:

J.D. Martinez is kind of the poster child (along with Josh Donaldson and Justin Turner and David Murphy) for the launch angle stuff:

Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor talk more about contact point than launch angle. They're specifically trying to pull the ball in the air to hit HRs and not attempting to cover the whole plate:

I don't think there is any "one size fits all" approach to hitting in MLB, but certainly, every hitter ought to be using the available data to improve their performance.

allentown 2018-10-15 12:03:45 UTC #28

It would reduce tanking which ends the season with pathetically weak teams. It likely would produce more realistic team plans by GMs in the off-season.

BostonRoss 2018-10-15 12:22:17 UTC #29

Not sure I see this as an improvement to the game. Would baseball be better off if the Astros couldn't rise so quickly? Would the Orioles have been better in 2018 or beyond if they had to trade Machado earlier in the season or in the previous off-season? Would the Tigers have been better off if they had to hold onto Verlander in 2017?

I agreee that competitive balance is an important issue, but adding restrictions on teams trying to rebuild might make things worse.

zambonir 2018-10-15 15:53:53 UTC #30

I don't really see the trade deadline as a problem needing to be fixed. The expansion of the playoffs has calmed things down to some extent so that even teams that ultimately end up with losing records (ahem) are still buyers at the deadline. And if you moved it way up teams like the Royals and Orioles would have just tanked all season (and the Marlins might have been even worse), instead of fielding a credible roster for four months. You also might not get surprise teams like last years Twins or even this year's Rays.

EastFallowfield 2018-10-15 15:56:19 UTC #31

2008 was a lot better with Matt Stairs. Don't see how taking away moments like that makes it more fun.

Lucky_Beagle 2018-10-15 23:07:55 UTC #32

If talking about the time of game not much, but from an interest level (at least to me) basically what Allentown said.

zambonir 2018-10-16 01:16:41 UTC #33

The trade deadline makes you less interested in following the sport? For most people it seems to be the opposite, people love hot stove and in-season stove.

If you just went back to two divisions and four playoff teams that would change the trade deadline considerably (though you'd also potentially have more sellers). Obviously the league prefers to have a lot of teams in the playoff chase (and players prefer having a chance to move) more than they care about the integrity of the August/September roster (which is also messed up 'cause of call-ups). Also, what if you are a team like the 2017 Phillies and you're not ready to play Crawford, Williams and Hoskins in April but you are in July? Sometimes injuries and benching take care of that but not always. .

philsphan67 2018-10-19 16:28:53 UTC #34

Really good read, that hits every problem of the long play-off games. I'm a HS teacher (have been for many years), almost no kids are talking baseball. You can't have 4 1/2 hour play-off games that could be 3 1/2 hours. Or 3 1/2 hour games that should be under 3 hours.

zambonir 2018-10-19 16:46:45 UTC #35

I'd be shocked if you told me kids were interested in baseball to begin with. They've made it impossible for anyone over 16 (or with a job, or over 50!) to really watch the postseason forever.

And yet, nobody complains that NFL games are four hours and end at midnight.

I look forward to reading the piece though, I agree with the headline but I think it is probably as simple as, when it's the playoffs you can put up with the BS and micro-managing and maneuvers, but that just can't work all season. And baseball is the one sport I like to watch all season (I love hockey but I'm never going to plan my evening around a game in November or even February).

andyb 2018-10-19 16:56:32 UTC #36

It seems a pretty easy fix to start games at 7:30, especially since they are not on network TV any more. In the LCS they used to do a real afternoon game followed by a night game. Now we have 4:30 and 5:00 starts followed by the second game at 8:30 or 9:00. These are just too late. For every west coast viewer they gain they are probably losing 2 in the east and midwest.

3-batter pitcher rule. Earlier starts. And yes, baseball needs to drop the extra 30-60 seconds from commercials. NFL games have 4-5 minutes less of commercials this year and, surprise surprise, people are talking about higher ratings. Baseball will always have open-ended games, but there is no reason a 9-inning game with few runs (like last night) should take close to 4 hours. This is a fixable problem.

andyb 2018-10-19 16:58:18 UTC #37

They actually did complain.

EastFallowfield 2018-10-19 17:03:29 UTC #38

The thing about football games is that, until the playoffs, they do end at some point, even if tied at the end of regulation. Baseball, as we all mighta heard, has no clock, so you can't always see the end coming.

zambonir 2018-10-19 17:03:50 UTC #39

Well, people might complain, and ratings were down last year (for a lot of reasons) but the NFL has only added more and more night games.

Last night's game apparently highest LCS ratings since Phillies-Dodgers '09. But on Thursday viewership on the East Coast peaked around 10pm (and the game didn't end until 1.

Of course ratings have been up this year because of the teams involved, at least on the AL side.

EastFallowfield 2018-10-19 17:07:00 UTC #40

Thursday Night Football has been around for 12 years now, although it did start as a half season's worth then expanded to almost all the weeks now. Sunday night football has been around even longer, and even old me doesn't remember a time before Monday Night Football, so the NFL hasn't added nights lately.