Sprint Baseball?

[thatsportspage]

Lately I've been thinking about the state of the game of baseball and that it doesn't look very good for even the near future. The popularity of the game has sunk due to all the steroid controversy...but also because games are lasting longer and a lot of potential fans are turned off because the pace of the game is too slow.

I did some research and noticed that around the start of the first World Series, games lasted just under 2 hours. Gradually, average game time crept up to 2:30 through the 1970s and then jumped up to about 3 hours in the 1980s. We're now averaging about 3:30 today.

After watching a few old games from the 60s and 50s on mlb.com, I noticed that pitchers worked a lot quicker and batters stayed in the box to keep the game moving. I started to think about what if baseball implemented a time clock to get pitchers to return back to focusing on keeping the game moving. Well, to my surprise, there is actually a rule in the rule book that states that pitchers have 12 seconds to pitch the ball or a ball will be called on the batter. And if runners are on base, a balk will be called. Why do you think umpires refuse to enforce this rule?

Now to the main point of my post. I was thinking of possibly starting a league of "sprint baseball" that would be akin to an Arena Football League of MLB. I haven't finalized any of the rules, but tentatively, I would like to field only 7 players (the battery, 3 infielders and 2 outfielders) and hitters would basically start out with a 1-1 count (3 balls is a walk, 2 strikes is a K).

Now before you get all up in arms by saying that this breaks baseball tradition, it is actually more to the contrary. This is actually a return to the way baseball used to be played. The larger stadiums in the early 20th century basically simulated a 2-man outfield in terms of ground covered by each player. And the 3-man infield is the way the game used to be played where 3 players played near the bases and the shortstop (hence the name) played in the short infield.

With the decrease in the number of fielders, offense will no doubt pick up, but the shorter count (3 balls for a walk, 2 strikes for a K) will keep the game moving. Also, I would have umpires adhere to the other traditional rules in the rule book, such as the 12 second time limit for pitchers and require batters to stay in the box, with a few exceptions (getting out of the way of a pitch, drag bunt attempt, etc.).

Again, this all sounds like a "newer" form of baseball that is trying to destroy the integrity and tradition of the game but it's completely the opposite. The game used to be played similarly to what I just outlined above. This is the way baseball was played when the game was actually the national past time. Slowly, because of free agency, increased offense, players' arrogance, etc., we have gotten away from the way the game used to be played. Just take a look at any older baseball game and you'll see that the game was actually more interesting than it is now.

Please let me know what you think of a possible "sprint baseball" league. Even if you have anything to add or detract from the idea, please share.

Thanks a ton,
ThatSportsPage.com

[Future:Greatest2BofAll-Time]

Thats just stupid. Then your just throwing away what people did back in the 1900s. Plus you say its getting unpopular thats just false.Plus if you do do that then Baseball would become Hockey just a sport that isnt that Popular. Thats just dumb.

[thatsportspage]

Thats just stupid. Then your just throwing away what people did back in the 1900s.

How would anything be "thrown away" by creating a separate league?

Plus you say its getting unpopular thats just false.

People are watching the World Series less and less each year and I'm pretty sure this past WS was the lowest rated ever. Baseball used to be America's game, now it's football. If baseball wants to return to being America's game, I think it needs to adjust.

Plus if you do do that then Baseball would become Hockey just a sport that isnt that Popular. Thats just dumb.

I don't really understand what you're saying here. How would baseball become hockey?

[Mattingly]

If someone wishes to speed the game, all they need to do is reduce the standard 4-pitch walk to the pitcher giving the batter a wave of his hand and the batter takes his base. This would also eliminate wild pitches during IBBs as well. If the manager has an opportunity to overrule this, per possibly misread signs, I'd accept that.

I happen to like batters who are patient. If someone hits into a DP with corner runners and one out, game on the line, I'd be very angry. I'm not looking at the time clock as much, as I want a good game. If people can't handle a chess game, then maybe the NBA, NFL could be more to their liking.

If anything, there's a reason why hoops and the gridiron have their college games regularly played on TV, played in major arenas like NYC's Madison Square Garden (home of the NY Knicks) for the NCAA.

I'm just happy that a game like this can still be popular. If it can survive the steroid controversy, I think we're better off. However, I think it would be unwise to speed up the game just for the sake of it. A little bit of an enhanced attention span wouldn't hurt anybody, last I've heard. :)
People are watching the World Series less and less each year and I'm pretty sure this past WS was the lowest rated ever. Baseball used to be America's game, now it's football. If baseball wants to return to being America's game, I think it needs to adjust.
No Yanks, no Red Sox, no Mets, no LA Dodgers usually mean lower ratings. Please also note that the WS can be between 4-7 games, so the total ratings depends on how much coverage was given to it.

Is it our fault that we don't have A-List entertainers performing after 4-1/2 innings, whereas the NFL has a super-hyped Halftime Show? Hey, if they wish to send us their ads, which can be sold for a gazillion bucks for every 7.5 or 15 seconds, I think that Bud Light should seriously consider this. :p

All we need is a cross-country WS that goes tooth & nail for 7 days and we'll get those John Madden football fans to stop with their Xs and Os and grabbing a scoresheet anytime. If not, at least we can get 'em to enjoy a hot dog, cracker jack and catch a foul ball or two. :D

[Captain Cold Nose]

Like the others, I don't think baseball is losing much popularity, world series ratings can be attributed to a number of factors, and a few greater than the country's lack of enchantment with the support. General atendance figures are pretty good. Teams draw money, tv throws billions of dollars at them. Football pools and betting lines contribute to football's popularity. I don't see how reducing the amount of players will do anything to enhance the game outside of reducing the amount of players, a number set so long ago by Alexander Cartwright. Like 160 years ago.

Incidentally, the game used to be played with more, not fewer, balls and strikes.

[thatsportspage]

Like the others, I don't think baseball is losing much popularity, world series ratings can be attributed to a number of factors, and a few greater than the country's lack of enchantment with the support. General atendance figures are pretty good. Teams draw money, tv throws billions of dollars at them. Football pools and betting lines contribute to football's popularity. I don't see how reducing the amount of players will do anything to enhance the game outside of reducing the amount of players, a number set so long ago by Alexander Cartwright. Like 160 years ago.

Incidentally, the game used to be played with more, not fewer, balls and strikes.

Baseball popularity aside, do you think an Arena Football-type baseball league would be popular with the casual baseball fan? The people here are obvioulsy baseball purists and would watch baseball if it were 20 hours long, but I wouldn't be targeting you all with the league. How do you think it would be accepted by casual baseball and sports fans in general? Not just as spectators, but as players as well?

[VTSoxFan]

While there are times when I will be watching a game and say, "good grief, this is a dull game!" by no means at all do I mean that Baseball is boring. There are dull spots in games, to be sure, such as when a manager plays lefty-righty out of the bullpen and has 4 pitching changes in one inning -- that's not a whole lot of fun to watch. But overall I love baseball as it is played. I count the winter days until baseball returns; I can't imagine wishing that there were less of it to watch.

Like Mattingly, I like patient hitters. I like the head game between the pitcher and batter, the cat-and-mouse between pitcher and runner (especially a good base-stealer). I like those 13-pitch at-bats where the pitcher expends his entire arsenal and the batter fouls off one after another, with the tension rising with every pitch. I love extra innings.

I know that people have a lot of things on their plates these days, a lot of things clamoring for attention, and many people don't seem to have the patience for the subtleties in baseball that can't be rushed. Perhaps there is room for this "sprint" baseball in these people's lives.

As for me, give me the soft cadence of a Saturday afternoon game, the slowing of time and diminution of haste that comes with summer, and I'll watch the shadows slide across the grass as the game goes along at its own sweet pace.

[Biggtone23]

we dont need arena baseball. The purpose of Arena football was to bring football in the offseason to smaller markets. Our small markets are already taken care of through the minor leagues.

If you think that casual fans dont like the current major league or minor league product why would they like this, wow after the different ranks of minors and college, 9th or 10th rate league?

I think the current style of the game, the longer games, is simply the product of progession. At first you had players get paid barely anything and knowing barely anything about their opponents. Now with so much money wrapped up in every single at bat, which you can see especially now in the arbatriation (sp) season, players will obviously spend more time in preparing and playing the game. It is like anything else you play poker with your friends, the game is over in an hour or 2, you watch 5 of the top poker players in the world play and that same game will now take 5 or 6 hours.

[thatsportspage]

we dont need arena baseball. The purpose of Arena football was to bring football in the offseason to smaller markets. Our small markets are already taken care of through the minor leagues.

If you think that casual fans dont like the current major league or minor league product why would they like this, wow after the different ranks of minors and college, 9th or 10th rate league?

I think the current style of the game, the longer games, is simply the product of progession. At first you had players get paid barely anything and knowing barely anything about their opponents. Now with so much money wrapped up in every single at bat, which you can see especially now in the arbatriation (sp) season, players will obviously spend more time in preparing and playing the game. It is like anything else you play poker with your friends, the game is over in an hour or 2, you watch 5 of the top poker players in the world play and that same game will now take 5 or 6 hours.

There is more money involved in the NFL, and they have a play clock set for each play. The importance of the game has nothing to do with how much time you should take in between each play. A QB has just as much on the line as a pitcher with each throw, but QBs actually seemed rushed and under more pressure than pitchers on the mound. Why is that?

[digglahhh]

Football pools and betting lines contribute to football's popularity.

Hell yeah!

You want baseball to become football?

Well step one would be pandering to, and encouraging betting (both legal and illegal) on the games. What else is the nationally publicized injury report for?

They could also bring in completely incompetent people to officiate the games and then implement a review system that is basically designed to create water cooler talk more than it is to get calls correct. The league's policy of bringing the review up to the booth at the end of halves is, essentially, a recognition of the referees' inability to do their job.

MLB could sell more and more of its rights to ESPN and, with its increasing status as a money-printing-machine, the media at large (mainly ESPN) would be content to sweep PED scandals and off-the-field criminality under the rug.

We could have Justin Timberlake perform at the seventh inning stretch of the WS to increase viewership.

The point is that most of what makes football more marketable and profitable than baseball are elements of the game and coverage that takes away from the game itself or diminishes the quality and purity of the game. A path that baseball need not emulate...

[BoofBonser26]

I thought the average baseball game was well under 3:30, as they've been trying to speed it up the past three or four years.

[Biggtone23]

While i dont have actually stats to back it up I'd guess that NFL games take longer now than they did 30 or 40 years ago too. The play clock keeps running but the game clock is stopped for penalties, out of bounds, incomplete passes and some other things I cant remember. Add in the numerous TV time outs, the slow down for instant replay and the a lot of the time football is boring as hell to watch. There at the line, the snap, a two yard run up the middle, wait thirty seconds to walk around and do it again, then a third time, then punt then a tv timeout, then the other team does the same thing.

[Captain Cold Nose]

Baseball popularity aside, do you think an Arena Football-type baseball league would be popular with the casual baseball fan? The people here are obvioulsy baseball purists and would watch baseball if it were 20 hours long, but I wouldn't be targeting you all with the league. How do you think it would be accepted by casual baseball and sports fans in general? Not just as spectators, but as players as well?
Would a gimmick league make it? I'm not sure. Baseball's minor league system is quite vast, so that's competition right there. Minor league ball is pretty popular.
The one thing the idea got me thinking about was a few years back there was a Seniors league, full of retired players. Curt Flood was the initial commissioner. That may not be a bad idea in such a league.

[minivin5]

we dont need arena baseball. The purpose of Arena football was to bring football in the offseason to smaller markets. Our small markets are already taken care of through the minor leagues.

If you think that casual fans dont like the current major league or minor league product why would they like this, wow after the different ranks of minors and college, 9th or 10th rate league?

I think the current style of the game, the longer games, is simply the product of progession. At first you had players get paid barely anything and knowing barely anything about their opponents. Now with so much money wrapped up in every single at bat, which you can see especially now in the arbatriation (sp) season, players will obviously spend more time in preparing and playing the game. It is like anything else you play poker with your friends, the game is over in an hour or 2, you watch 5 of the top poker players in the world play and that same game will now take 5 or 6 hours.


I agree that baseball has the minors as the small market, but i would like to see fox or someone cover and carry the fall and winter baseball games, i havent seen my cable carrier give me that option. i would buy that and watch that before football, just think you could watch your favorite prospect develope in front of your eyes instead of waiting months to read someones blog on it. shortening the game would be pointless for the fan. who goes to any sporting event and says i wish this would end???

[thatsportspage]

shortening the game would be pointless for the fan. who goes to any sporting event and says i wish this would end???

Fans that would like baseball if allof the useless down time were cut out, that's who. Baseball will suffer soon because of this attitude of "we like it and that's all that matters". Well when you're gone, who's gonna like it?

[Williamsburg2599]

Ever try to play a game of Baseball with a time limit? Dont. It just ruins the game and makes it more dangerous(What if the batters not ready or the catchers in the way, etc.,) Attendence is fine, ratings are decent, let's not go crazy with changes unless things get really bad. Five minutes left in a football game when the score is 38-3, not THATS boring.

[thatsportspage]

Five minutes left in a football game when the score is 38-3, not THATS boring.

So is a 15-2 baseball game in the 8th.

I think people underestimate how little kids are really playing baseball now and how much basketball and football kids are playing, not to mention soccer....and video games.

[Williamsburg2599]

So is a 15-2 baseball game in the 8th.

I think people underestimate how little kids are really playing baseball now and how much basketball and football kids are playing, not to mention soccer....and video games.
Really, more kids are playing football than baseball? Do you have the numbers to support that?

I rather watch a sport where players will actully score at the end of the game rather than waiting for the clock to run down.

[digglahhh]

Fans that would like baseball if allof the useless down time were cut out, that's who. Baseball will suffer soon because of this attitude of "we like it and that's all that matters". Well when you're gone, who's gonna like it?

Ain't no "useless downtime" when you're drinking and away from the wife.:laugh :laugh

[thatsportspage]

Really, more kids are playing football than baseball? Do you have the numbers to support that?

I rather watch a sport where players will actully score at the end of the game rather than waiting for the clock to run down.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/07/03/rise.kids.sports/index.html

Curiously, the one sport that has seen a decline is Little League Baseball, America's pastime. There has been a 1 percent decrease in enrollment every year since its peak in 1996. The organization attributed the decline to the myriad other options available to kids. That said, there are still more than 2.2 million kids lining up at home plate each year.

[Sean Casey]

"Lately I've been thinking about the state of the game of baseball and that it doesn't look very good for even the near future. The popularity of the game has sunk due to all the steroid controversy...but also because games are lasting longer and a lot of potential fans are turned off because the pace of the game is too slow."

While football may have replaced baseball as the country's #1 sport, I would have to say I disagree with the notion that it is losing popularity. On the contrary, compared to baseball's so-called golden years in the 1950's, attendance across the board has risen dramatically, to the point where even the worst teams still manage to draw a good-sized crowd at every game.

For example, the Yankees of the 1950's averaged just under 20,000 per game, which is less than half the seating capacity of Yankee stadium. And remember this is for a team that not only was expected to win the World Series every year, but was located in the largest city in the country. By comparison, over the past few years, the Royals, despite their dismal record and lack of anyone (except Sweeney) even resembling a star player, they have still managed to draw around 20,000 to each home game.

Then of course there was the Orioles of the late 60's and early 70's, another great dynasty that, despite winning three consecutive pennants and having three HoFers on the team during those years (the two Robinsons and Palmer) they still saw an average attendance of just 11-13,000 per game. Today, even Tampa Bay has higher attendance figures than that, and in their last few seasons in Montreal, the Expos had only slightly fewer fans per game.

So even though the average time per game may have increased, (and I would argue that it's more like 3 hours per game, not 3:30) the fans who attend the ballgames don't seem to mind it. After all, that's about the same length of a typical NFL game, and I know people who love baseball but think that football is boring. I guess it's all up to who you talk to, but for now I would say that baseball is in no danger of losing a substantial part of its fan base.

[Williamsburg2599]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/07/03/rise.kids.sports/index.html
There still drawing 2.2 million, and 95% of kids seem to drop soccer before the end of middle school anyways. The bottom line is baseball can't have a time limit. It just doesn't work. The reason Arena Football has worked decently is because it's diffrent, new and exciting. Putting a time limit on baseball won't make it any of that.

[thatsportspage]

There still drawing 2.2 million, and 95% of kids seem to drop soccer before the end of middle school anyways. The bottom line is baseball can't have a time limit. It just doesn't work. The reason Arena Football has worked decently is because it's diffrent, new and exciting. Putting a time limit on baseball won't make it any of that.

You may have missed my entire post then. I proposed a couple other rule changes to make the game more exciting, not just a time limit.

Lowering the players on the field to 7 would not only increase the offense, but it would increase the type of offense we want. There would be more inside the park home runs, which coule be considered one of the most exciting plays in the game. More doubles and triples as well. But to combat the added time it would take to play the game, I proposed lowering the count to 3 balls for a walk and 2 strikes for a K. This game would cut down on the "down time" in baseball and appeal to the casual baseball fan a lot more, IMO.

And these changes would actually be closer to the way baseball used to be played in the late 19th century, so it wouldn't be some completely new and outrageous form of baseball like the XFL was with the NFL.

Again, this is not for the baseball purist and I'm geting that I probably shouldn't have asked this question here, and rather in a football or basketball forum, because you all love the sport just as I do. But I'm not trying to reach people like us.

This type of game would at least be closer to what the casual baseball fan would want to see. It's not perfect, but I think there are plenty of people that would want to like baseball, but a few changes would need to be made for their interest to be in it.

[StanTheMan]

"Big" outfields did not make the game "play" like there were only two outfielders back in the day. There were other reasons. Read The Glory of Their Times... THE difinitive book on baseball in the early part of the 20th Century.

Gloves that were the equivalent of oven mitts, with absolutely no padding (and only half fingers for a while), and the fact that the softer, darker, tobacco stained balls were used for inning after inning after inning made hitting a long ball VERY difficult. (There were ZERO 30 Home Run seasons until the LATE teens iirc.)

Batters knew this, and contact, line drives, and placement ruled the day. Outfielders knew this, and running catches, or even one handed catches, almost never happened.... much less a diving one, or a catch robbing a HR or gapper.

So the outfielders played SAFE. A ball by you was often an inside the park HR. Better to get it safely on one hop, than to risk doing anything else. I would imagine a high percentage (or at least a much higher percentage that today) of putouts made by OF'ers were cans of corn.

Guys hit the ball WAY too hard, way too often nowadays. Two outfielders would be absolutley nuts.

Just make a rule that the batter needs to stay in the box, unless knocked down, etc. Perhpas he should keep one foot in the box at all times, unless he is getting a sign from the third base coach, then get right back in there!

Umpires would allow a pitcher to pitch the ball, if a batter is in the box for more than, say, 7 or 8 seconds and is still fidgeting around, playing with his batting gloves, etc. He could indicate to the pitcher with a point, verbally, something easy. The batter would either be ready, or suffer for it.

If you force Nomar to stop doing what he does after each pitch by keeping him in the box and allowing the pitcher to pitch the ball after a reasonable time frame... eventually he will get it. It's not really fair to him, I understand, but it would speed up the game. He would adjust!

Start in the minor leagues with this rule, and institute in the Major Leagues eventually.

Problem solved.

[thatsportspage]

Just make a rule that the batter needs to stay in the box, unless knocked down, etc. Perhpas he should keep one foot in the box at all times, unless he is getting a sign from the third base coach, then get right back in there!

Umpires would allow a pitcher to pitch the ball, if a batter is in the box for more than, say, 7 or 8 seconds and is still fidgeting around, playing with his batting gloves, etc. He could indicate to the pitcher with a point, verbally, something easy. The batter would either be ready, or suffer for it.

If you force Nomar to stop doing what he does after each pitch by keeping him in the box and allowing the pitcher to pitch the ball after a reasonable time frame... eventually he will get it. It's not really fair to him, I understand, but it would speed up the game. He would adjust!

Start in the minor leagues with this rule, and institute in the Major Leagues eventually.

Problem solved.

Rules similar to these are actually in the rule book but umpires don't enforce them for whatever reason. Pitchers are required to pitch within 12 seconds of receiving the ball and players are not allowed to leave the box unless they swing, are knocked down, try a to bunt, etc.

Why these rules are not followed is beyond me. As much as I love baseball, I would like to see the useless time cut down. Like I said, I watche d acouple games from the 50s and 60s and noticed that pitchers threw a pitch and backed up a couple steps, toed the rubber and went right back at it. Batters also stayed right in the box for the most part. Why we all of the sudden feel like walking around the mound and taking practice swings in the middle of an at bat is acceptable, I have no idea. I don't care what anyone says, the game can do without it and become better for it.

Maybe a sprint league wouldn't quite work, but baseball could benefit from umpires enforcing the already established rules in the rulebook to keep the game moving.

[Future:Greatest2BofAll-Time]

How would anything be "thrown away" by creating a separate league?




People are watching the World Series less and less each year and I'm pretty sure this past WS was the lowest rated ever. Baseball used to be America's game, now it's football. If baseball wants to return to being America's game, I think it needs to adjust.



I don't really understand what you're saying here. How would baseball become hockey

Yeah Football is obviously the #1 Sports in America but did you look at this years Attendance. Its getting Popular again. And It would be like Hockey because a lot of people wouldnt watch it because its dumb. Its not Traditional. IDK why I'm posting to this dumb idea. Im going to a different topic. One thats about Baseball.

[Cubsfan97]

How could anyone even possibly consider putting a time limit on baseball? Thats the one thing that makes baseball unique, it has no time limit. When you go to a game you dont know if your gonna be there for 2 hours or 10 hours. I went to a game that started at 1 o'clock, got in the field at around 11:45 and left the park at 10:30 and loved every moment of it. I bragged of bgeing in Wrigley for that long. And the no time limit builds up the suspense for an AB or inning. I am by no means bored of the way baseball is played.

[Cubsfan97]

And in an add on- how many teams have been reporting record bighs in attendance? Wrigley hold around 40,000 fans and we drew 3 million easily in 2004 and 3005 and I think we set a club record in 2006, despite being 66-96.

[StanTheMan]

Rules similar to these are actually in the rule book but umpires don't enforce them for whatever reason. .


Yes... I guess I should have said "enforce" the rules, or rewrite them etc. But he11, they haven't enforced the correct rule for the strike zone in forever, and the two leagues actually have different rules, so I suppose we are dreaming on this one..... :mad:

[DTF955]

Now with so much money wrapped up in every single at bat, which you can see especially now in the arbatriation (sp) season, players will obviously spend more time in preparing and playing the game. It is like anything else you play poker with your friends, the game is over in an hour or 2, you watch 5 of the top poker players in the world play and that same game will now take 5 or 6 hours.

:noidea And people are *watching* that? I knew the World Series of poker was on ESPN and popular, but are lots of people really watching it? If so, all those shortened attention span arguments for why people dont' watch baseball just went out the window. It seems, if lots of people do watch, that they'll easily watch anyone sit and meditate when there's enough money on the line. Maybe the length of time isn't as much of a problem.

Actually, your point on the progression of thing shows another thing - all those pitching changes. Along with enforcing current rules on staying in the box, throwing pitches after the pitcher has the ball, etc., there needs to be a plan, starting in the minors, to use pitchers for more time, and not specialize so much.

That would be hard to do with the amount of money riding on some of the players, it's true, but honestly, is a pitcher's arm going to take any more pounding going 20-30 extra innings a year, 1-2 each night, than a foodball player takes pushing through the line, trying to gain those few extra yards? No; I've heard from several sources there is so much gouging and sscratching going on in those piles you wouldn't believe it.

Carl Hubbell threw so many screwballs, I read in Sports Illustrated when he was in his 80s, that his arm was twisted. But, he didn't mind, because he'd worked hard to get wins for his team, and that was the price. Just like those linemen and running backs and quarterbacks who get plastered right after they throw or before quite a bit.

I think pitchers need to baby their arms a little less. I'm not saying go back to the day when guys threw 35 complete games and quite often started on even 2 days' rest. Just the pitcher usage of the 1950s would be great, and I'd even take the late '70s-early '80s..

[plask_stirlac]

Regular season games aren't too long.

The playoff games do take forever, I've timed it between pitches and it was like 1 min, 1 min, 1 min. That's too long, the ump needs to cut that in half or further even if each pitch is huge. Plus there are a lot of commercial breaks, but those will probably stay.

[JamesWest]

Baseball can be boring to watch on TV, because of batters stepping out after virtually every pitch (the batter waiting for his theme music to climax can be annoying also). This isn't really a problem at the ballpark, because there are other things you can look at on the field. Obviously it's not a problem with radio.

The biggest problem at the ballpark is the pitching changes. It can be frustrating to watch a game that moves well through six innings and then moves at a snails pace for the last third of the game.

[bluezebra]

If someone wishes to speed the game, all they need to do is reduce the standard 4-pitch walk to the pitcher giving the batter a wave of his hand and the batter takes his base. This would also eliminate wild pitches during IBBs as well.

This is ridiculous. I've seen pitchers come in too close on intentional walks, and the batter hitting the ball for extra bases. Also, if a pitcher can't lob a ball to the catcher without making a wild pitch, he should be selling peanuts in the stands.


As for the 12-second rule for pitchers, where did you read this? It certainly isn't in OBR.

RULE 8 PITCHERS 8.04 When the bases are unoccupied, the pitcher shall deliver the ball to the batter within 20 seconds after he receives the ball. Each time the pitcher delays the game by violating this rule, the umpire shall call "Ball." The intent of this rule is to avoid unnecessary delays. The umpire shall insist that the catcher return the ball promptly to the pitcher, and that the pitcher take his position on the rubber promptly. Obvious delay by the pitcher should instantly be penalized by the umpire.

One HUGE reason for longer games is TELEVISION. Check the times involved between the final out to the first pitch in the next half inning. Got to get those commercials in. Or would you rather do away with FREE games on TV, and have shorter games?

Bob