Major league innovations

[notin]

1. 100%. Having pitchers hit is a waste of time. Pitching is a full time job and the guys just don't PRACTICE hitting at any level.

2. I don't love the clock - hurrying pitchers is a potential path to injury. Besides the reason games are slow are TV commercials, and MLB ain't getting rid of those. Now, I think the league should look more into "scorebug adverstising" or other means to eliminate the commercial breaks between pitching changes.

3. The extra inning thing is so silly. I do get the concern for wanting the regular season games to end in a shorter manner. But the only way to do really do that is have ties.

4. 100%

5. Baseball has the minor league calendar exactly backwards. It makes much more sense to have expanded rosters in April than in September. And yes, the team should have to freeze an active 26 man roster every game.

No more blackouts for sure.

I'd also go to 32 teams and 4 divisions and get rid of the vast majority of interleague games.

I am against any more league expansions. The big problem with league expansions is they are not done to generate more interest. They only happen when the owners need to generate some quick cash to settle a lawsuit with the players union. At least, that was why we had the last 3 league expansions. As for interleague games, I would probably like them more if we just kept the #$%#$% DH everywhere and played by one set of rules.

In fact, if anything, I would go back to having no divisions and just take the top 4 or 6 teams from each league for the playoffs. Letting in some mediocre team just because they sucked less than everyone else in their time zone never made sense to me, despite that every sport does it. But these geographic alignments are not really as necessary as they were back when teams occasionally traveled on trains and buses.

[sk7326]

I am against any more league expansions. The big problem with league expansions is they are not done to generate more interest. They only happen when the owners need to generate some quick cash to settle a lawsuit with the players union. At least, that was why we had the last 3 league expansions. As for interleague games, I would probably like them more if we just kept the #$%#$% DH everywhere and played by one set of rules.

In fact, if anything, I would go back to having no divisions and just take the top 4 or 6 teams from each league for the playoffs. Letting in some mediocre team just because they sucked less than everyone else in their time zone never made sense to me, despite that every sport does it. But these geographic alignments are not really as necessary as they were back when teams occasionally traveled on trains and buses.

There are plenty enough baseball players to support it - and giving more fans baseball is good.

If I were baseball el jeffe, it'd be:

four 8-team divisions ... 12 games in division, 9 out of division, 6 interleague (one opponent home and home, the natural rivals can stay that way and the rest can rotate)
Two division winners get byes, the best four of the rest play a wild card round.

The geographic alignment still matters as long as fans consume television across 4 time zones.

[illinoisredsox]

It's a stupid suggestion.

If MLB wants to help their product and businees, I will (again? think so) make a much better set of recommendations.

1. Adopt the DH everywhere. No one likes watching pitchers hit. Except the other team. While some NL minor league affiliates let pitchers hit, the only two major leagues in the world that do are the Pacific Coast League in Japan and the National League. No one else.

2. Want quicker games? Stop mucking around with pick off throws and pitching changes. EXISTING RULE 8.04, already in the MLB rulebook, states "When the bases are unoccupied, the pitcher shall deliver the ball to the batter within 12 seconds after he receives the ball. Each time the pitcher delays the game by violating this rule, the umpire shall call “Ball." The rule is already in place, and when pitchers use it, it works very well. Ever seen Mark Buerhle pitch? You used to be able to go to the Cell on his day for a 7:10 start, watch him throw 7 IP and give up 6 hit and 3 ER, stick around for the end of the game, and still be home in time to watch the 10 o'clock news. Why? He worked quickly and obeyed the rules that no one wants to enforce. R.A. Dickey was the same way.

3. Stop making gimmicky extra innings rules.

4. A game is 9 innings. Not 7. If you're charging customers for 9 innings, give them 9 innings.

5. Dump the 3 batter minimum rule. Want fewer pitching changes? Crazy thought - stop letting teams use all 40 players for a full month. If your manager needs more than 26 players to win a game, the problem is not the size of the bullpen. And Bruce Bochy taught us all that if you let him have a 17 man bullpen, he is going to use a 17 man bullpen to its fullest extent. And this guy managed for a lot of years and taught God knws how many coache this strategy. And now it is our job to stop those coaches should any opf them ever become MLB managers.

6. Bring back Sunday double headers. Every MLB team used to play 2 games every Sunday, but it went away because ownership hating selling one ticket for 2 games. But it has three big advantages. 1) The extra game per week will have a long term effect on pitching changes, as managers will have to manage for subsequent games in mind. (See change 5.) 2) It would eliminate November baseball. Everyone loves October baseball, but no one loves November baseball. 3) It would help ESPN with their Sunday night broadcasts, as rather than having to guess before the season which August games will be meaningful and therefore be worth watching, ESPN would have a full slate to pick and choose from. And it would also prevent teams screwing over fans by bumping their Sunday afternoon game to Sunday night to accommodate ESPN.

7. Just drop the absolutely ridiculous blackout rules. They help no one and manage to screw over both fans and MLB at the same time. And for many teams, they also screw over the owners as well.


Moving the mound back? Just stop. MLB cannot even figure out what problem they are solving any more. If moving the mound back is supposed to generate more offense, won't that also run counter to shortening the length of games? does this league even have a direction any more?

Agree with almost all of these:

Comments:

#4 I can live with 7 inning doubleheader games so long as they are the traditional 2 for the price of 1 (fans are getting 14 innings of baseball if they stay for both). If clubs opt for separate admissions, both games should be 9 innings.

#5, I thought they changed the rule last year (or was it the year before) to mandate that the September roster would be 28 players (no more, no less). I would add to the rule and say you still have to designate 26 for a particular game.

Moving the mound back will increase offense and lengthen games. High School softball did this a decade or so ago; this area used to have state title contenders every year so it got a lot of local coverage; seemed like once you got to the state level, games would often be 1-0 in 18 innings. They moved the pitcher back 3 feet and the offenses took over.

[notin]

Agree with almost all of these:

Comments:

#4 I can live with 7 inning doubleheader games so long as they are the traditional 2 for the price of 1 (fans are getting 14 innings of baseball if they stay for both). If clubs opt for separate admissions, both games should be 9 innings.

#5, I thought they changed the rule last year (or was it the year before) to mandate that the September roster would be 28 players (no more, no less). I would add to the rule and say you still have to designate 26 for a particular game.

They did change the rule but I think get rid of roster expansion altogether. And I am not sure that rule was meant to be permanent or is still in effect Another part of the roster adjustments for 2020 was teams were allowed to carry 26 players but no more than 13 pitchers. The current Red Sox roster would be in violation of that rule, as the Sox have 14 pitchers.

Most (all?) teams are still charging for each game in a double header separately...

[illinoisredsox]

They did change the rule but I think get rid of roster expansion altogether. And I am not sure that rule was meant to be permanent or is still in effect Another part of the roster adjustments for 2020 was teams were allowed to carry 26 players but no more than 13 pitchers. The current Red Sox roster would be in violation of that rule, as the Sox have 14 pitchers.

Most (all?) teams are still charging for each game in a double header separately...

I don’t think the Twins did yesterday; there was only 1/2 hour between games. But yeah, separate admissions have become the overwhelming norm; those should absolutely be 9 inning games.

[notin]

I don’t think the Twins did yesterday; there was only 1/2 hour between games. But yeah, separate admissions have become the overwhelming norm; those should absolutely be 9 inning games.

Considering one of those was a makeup game, I would think they charged for each one. Certainly at some point.

The main reason the double header died was the single ticket price. Shame because I loved it when my dad took me to those when I was a kid...

[Elktonnick]

During today's game they showed one of the plays of Jackie Robinson stealing home. What caught my eye was the third base bag. It was a bag, the kind we had when we played years ago. It is time for MLB to get rid of those hard bases and return to the bags that were used in the fifties. BTW does anyone recall when they changed the actual bases from the bags to what we see today.

[Maxbialystock]

It's a stupid suggestion.

If MLB wants to help their product and businees, I will (again? think so) make a much better set of recommendations.

1. Adopt the DH everywhere. No one likes watching pitchers hit. Except the other team. While some NL minor league affiliates let pitchers hit, the only two major leagues in the world that do are the Pacific Coast League in Japan and the National League. No one else.

2. Want quicker games? Stop mucking around with pick off throws and pitching changes. EXISTING RULE 8.04, already in the MLB rulebook, states "When the bases are unoccupied, the pitcher shall deliver the ball to the batter within 12 seconds after he receives the ball. Each time the pitcher delays the game by violating this rule, the umpire shall call “Ball." The rule is already in place, and when pitchers use it, it works very well. Ever seen Mark Buerhle pitch? You used to be able to go to the Cell on his day for a 7:10 start, watch him throw 7 IP and give up 6 hit and 3 ER, stick around for the end of the game, and still be home in time to watch the 10 o'clock news. Why? He worked quickly and obeyed the rules that no one wants to enforce. R.A. Dickey was the same way.

3. Stop making gimmicky extra innings rules.

4. A game is 9 innings. Not 7. If you're charging customers for 9 innings, give them 9 innings.

5. Dump the 3 batter minimum rule. Want fewer pitching changes? Crazy thought - stop letting teams use all 40 players for a full month. If your manager needs more than 26 players to win a game, the problem is not the size of the bullpen. And Bruce Bochy taught us all that if you let him have a 17 man bullpen, he is going to use a 17 man bullpen to its fullest extent. And this guy managed for a lot of years and taught God knws how many coache this strategy. And now it is our job to stop those coaches should any opf them ever become MLB managers.

6. Bring back Sunday double headers. Every MLB team used to play 2 games every Sunday, but it went away because ownership hating selling one ticket for 2 games. But it has three big advantages. 1) The extra game per week will have a long term effect on pitching changes, as managers will have to manage for subsequent games in mind. (See change 5.) 2) It would eliminate November baseball. Everyone loves October baseball, but no one loves November baseball. 3) It would help ESPN with their Sunday night broadcasts, as rather than having to guess before the season which August games will be meaningful and therefore be worth watching, ESPN would have a full slate to pick and choose from. And it would also prevent teams screwing over fans by bumping their Sunday afternoon game to Sunday night to accommodate ESPN.

7. Just drop the absolutely ridiculous blackout rules. They help no one and manage to screw over both fans and MLB at the same time. And for many teams, they also screw over the owners as well.


Moving the mound back? Just stop. MLB cannot even figure out what problem they are solving any more. If moving the mound back is supposed to generate more offense, won't that also run counter to shortening the length of games? does this league even have a direction any more?

The game is a product as much as it is a great American sport. Thus my thoughts on yours:

1. I'm a purist here, but have learned to accept the DH, which I suspect is good for the product.
2. Agree. Also disagree with the guy who blames commercials.
3. So far I like the guy on 2d to start each half inning in extra innings. Good for the product and avoids very long extra inning games which can wear out players and teams.
4. Ditto 7 inning games in back to back doubleheaders like yesterday's.
5. I like the 3 batter minimum rule, but can't disagree with your alternative.
6. Baloney on the double-headers. Use them only when needed for make up games. Plus who cares about ESPN? You want a 7 game week vs. the current 6 game week, and I think that would wear players out. We don't have November games because of the 6 game week, but because the postseason keeps getting longer.
7. Blackout rules are insane. As it turns out, I live within the home team zones of Atlanta, Washington, and Baltimore, all of which are more than 200 miles from where I live (Greensboro, NC). Plus I've been a Sox fan since 1949 and semi-avidly since 1953-54 (when we lived in W. Springfield,MA) and avidly since 2000 or so when I could get Sox games via satellite, then Fios, then online. I still do the latter because I get all the Sox games except those against Braves, Nationals, and Orioles.

[Bellhorn04]

The bottom line is, they're gonna do what they're gonna do, and we have no say in the matter.

The only thing I'm wondering is which ideas belong to our old friend Theo.

[notin]

The bottom line is, they're gonna do what they're gonna do, and we have no say in the matter.

The only thing I'm wondering is which ideas belong to our old friend Theo.

Maybe one of us needs to run an underground campaign for Commissioner. You know, start on Twitter and then move it to YouTube before taking on TikTok. Get some support from the public folks.

This approach would certainly work better if Commissioner was an elected position rather than a sinecure role decided by a bunch of self-appointed tax evading, caviar-slurping Newport residents with Italian sports cars. But it’s all we got..

[Bellhorn04]

Maybe one of us needs to run an underground campaign for Commissioner. You know, start on Twitter and then move it to YouTube before taking on TikTok. Get some support from the public folks.

This approach would certainly work better if Commissioner was an elected position rather than a sinecure role decided by a bunch of self-appointed tax evading, caviar-slurping Newport residents with Italian sports cars. But it’s all we got..

Such is life, man. Whether it's American presidents, Canadian prime ministers or baseball commissioners, the scum rises to the top.

[mvp 78]

Maybe one of us needs to run an underground campaign for Commissioner. You know, start on Twitter and then move it to YouTube before taking on TikTok. Get some support from the public folks.

This approach would certainly work better if Commissioner was an elected position rather than a sinecure role decided by a bunch of self-appointed tax evading, caviar-slurping Newport residents with Italian sports cars. But it’s all we got..

Angry Crowd: The new MLB Commissioner is a shitposter?
Commissioner 78: Hello everyone. I would just like to say that we are going to institute robot umps for the strike zone, start a 20 second pitch clock, end interleague play, add teams in Montreal and Puerto Rico, move Houston back to the NL and Milwaukee to the AL, teams will be allowed to trade draft picks, blackout rules will go away, the Angels will be forced to retire Air Bud's number and all hot dogs will be replaced with veggie dogs.
Angry Crowd: Get him! Kill! Kill! Kill!

[5GoldGloves:OF,75]

Angry Crowd: The new MLB Commissioner is a shitposter?
Commissioner 78: Hello everyone. I would just like to say that we are going to institute robot umps for the strike zone, start a 20 second pitch clock, end interleague play, add teams in Montreal and Puerto Rico, move Houston back to the NL and Milwaukee to the AL, teams will be allowed to trade draft picks, blackout rules will go away, the Angels will be forced to retire Air Bud's number and all hot dogs will be replaced with veggie dogs.
Angry Crowd: Get him! Kill! Kill! Kill!

You forgot: end "instant" 15-minute replays of safe slides into bases not home where runners maybe disconnect with the bags for a millimeter and a millisecond...

[notin]

Angry Crowd: The new MLB Commissioner is a shitposter?
Commissioner 78: Hello everyone. I would just like to say that we are going to institute robot umps for the strike zone, start a 20 second pitch clock, end interleague play, add teams in Montreal and Puerto Rico, move Houston back to the NL and Milwaukee to the AL, teams will be allowed to trade draft picks, blackout rules will go away, the Angels will be forced to retire Air Bud's number and all hot dogs will be replaced with veggie dogs.
Angry Crowd: Get him! Kill! Kill! Kill!

Can you blame them? He completely ignored the DH issue and instead gave them veggie dogs!!

The only thing worse than watching a pitcher bat is watching a pitcher bat while eating a veggie dog...

[moonslav59]

Angry Crowd: The new MLB Commissioner is a shitposter?
Commissioner 78: Hello everyone. I would just like to say that we are going to institute robot umps for the strike zone, start a 20 second pitch clock, end interleague play, add teams in Montreal and Puerto Rico, move Houston back to the NL and Milwaukee to the AL, teams will be allowed to trade draft picks, blackout rules will go away, the Angels will be forced to retire Air Bud's number and all hot dogs will be replaced with veggie dogs.
Angry Crowd: Get him! Kill! Kill! Kill!

Many of those ideas are great ones!