OT: Changes coming to baseball rules...

[Scarlet Shack]

Hasn't anyone ever seen bad news bears?

Make them pitch the intentional walk

Control the tempo of the game with a pitch clock and time between innings and stop the nonsense pitcher mound meetings where the entire team makes everyone wait for three monitors discussing where to get beers after the game to get the relied pitcher in the pen more time to warm up

 

[retired711]

Actually, for me the winner on the list of unneeded franchises is the Altanta Braves. Atlanta is a great sports town, but not for professional sports, and particularly not for a summer sport. It would have been much better if the Braves had stayed in Milwaukee; that would have made the Brewers unnecessary. And Charlie Finley's decision to move the KC A's to Oakland did nothing but outrage people in Seattle and Kansas City, and then they had to be given franchises. (You ask; why Seattle? Finley promised he'd move there.) Yes, Florida needed a franchise, but two? (Again, it is not a good locale for a summer sport.)

 

[RutgersMO]

Two big changes are coming to major league baseball. They are 1) raising the bottom part of the strike zone and 2) no longer requiring a pitcher to throw 4 pitches out of the strike zone to issue an intentional walk - they will simply indicate to the ump that they wish to intentionally walk a batter and then the ump tells the batter to take his base.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/1...-agrees-changes-strike-zone-intentional-walks

Batter can hit the pitch if too close to the zone. Ball can get past catcher ...allowing runners to advance.
Pitcher could BALK...also advancing runners.

If those who don't like baseball don't like it....don't watch. It beats the hell out of NFL....with their constant huddling / checking off (yeah that's a lot of action) + all the commercial time out$.

MO

 

[RUpop]

baseball....YAWN

 

[Purple-Ed]

Batter can hit the pitch if too close to the zone. Ball can get past catcher ...allowing runners to advance.
Pitcher could BALK...also advancing runners.

If those who don't like baseball don't like it....don't watch. It beats the hell out of NFL....with their constant huddling / checking off (yeah that's a lot of action) + all the commercial time out$.

MO

Also, the catcher can BALK.

 

[NickKnight 1]

You don't like baseball. You mention it every baseball thread. I don't think the solution is to change baseball to appeal to people who hate baseball. Enforce the rules that exist. Maybe lower the mound to reduce strikeouts.

 

[Source]

Actually, for me the winner on the list of unneeded franchises is the Altanta Braves. Atlanta is a great sports town, but not for professional sports, and particularly not for a summer sport. It would have been much better if the Braves had stayed in Milwaukee; that would have made the Brewers unnecessary. And Charlie Finley's decision to move the KC A's to Oakland did nothing but outrage people in Seattle and Kansas City, and then they had to be given franchises. (You ask; why Seattle? Finley promised he'd move there.) Yes, Florida needed a franchise, but two? (Again, it is not a good locale for a summer sport.)

Today's Milwaukee Brewers were the Seattle Pilots in their first year of existence. And the Milwaukee Brewers in 1901 moved to St. Louis and became the Browns who moved again and became today's Baltimore Orioles.

 

[scarlet4life]

What I want to know is, why does the relief pitcher need to throw more warmup pitches when they get to the mound? They've been warming up in the bullpen. 2 or 3 should be enough. There doesn't need to be another warmup, including a commercial break every time a new pitcher comes in. Only problem then us loss of ad revenue, which would make already ridiculous ticket prices higher.

 

[retired711]

Today's Milwaukee Brewers were the Seattle Pilots in their first year of existence. And the Milwaukee Brewers in 1901 moved to St. Louis and became the Browns who moved again and became today's Baltimore Orioles.

I didn't know that about the original Brewers. I do know the original Baltimore Orioles became the New York Yankees.

 

[cRURah]

Hasn't anyone ever seen bad news bears?

Make them pitch the intentional walk

Control the tempo of the game with a pitch clock and time between innings and stop the nonsense pitcher mound meetings where the entire team makes everyone wait for three monitors discussing where to get beers after the game to get the relied pitcher in the pen more time to warm up

I remember listening to a Yankee game on the radio when I was a kid. Mantle was up and they were trying to intentionally walk him. On the second or third pitch he stepped over the plate and blasted the pitch for a double I think. I don't like the rule change.

 

[Doctor Worm]

Can someone explain to me how reducing the size of the strike zone will speed up the game? If you want to speed up the game, get batters to swing the bat. You do that by calling more strikes, not fewer.

That said, I am fine with the rule book strike zone. I cannot understand why MLB tolerates the notion that each umpire gets to have his own personal strike zone. Or worse yet, how they get to have a different personal strike zone from day to day. We are told that all that we as paying customers have a right to expect, is that the ball/strike calls are consistent within a given game. Consistently right, or consistently wrong? Doesn't matter. Just consistent.

Is this level of officiating hubris tolerated in any other sport?

 

[miketd1]

Promotion/relegation.

Sick of these owners with perennial losers.

Make an effort to win, or get out of the way.

 

[tico brown]

Promotion/relegation.

Sick of these owners with perennial losers.

Make an effort to win, or get out of the way.

Would never happen but I would love to see this.

 

[Doctor Worm]

Promotion/relegation.

Sick of these owners with perennial losers.

Make an effort to win, or get out of the way.

How can you implement promotion/relegation under a system when the minor league teams are controlled by the major league teams? Whom do you promote? The AAA champions? That would mean some franchises would have two major league teams while others have none. Bad idea for many reasons, not the least of which is that it is totally unnecessary. There is more parity in baseball right now than ever. Who are these "perennial losers" to whom you refer?

 

[miketd1]

Worm: I know it'll never happen. But I'm arguing that getting rid of the talent gap between haves and have nots would do far more for the game than speeding it up.

Over a ten year span, I'd say Marlins, Indians, Pirates, Athletics. Just getting rid of TWO of those while implementing pro/reg would concentrate the talent at the top.

The problem isn't the game itself -- it's that we have to play so many damn games when we already pretty much know who the top 6 teams are before we even begin.

 

[RU Cheese]

I think relegation is a fantastic idea for the power conferences in college FB. That said, will never happen

 

[IMARUFAN]

Not throwing 4 balls for a walk should save at least 17.8 seconds per game.