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Baseball starts in 5 days. I repeat; baseball starts in 5
days. I played baseball for 15 years, and have been a White Sox fan for my whole
life. No seriously, my dad agreed to raise me and my sisters Catholic as long
as we were raised White Sox fans. So, clearly, baseball holds a really special
place in my heart. But while I’m always excited for baseball season, there
seems to be an excessive amount of negativity towards baseball in general this year. As
the season sets to start Sunday night with a wonderful opening night matchup of the Texas Rangers, who are good,
against the newly American League Houston Astros, who are horrendous, I thought
long and hard about some things that the MLB could do to truly revive this game
we love as the American Pastime.
Issue #1: The Pace of a Baseball Game
Most people who don’t like baseball complain right off the
bat (wordplay!)- it’s boring! And to be completely fair and honest, while I disagree
completely, I can understand the argument. Even during my playing days, I loved
playing catcher because you were involved in every single pitch, as opposed to
left field, where you could go a whole game with only 2 plays coming your way.
For the casual fan who doesn’t understand pitch selections, hit and runs, and
other baseball strategy, spending 3 plus hours watching a baseball game may
seem like a waste of time. With the rise in popularity of hockey and its lightning
fast pace, hitting, and goal celebrations, fans find themselves less and less
interested in the deliberate pace of a baseball game.
The thing is, casual fans are never going to understand
pitch selections, or advanced metrics, or the pros and cons of trying to steal
second base. But what the MLB can do is institute some measures to make the
game more enjoyable, and move at a better pace for the casual fan. Then
hopefully we can stop RedSox Yankees games from lasting almost 4 hours.
1-
Institute
a pitch clock: This rule is simple. If a pitcher takes more than 20 seconds
from the time he gets the ball to throw a pitch, the batter is given a ball.
Get the ball and throw it. Further, if this results in pitchers pitch selection
suffering and more runs, fans will be doubly happy.
2-
Limit
visits to the mound: Coaches may only make one visit to the mound per
pitcher, per inning, but catchers have unlimited trips. You’ll notice that the
Red Sox and the Yankees are consistent offenders of the catcher/pitcher mound
visit, often doing several per inning. Come on guys. This isn’t rocket science.
Get it, throw it, and hash out any issues in the dugout in between innings. If
the league were to limit catcher/pitcher visits in a similar manner as coach
visits, this would certainly speed up the pace of the game.
3-
Reduce
warmup pitches: These guys are professional pitchers, infielders, and
outfielders. They shouldn’t need 8 warmup pitches before each inning. Throw 5
pitches, throw the ball around the diamond, and play ball.
4-
Stop adjusting
your cup: Baseball is famous for hitters and their quirky routines during
at-bats. Players step out of the batter’s box, adjust their gloves, adjust
their cups, adjust their elbow protectors, do their hair, cook up some
stir-fry, etc, etc, etc. Stop it. Take one foot out of the batter’s box, take
your sign, and swing the bat. While rule proposal #1 makes pitchers step their
game speed up, this rule, not allowing players to step out of the batter’s box
during an at-bat, puts the onus on the hitter to keep his end of the bargain
and keep the game moving.
5-
Call the
strikezone how it’s supposed to be called: This one is simple. The
strikezone in the MLB is tiny. Make it bigger. This will lead to more strikes,
more aggressive hitters, less walks, and a more exciting game. It’s not
complicated.
So would the MLB ever adopt any of these rules? I have no
idea to be honest. The reduction of time in between innings inevitably leads to
the reduction of advertising time, which leads to reduction of money, which everyone
in the MLB would hate. But they also probably hate the growing lack of interest
in baseball, so pick your poison MLB, and pick it well.
Issue #2: “The Human Element”
If you watch ESPN, you’ve heard this argument 7 million
times and you’re annoyed by it. Umpires are people, and people screw up. The
MLB has been reluctant to add instant replay, as they currently only use it on
home run calls to see if they really were fair or foul, or over the fence, etc.
As I mentioned, everyone is tired to death of this argument, with old school
baseball people arguing that the “human element” of umpires makes the sport
unique. No, you’re wrong. That just makes it shitty, like when Jim Joyce
famously called a runner safe who was clearly (on the replay) out, ruining Armando
Gallaraga’s perfect game. Buck Showalter, manager of the Baltimore Orioles,
said it best, “The human element is the players.” Preach Buck. Have someone
sitting in the “review booth” at each game, and on close calls, have that
person review the play, and if he was safe, call him safe, and if he was out,
call him out. Relay that message to the umps, move on. This doesn’t have to be
a 5 minute process. Little League tested this for goodness sake, and saw
excellent results. Embrace the robots, for they will eventually destroy us all.
Issue #3: The Explosion of Social Media, and Baseball
Games are Expensive
This issue isn’t specific to the MLB, but it is important
nonetheless. Baseball games are expensive. Tickets cost money, beers cost an
exorbitant amount of money ($8 for an Old Style? Come on Wrigley), food costs
more money, and souvenirs cost money. As I get older and have to manage my own
finances, I realize and respect how much money my parents probably spent taking
me to games, and I’m grateful for it. On the other hand, sitting on your couch
with your computer, a bud light you appropriately paid $1 for, your twitter
feed open, and the option to flip to Workaholics if your team is getting
crushed is very very cheap. People have smartphones now, and with those
smartphones come apps for twitter, Facebook, instagram, and fantasy baseball.
When you cram 40,000 people into a stadium, and you have, for example, AT&T
as your cellular provider, service sucks, and people can’t get on Facebook, or
their fantasy baseball league, or twitter. Ballparks have attempted to add Wi-Fi
to their stadiums, but at least at US Cellular field, that Wi-Fi is crap and
just as frustrating as lack of cellular data coverage. Step up your game MLB,
make these places more accessible to youths and their newfangled cell phone
machines!
Issue #4: Both Chicago teams have a pretty decent chance
to suck this year
Obviously, my excitement for WhiteSox baseball would be
higher if Gordon Beckham could hit over .230, Adam Dunn could hit over .180,
and John Danks’ shoulder wasn’t dead. But that is information for another post.
And why won’t Alejandro de Aza play Lady Gaga as his walkout song!? Again,
different post.
Conclusion: Baseball is the greatest game in the
world. That’s a fact, and I will argue it until the day I die. But nothing is
perfect, and as professional leagues across America strive to improve (NFL with
safety issues, NHL with actually having seasons, NBA with small market teams),
I hope the MLB really takes a deep look at some of its issues. Speeding up the
game, embracing instant replay, and making stadiums more technology friendly
would be a great step in the right direction to get this game back into the
hearts of America.
