You can’t fault Major League Baseball for trying.
Last Wednesday, the league and the players’ union agreed to change the procedure of an intentional walk, using a signal from the dugout instead of shot-putting four pitches into the opposite batter’s box.
This is all part of the effort to speed up the game of baseball and make it more appealing to all audiences, and you have to start somewhere.
Don’t expect for this one move to trim the average game time by 10 minutes or anything, but it’s one of those steps to simply get the ball rolling to other ideas.
The idea was floated in recent days about beginning extra innings with a scenario that looks like it came from a high school junior varsity softball game, where a runner would begin the inning at second base.
That was quickly laughed at.
There is honor in trying things to improve your product. Take NASCAR, for example. Declining ratings for years pushed them to make a big changes over the winter, even changing how races are run, in an effort to create more drama.
But something seems to be amiss with baseball’s attempt to speed up the game.
It seems to be staring them right in the face.
It would be one of the easiest changes to make, and one that would ignite almost no resistance, from a fan perspective at least.
When looking at ways to speed up the game, what about the time where the manager stops the game, stands on the top step of the dugout, and peers into the dugout like he’s waiting to see the “Hot” sign come on outside Krispy Kreme? Basically, teams get to review a play before deciding whether to review a play.
And, as baseball fans, how many times did you watch a game last year and see the replay and see an obvious call, only to have the umpires take off their headsets and make the opposite call?
That seems to happen a lot.
But in more happy news, spring training games have started.
So, what other rule changes do you guys think could positively impact the game? Outlandish ones are accepted and encouraged in this forum.