Baseball Is Dying

[AndrewJerome]

Maniac_73 do you have similar charts for NBA, NFL, NHL?

Not sure what the answer is for shortening games. But I’m also not sure why a 3 hour game is terrible and too long but something like 2 1/2 hours is perfect and would fix everything. Is the extra half hour really a deal breaker? Personally, when I pay to go to a game I prefer it to be 3 hours. Gives me more time to relax etc. I guess I’m getting old

[obcbobd]

Originally Posted by AndrewJerome

Maniac_73 do you have similar charts for NBA, NFL, NHL?

Not sure what the answer is for shortening games. But I’m also not sure why a 3 hour game is terrible and too long but something like 2 1/2 hours is perfect and would fix everything. Is the extra half hour really a deal breaker? Personally, when I pay to go to a game I prefer it to be 3 hours. Gives me more time to relax etc. I guess I’m getting old

The problem is the extra 30-60 minutes is commercials, often the same car/bank/insurance/beer commercial I saw two innings ago, a batter stepping out of the box and adjusting his batting gloves or a pitcher taking a stroll around the mound. If the extra time were more baseball action it would be ok.

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by obcbobd

The problem is the extra 30-60 minutes is commercials, often the same car/bank/insurance/beer commercial I saw two innings ago, a batter stepping out of the box and adjusting his batting gloves or a pitcher taking a stroll around the mound. If the extra time were more baseball action it would be ok.

There are many of us who enjoy the little rituals at the plate and/or mound. Those rituals are far from new; players have been doing this for decades.

The deluge of commercials is generally unwanted by the fans, though. Most of us couldn't care less about the drek being served up by Madison Avenue...

[Hankphenom]

It's not the time, but the pacing. There is a natural rhythm to every sport. Baseball is meant to have its dramatic pauses between pitches, but not to distraction. My mother, who loved watching Nats games when the team came back and she wasn't so active anymore, would yell at the the TV. "Throw the ball!" she would holler when the pitcher paraded around the mound after a pitch, then stood there rubbing up the new ball, finally staring in endlessly for the signal, then relaxing and calling the catcher out before starting the process all over again. At that point, Mom knew all too well how short life is. Now I find myself doing the same thing.

[boysblue]

(Was) watching the Yankees - Blue Jays game tonight. The camera person and the announcers spent alot of time in the last inning viewing and discussing some digital contraption that the Yankee's catcher has strapped to his shin pad. Prior to each pitch he stares into the dugout to get the pitch from his manager, then he punches something into this little digital device (which I assume is relayed to his pitcher), then he squats and awaits the pitch. Very slow, and IMO unnecessary. I turned the game off.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by boysblue

(Was) watching the Yankees - Blue Jays game tonight. The camera person and the announcers spent alot of time in the last inning viewing and discussing some digital contraption that the Yankee's catcher has strapped to his shin pad. Prior to each pitch he stares into the dugout to get the pitch from his manager, then he punches something into this little digital device (which I assume is relayed to his pitcher), then he squats and awaits the pitch. Very slow, and IMO unnecessary. I turned the game off.

That device actually speeds up the game.