How do you like the new “three batter” rule?

[BohKnowsBmore]

17 hours ago, Ripken said:

Hate it.  And it's the sort of play dictation that can lead to outlawing the shift and other stupid things.  

Starting a runner on second in extra innings...

[Number5]

How about keeping all the rules as they are and just go to a seven-inning game?

[BohKnowsBmore]

1 hour ago, DrungoHazewood said:

What is the average commercial break?  Three minutes?  Seventeen breaks between half-innings, plus six mid-inning pitching changes... so 23 x 3 = 69 minutes. If you make it 45 seconds then you shave about 52 minutes off an average game.  Let's do it!  I'd even trade that for shirt sponsors, like Chico's Bail Bonds.

Another option would be to eliminate lights.  You can't play after the sun goes down.  The addition of lights probably added 30-45 minutes to an average game, and took away almost all incentive to keep the pace up.

Hey! This city is Big Boyz territory!

[MurphDogg]

55 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

I've mentioned this before, but I don't understand why shortening the commercial breaks would cost anything.  Today's scenario is you sell advertisers three minutes of commercials for $X.  Next year you sell advertisers 1 minute of commercials for that same $X.  Less time, so the advertisers are competing for scarcer timeslots to get their product to your eyeballs.  Analogous to smaller stadiums but same or higher revenues/higher prices due to scarcity.

I guess one problem could be that MASN attracts some lower-end sponsors, and some of them just won't pay higher rates.  I'd love to know how much money MASN makes off advertising.  My not-very-informed guess is that it's far, far lower than they get from mandatory cable fees.

Yeah, I agree. I think commercials may have been an actual source of income for teams when games were on over the air, but at this point it is likely little more than a rounding error.

[MurphDogg]

13 minutes ago, Number5 said:

How about keeping all the rules as they are and just go to a seven-inning game?

Keep the rules as they are but change one of the most fundamental rules?

[Number5]

8 minutes ago, MurphDogg said:

Keep the rules as they are but change one of the most fundamental rules?

Yes.  If the issue is game length, a seven-inning game makes sense, and would actually achieve the goal for certain.  This would keep the actual game-play rules in place.  

[MurphDogg]

1 minute ago, Number5 said:

Yes.  If the issue is game length, a seven-inning game makes sense, and would actually achieve the goal for certain.  This would keep the actual game-play rules in place.  

I don't think the issue is game length. The issue is pace of play.

[Moose Milligan]

19 minutes ago, MurphDogg said:

I don't think the issue is game length. The issue is pace of play.

The issue is the amount of time it takes to play a standard 9 inning baseball game.  Pace of play is part of that, for sure.

Cutting it down to 7 innings would be, IMO, cutting their nose to spite their face.  And the Union might never go for it because it might mean the owners would want to pay the players LESS.  They certainly wouldn't be doing as much work.  On the other hand, they might love it because it'll mean slightly less wear and tear.

But I'm with you, it would be too much of a change.  

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

What is the average commercial break?  Three minutes?  Seventeen breaks between half-innings, plus six mid-inning pitching changes... so 23 x 3 = 69 minutes. If you make it 45 seconds then you shave about 52 minutes off an average game.  Let's do it!  I'd even trade that for shirt sponsors, like Chico's Bail Bonds.

Another option would be to eliminate lights.  You can't play after the sun goes down.  The addition of lights probably added 30-45 minutes to an average game, and took away almost all incentive to keep the pace up.

No, the average commercial break is much shorter than 3 minutes.  

[Frobby]

40 minutes ago, MurphDogg said:

I don't think the issue is game length. The issue is pace of play.

 

18 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

The issue is the amount of time it takes to play a standard 9 inning baseball game.  Pace of play is part of that, for sure.

It’s both things.  

[DrungoHazewood]

29 minutes ago, Number5 said:

How about keeping all the rules as they are and just go to a seven-inning game?

How long do you think it would take them to make a 7-inning game three hours?

Like MurphDogg said, it's as much pace as length.  With no constraints or incentives to keep the pace up I think seven innings would be doing the opposite. Now we've shaved 30 minutes off so we have 30 more minutes to play around with.  Change more pitchers, stretch out the replays, add commercial times, we're still a little shorter than we used to be, right?  Maybe we can have a tea break after the 5th...

[DrungoHazewood]

5 minutes ago, Frobby said:

No, the average commercial break is much shorter than 3 minutes.  

So what is it?

[Number5]

Just now, DrungoHazewood said:

How long do you think it would take them to make a 7-inning game three hours?

Like MurphDogg said, it's as much pace as length.  With no constraints or incentives to keep the pace up I think seven innings would be doing the opposite. Now we've shaved 30 minutes off so we have 30 more minutes to play around with.  Change more pitchers, stretch out the replays, add commercial times, we're still a little shorter than we used to be, right?  Maybe we can have a tea break after the 5th...

If you say so.  Maybe they could just go to t-ball.

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

So what is it?

2:05 regular season game, 2:25 national TV game, 2:55 playoff game.   

[DrungoHazewood]

1 minute ago, Number5 said:

If you say so.  Maybe they could just go to t-ball.

All T-ball games: 1. Whack the tee with the bat three times.  2. On 4th attempt ball dribbles out by the mound.  3. Entire defensive team collapses on ball.  4. After several minutes of a rugby scrum someone comes out of the pile with the ball.  5. That person throws the ball down the RF line, several minutes after the batter had already been standing on first, even though he started out running towards third.

Repeat like 27 times, then get a juice box.

Still better than six mid-inning pitching changes.