Post by mikecubs on Jul 26, 2014 0:16:19 GMT -6
Buster Olney of ESPN today had a segment on his radio show and an article hid behind a paywall about how the Atlantic League is going to new rules in August including:
1. A pitch clock( a pitch must be delivered in 12 seconds when no one is on base)
2. Batters must stay in the box
3. Meetings on the mound will be limited to 3 a game for the current pitcher on the mound. Pitching changes will not be counted as timeouts, and in the case of extra innings, one additional timeout will be permitted at the start of the 10th inning and every three innings thereafter. Umpires will enforce a strict 45-second time limit on said timeouts. If the umpire's warning is disregarded by the defensive team and play continues to be delayed, the umpire shall declare a "ball" for the batter at the plate
4. Warm up tosses get limited to 6 from the current 8
5. When intentionally walking someone he is send to 1st base and you don't have to throw the 4 pitches outside the strike zone.
6. When a catcher reaches base a pinch runner is sent in for him so he can change back into his catchers gear(this rule is dumb)
Pat Gillick the guy who built the Philadelphia Phillies championship team a few years ago and the 92,93 champion Blue Jays is overseeing all this. The guys on ESPN radio made the following points:
-Kids have no patience these days. You can't rely on them becoming fans later in life. You have to get them at the grass roots level. While fans in the past become fans at later ages you can't keep relying on that. It may not be true the current generation of youngsters will become fans once they reach 70 years old.
-You have to listen to your future fans. Pat Gilicks grand kids told him they don't like baseball because of the slow pace of game.
-the people who are of the mindset that baseball is great because there is no time limit are shrinking within the game. The people who think this are part of a sinking boat.
-The pitch clock would give fans something to focus on. They could count in down to screw up slow pitchers kind of like fans count down the play clock in football.
-This needs to be started in the lower minor league level to get everyone used to it
-Both Olney, his guests Karl Ravich think eventually the pitch clock in inevitable.
I agree with all of this except the pinch runner for catcher. MLB's popularity may be at an all time high but look at what happened the last 20 years. We had steroid freaks who weren't human who could hit 60-70 home runs, the bottom guys in a lot of lineups had 20 home runs and almost every crappy circular stadium was replaced with a cool retro park. Steroid freaks are a thing of the past(though some guys are still cheating I bet just not as bad). Almost everyone has been to a retro park by now a bunch of times so at least some of the coolness could wear off. Baseball's popularity may be at an all time high attendance/revenue wise but can it last with VERY SLOOOOWWWWWWWWWW 3+ hour low scoring games??? Probably not.
espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=11263077(the segment is from the 16:30 minute mark to about 26:30)
1. A pitch clock( a pitch must be delivered in 12 seconds when no one is on base)
2. Batters must stay in the box
3. Meetings on the mound will be limited to 3 a game for the current pitcher on the mound. Pitching changes will not be counted as timeouts, and in the case of extra innings, one additional timeout will be permitted at the start of the 10th inning and every three innings thereafter. Umpires will enforce a strict 45-second time limit on said timeouts. If the umpire's warning is disregarded by the defensive team and play continues to be delayed, the umpire shall declare a "ball" for the batter at the plate
4. Warm up tosses get limited to 6 from the current 8
5. When intentionally walking someone he is send to 1st base and you don't have to throw the 4 pitches outside the strike zone.
6. When a catcher reaches base a pinch runner is sent in for him so he can change back into his catchers gear(this rule is dumb)
Pat Gillick the guy who built the Philadelphia Phillies championship team a few years ago and the 92,93 champion Blue Jays is overseeing all this. The guys on ESPN radio made the following points:
-Kids have no patience these days. You can't rely on them becoming fans later in life. You have to get them at the grass roots level. While fans in the past become fans at later ages you can't keep relying on that. It may not be true the current generation of youngsters will become fans once they reach 70 years old.
-You have to listen to your future fans. Pat Gilicks grand kids told him they don't like baseball because of the slow pace of game.
-the people who are of the mindset that baseball is great because there is no time limit are shrinking within the game. The people who think this are part of a sinking boat.
-The pitch clock would give fans something to focus on. They could count in down to screw up slow pitchers kind of like fans count down the play clock in football.
-This needs to be started in the lower minor league level to get everyone used to it
-Both Olney, his guests Karl Ravich think eventually the pitch clock in inevitable.
I agree with all of this except the pinch runner for catcher. MLB's popularity may be at an all time high but look at what happened the last 20 years. We had steroid freaks who weren't human who could hit 60-70 home runs, the bottom guys in a lot of lineups had 20 home runs and almost every crappy circular stadium was replaced with a cool retro park. Steroid freaks are a thing of the past(though some guys are still cheating I bet just not as bad). Almost everyone has been to a retro park by now a bunch of times so at least some of the coolness could wear off. Baseball's popularity may be at an all time high attendance/revenue wise but can it last with VERY SLOOOOWWWWWWWWWW 3+ hour low scoring games??? Probably not.
espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=11263077(the segment is from the 16:30 minute mark to about 26:30)