Quote:
Originally Posted by Eugene Church
If MLB made these changes, it would cut AT LEAST AN HOUR OFF THE TOTAL GAME TIME... POSSIBLY MORE.
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I think you have to find the right balance, and cutting off an hour more of the total game time might be a bit much. From a fan-watching-on-tv perspective, I want things relatively quick & snappy. However, when I go to a game, I'm always a bit dismayed by how fast a game goes by. Especially when attending a minor-league game (which I prefer over the major traffic & parking hassles, not to mention high prices, of MLB), I like relaxing in-between innings (or during pitching changes), talking with the wife or kids or friends, soaking in the atmosphere, with a cold one in my paw.
Also, if you only slightly reduce the length of the commercial break between-innings, but drastically reduce the rest, you've drastically increased the ratio of commercials-to-gametime... Not sure that would be a desired outcome.
That all said, I have zero problem with ideas 1 & 2. More than anything, though, I'm hoping that over time we'll see a reversion to the pitching staff management philosophies of the 70's & 80's where aces & other good SP's weren't necessarily overworked, but were expected to routinely get into the late innings... IMO, Bullpen-centric baseball stinks (and not just because it cost the Dodgers the WS.)