181 Comments

JVL -- Sentimental traditionalists love the game of baseball to death. And seem bound and determined to take it there.

The game has become essentially unwatchable -- and has in fact been watched less and less for decades -- in part due to its paucity of action (especially for viewers not in the park). If we want baseball to again be more than mere background noise in bars producing occasional sports highlights, it needed/still needs to change.

The pitch clock (and the associated rules preventing a batter from stepping out to adjust his athletic supporter between every pitch is a fantastic change.

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My husband grew up in Brooklyn 4 blocks from Ebbets field and used to go to the games, climb up to see the game. He remembers the band and has autographs from many if not all the players. I, growing up in Texas, was a huge Dodgers fan. Nostalgia!

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Major seamhead here. I think MLB should add a few seconds to the batter and the pitch clock. Umps need to be a little more empowered to pause the clocks as common sense dictates when dealing with anomalous events that come up.

The disengagement rule is pretty silly though.

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"I guess you want to get done with the joy of baseball and back to the drudgery of life quicker?"

Nothing is more drudgerous (yeah, I just made that up) than watching batter after batter go through some type of tic-y routine after every pitch, before he'll deign to get into the batter's box, when he digs at the dirt a bit, then finally....maybe....he might get ready to receive a pitch.

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Great job, Hannah!

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This is a late comment because, ironically enough, I went to an MLB game last night….

I used to think that JVL’s (and JS’s) comments on the pitch clock (and other baseball rules changes) were mostly tongue-in-cheek, given the almost apocalyptic nature of the comments (“ruining the game”). But this has come up so often that I wonder if maybe they truly believe that the pitch clock is really as bad as they portray it.

The batch of baseball rules changes can be divided into two basic camps, those that affect the way the game is actually played (DH, limited pickoff throws, no shift, extra-inning rules, etc.) and those that don’t (limited mound visits and the pitch clock). [Note: I’m not sure where to put the “three batter minimum” rule because while it doesn’t affect the actual play, it does affect managerial strategy.] I’m not a big fan of the first group of rule changes. So if I had a vote, I’d can them.

But the pitch clock is, in my opinion, an unmitigated good. All it does is shorten the time between pitches. It doesn’t affect the play of the game in any way. So I have to ask: exactly why is it such a bad idea (I’m honestly asking because I cannot think of any reason to oppose it)?

I like to play golf, but I hate playing with slow people. Would anyone rather play with a group that basically just gets up there and hits the ball or a group who acts like their playing in the final round of The Masters? And even the PGA penalizes players for slow play.

And my response to the “because I guess you want to get done with the joy of baseball and back to the drudgery of life quicker” statement is that it’s not the right question. Consider this: MLB games are now about 30 minutes shorter than they were last year. Given that the other rules changes have likely added some offense (which adds to the game time), this means that they have eliminated at least 30 minutes of DEAD TIME. How much “joy” is there in 30 minutes of literally dead time? So no matter what level of drudgery any particular person has in their life, I don’t understand why anyone would want to spend 30 minutes basically watching the grass grow.

We’re not giving up any “joy of baseball” – we’re giving up dead time. It’s sort of equivalent to allowing each NBA team an additional 12 time outs during a game (each time out lasts 75 seconds). Who would want that? It would just lengthen the game without adding any action.

Today’s game lengths are on par with what they were forty years ago. And the only reason that the games have gotten longer is that the players have added so much dead time. Baseball had a lot of “joy” for me back then.

QED

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The new rule for mlb that infuriates me the most is the second base runner in extra innings. The theoretical fact that you can pitch a perfect game and still lose is maddening.

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Thank you for the Dodgers Sym Phony Band documentary!!!

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We happily accept your surrender.

I don't think there is a slippery slope here. Each rule will be tested individually and it will have to stand on its own merits.

This Storm Shadow news, I like it a lot! Well done, Brits.

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founding

That was a fun video of the Sym Phony Band. The NPR weekly conversations with Red Barber and Bob Edwards were always a treat.

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👏Woohoo Hannah👏

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Hate the shot clock. Went to my first opening day this year (baseball fan my whole life. 58. Comerica Park). It was over in a bit over 2 1/2 hours. I felt a bit cheated.

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May 12, 2023·edited May 12, 2023

I'm with JVL all the way about baseball, the game is beyond repair at this point! I'm a purist I guess, the interleague games, a novelty at first, are now the norm (yep, I won't let that one go), the so-called "balanced" schedule, the introduction of the DH in the NL, where will it end?

The breaking point for me was taking the all-star game, a game for the FANS, and making it so that the league that won had home field advantage for the WS. I've been a Braves fan for a long time, so long in fact, that there were years we were so bad that we only sent 1 player to the all star game, and sometimes only because every team had to send at least one (Is this is still the case?).

The managers back then would make a point to play everybody so that the FANS could see their player(s) play, even if it was as a pinch hitter in the 9th. I'm assuming now, since winning and shortening the time enjoying games are the only things that matter, not every player gets to play which is an affront to the fans that voted for their team's players and teams that don't get to participate.

So I may watch the occasional game, but the days of it being on in the background all summer long are over for me, which is sad.

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May 12, 2023Liked by Jonathan V. Last

Groovy art and so much gratitude for the great Hannah!

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Jonathan, you’re just going to have to take the L on baseball’s rule changes. They are heaven-sent for a sport that was nearing its death-bed. I don’t think you will hear from many who love baseball more than me - it has been my calendar since the age of 12 - but few people have the time or patience for night after night of 3:40 games. All that has been eliminated is excess, while baseball as a sport has been restored.

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founding

I remember watching "Diner" when it first came out, and being amazed at the scene of two guys getting dressed in suits to go shoot pool, because that's simply how adult men dressed to go do ANYthing. But that part of the past is very much a foreign country--the part where children wore certain kinds of clothes and then put them aside when they became adults, unless they were digging a ditch or playing a sport.

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