Fansided

Make Major League Baseball Faster – A One Step Guide

By Mark Carman

Oct 11, 2016; San Francisco, CA, USA; A general view inside AT&T Park during game four of the 2016 NLDS playoff baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 11, 2016; San Francisco, CA, USA; A general view inside AT&T Park during game four of the 2016 NLDS playoff baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /
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Someday it will happen. Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association will come together and actually figure out some reasonable ways to speed up the game.  When they do, millennials, maybe, will actually watch the game. Baseball is concerned their core fanbase is dying off and there will be a lot less people watching. They are trying to get at least somewhat ahead of the curve. And, progress is being made!

There has been one rule change. No more four-pitch walks, but simply a signal from the dugout. We won’t know exactly how much shorter this will make the game exactly until the season is over, but the math prognosticators are predicting an entire 23 seconds will be chopped off your standard regular season game. Huge! I actually will miss the albeit slight possibility of a wild pitch, or a pitcher losing his rhythm and walking the next batter because he was called on to do something that challenges his mental stability.

My suggestion for the 2017 season is to take one more giant step forward and not allow the batter to take more than one foot out of the batter’s box at anytime once the at-bat has started. No more walking around thinking about what you are going to have for dinner. Get back in there and hit the ball. Expanding the strike zone would be nice too, but that would meet a ton of opposition because baseball wants more offense. We can fight that one another day.

Players and owners alike though should not have a problem with a batter not being allowed to leave the batter’s box. A very simple, but aggressive way to increase the pace of play. The tradition of the game would still be alive and well and the games would be shorter and most likely more fun to watch.

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