MLB looking at possible limits on the use of relief pitchers

[jimmer]

Manfred is out of control.   I mean seriously.

 

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/17118662/mlb-commissioner-rob-manfred-says-looking-possible-limits-use-relief-pitchers-games

[Vanimal46]

That's a silly proposal. If they're seriously looking at ways to cut down on game time, the lowest hanging fruit is making faster decisions on challenges and replays. 

There's really no excuse for a manager to wait 2+ minutes in order to challenge a play, and there's absolutely no excuse for an umpire to take 10 minutes to make their decision on a challenge. 

Also, what ever happened to the pitch clock? Something they tried out in Spring Training and didn't implement in the regular season?

[Pardon My Dinger]

I think it's pretty obvious what we need: faster runners. 

[ashbury]

Are they talking about giving us some of the oversupply of shutdown guys other teams seem to have?

[jimmer]

Ever since I posed that URL, the Twins Daily site keeps flipping to ESPN for me, as if I searched using the URL I posted along with twins daily, so it obviously says page not found.

[Mike Sixel]

This has to be the dumbest idea in all of sports' history*

 

*this is only a slight exaggeration, btw......

[Willihammer]

Yeah I don't know about Manfred sometimes. Seems like there are about 12 other, less intrusive things you might try before this.
Sorta related trivia - Paul Giamatti's dad, A Bartlett Giamatti, was Baseball commissioner during both of the Twins WS wins.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/photo/ph_hist_comm_mug_giamatti.jpg

[wsnydes]

 

That's a silly proposal. If they're seriously looking at ways to cut down on game time, the lowest hanging fruit is making faster decisions on challenges and replays. 

There's really no excuse for a manager to wait 2+ minutes in order to challenge a play, and there's absolutely no excuse for an umpire to take 10 minutes to make their decision on a challenge. 

Also, what ever happened to the pitch clock? Something they tried out in Spring Training and didn't implement in the regular season?

The pitch clock is alive and well in the minors.  I was at an Iowa Cubs game last weekend and I was amazed at how quickly the game moved.  I'd adopt that in the bigs immediately.  I can't stand how long games take these days.  Molitor using his entire bullpen every night is only part of the problem, but one that I don't think can be taken out of the game.  Time saving measures shouldn't be impacting the ability of a player or manager to play/manage the game.

[Blake]

Here's some other ideas:

 

Limit the number of throws to 1st base when a runner is on. 

 

Add another outfielder in order to limit the number of baserunners.

 

Limit the number of shifts per game.

 

Limit the number of foul balls per at-bat.

 

The number of ways to screw up the best game in the world is limitless. Might as well go for it.

 

Baseball is not supposed to be the sports equivalent of a 30 second sound bite. Baseball is a way of connecting to a slower lifestyle and a place to get away from the hectic pace of modern life.

[jimmer]

I am fine with baseball at the speed it goes now, but a pitch clock would be just the thing.  Since, you know, I believe all that would do is enforce a rule that's been in place for quite some time.

[theBOMisthebomb]

This is the satire section of Twinkietown.com right?

[HitInAPinch]

Coming to a store near you:  The MLB video game!  Play it the way you want to play it!

 

Now THAT's Sarcasm  

 

[d-mac]

I don't think people should get all worked up about an increase of 15 minutes a game over the past 11 years. That's an increase of about 8%, or less than 2 minutes an inning. It's barely perceptible. I think games appear to be dragging on to us (as Twins fans) lately because our pitching staff has been one of the worst over the past 4-5 years. Lots of baserunners and runs, slower game. 

[lukeduke1980]

To me it's the visits to the mound - the catcher visits especially.  Call it the Jorge Posada rule.  He'd jog out to the mound every time a pitcher got to 2 strikes to call the next pitch.  Count it as one of the 'visits' to the mound.

[Bark's Lounge]

 

Yeah I don't know about Manfred sometimes. Seems like there are about 12 other, less intrusive things you might try before this.
Sorta related trivia - Paul Giamatti's dad, A Bartlett Giamatti, was Baseball commissioner during both of the Twins WS wins.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/photo/ph_hist_comm_mug_giamatti.jpg

Hey Willi. I am not trying to be anal or anything, but he was not commissioner for either of the Twins WS Wins. He was Baseball Commish from April 1, 1989 - September 1, 1989 (the day he died).

[Mike Sixel]

 

I don't think people should get all worked up about an increase of 15 minutes a game over the past 11 years. That's an increase of about 8%, or less than 2 minutes an inning. It's barely perceptible. I think games appear to be dragging on to us (as Twins fans) lately because our pitching staff has been one of the worst over the past 4-5 years. Lots of baserunners and runs, slower game. 

 

No one attends games on a per inning basis.....

 

15 more minutes of people that only kind of like baseball, being in a baseball stadium? 8%? That's a lot more time, a lot.

[Loosey]

Maybe they should just put a time limit on the games like my softball league has.  Can't start the 9th inning if the bottom of the 8th hasn't finished up by the 2 hour and 50 minute mark. (Sarcasm)

 

The speed of the game is fine, these things seem to ebb and flow from year to year.  If a 15 minute difference in a 3 hour game bothers someone they probably don't like baseball that much to begin with.

[clone52]

I actually like the idea of limiting the number of pitching changes in a single inning to 1.

[Willihammer]

 

Hey Willi. I am not trying to be anal or anything, but he was not commissioner for either of the Twins WS Wins. He was Baseball Commish from April 1, 1989 - September 1, 1989 (the day he died).

Ah okay. I read he was elected to a 5 year term in 1988 and assumed he finished it. Still, mostly I was surprived to find out Harvey Pekar's dad was baseball commish. Anyway, resume your regularly scheduled programming.

 

edit: First WS in 1987? Yep, r ight. I am can't numbers.

[Shaitan]

Not a chance it would pass the player's union.

[wsnydes]

 

No one attends games on a per inning basis.....

 

15 more minutes of people that only kind of like baseball, being in a baseball stadium? 8%? That's a lot more time, a lot.

It all adds up too.  That's an average game.  When I'm at a game and have to work the next morning, a game that gets done at around 10:30 still means that I have another hour at least before my head hits the pillow.  I tend to view sitting at a baseball game to be relaxing, particularly on a nice evening but games can really drag on unnecessarily.  It's different if the game keeps moving and still takes that long.  

[Shaitan]

the pitching changes themselves slow the game down and our relief pitchers have become so dominate at the back end that they actually rob action out of the end of the game, the last few innings of the game

 

 

So the problem is that players are too good? Um, okay.

 

[jimmer]

 

So the problem is that players are too good? Um, okay.

Yeah, so baseball teams have gotten smarter, and are utilizing their bullpens better with actual plans in mind (well a good chunk of teams anyway), so the idea is.  Let's stop that! :-)

[Comrade Bork]

It certainly would shake things up though. Think about the fun choices the manager would get to make with 1sp and limit relievers to 3 game. Long relief would become much more important. Starter blows up, get the long relief specialist. Though the more I think about it the more I think this would make games go longer because of higher scoring. Can't take out the struggling pitcher because of the limit so he just gets lit up for a half an hour etc..

[raindog]

He's out of control for "looking into it"? I think we can calm down.

 

I absolutely think the pitch clock should be implemented. I've been to several AAA games since it was implemented in the minors and it's great. It's still PLENTY of time to throw a pitch.

[d-mac]

 

No one attends games on a per inning basis.....

 

15 more minutes of people that only kind of like baseball, being in a baseball stadium? 8%? That's a lot more time, a lot.

 

When you are talking about a 180 minute game it's not. 

[Vanimal46]

The speed of a baseball game has been an on-going debate for over 10 years, and it's still not getting better with all of the changes they've implemented so far. 15 minutes may not seem like a lot, but it adds up for fans, and especially fans with young children. 

There doesn't need to be anything complicated involved with making the game shorter, just implement common sense things to keep the momentum going. The current instant replay procedure could be shortened by 5-15 minutes a game. 

Other suggestions:

If a pitcher enters the game mid-inning, they're ready. No warm-up pitches unless an injury caused them to enter a game. 

The Nomar Garciaparra rule. Limit the amount of times a batter steps out of the box in an at-bat to re-adjust batting gloves, take practice swings, etc. 

[wsnydes]

 

The speed of the game is fine, these things seem to ebb and flow from year to year.  If a 15 minute difference in a 3 hour game bothers someone they probably don't like baseball that much to begin with.

I guess I'd have to be included in that group that doesn't like baseball that much.  I only attend 25-30 games a year, spend who knows how many dollars on it.  No wonder I'm miserable!

 

The problem with that line of thinking is that kids don't have the attention span to last that long at a game to begin with, so adding another 15 minutes on average is a big deal.  The game does not survive, let alone grow if kids aren't interested.  That is a fact.  The natural pace of a game is one thing, but there are definitely ways to cut down the time between live action.

[Vanimal46]

I also just like when a pitcher takes it upon himself to keep the pace going. Mark Buerhle was great at this. If you blinked, you may have missed an entire game where Buerhle was pitching. 

[jimmer]

That's why I don't spend the money to bring kids and/or people not interested in baseball to the game.