Time limits on pitches and stepping out of the box.

Is there any evidence that teams playing longer games -----> lower ratings?

Seems like the Yankees and Red Sox play some of the longest games and I somehow doubt their fans care games last another 15-20 minutes.

Yeah, staying in the damn box and a massively decreased limit between pitches would be great. Reduced warmup times between innings. I originally used to think 7 innings instead of 9, but if they actually enforced all of those then 9 would most likely be completely fine.

Playoffs I don't care. But lol @ watching Josh beckett take 90s per pitch for 4 hours on a nice summer evening.

Then again lol at watching Josh beckett period.

Yet you still do. You can't look away.

lol at taking the biggest rivalry in baseball to prove that point

I dunno how anyone could disagree that making baseball faster would be better.

These are a lot more noticeable on TV than live in my opinion. I think speeding it up would help a ton though. Limiting mound visits might help a bit too.

Would more people watch the Astros if their (terrible) games were faster?

Making baseball faster would be worse.

I'm not saying it would be worse if managers used less pitching changes or there were fewer pitchers who took a while between each pitch.

But "making" baseball faster would be worse.

I agree with your general point, and also think that the game would suffer if pitching changes were limited and pitchers were put on pitch clocks for the same reasons. It's not like pitchers aren't sacrificing rhythm (and possibly defensive attention) for less energy being sapped by waiting too long between pitches. And pitching changes and pinch-hitters are part of the strategy of the game.

EDIT: I actually misread your post initially. I agree with the point; if it changes it should be gradual and natural.

Nah, I didn't watch much baseball the past two summers.

Eh, I honestly think it's worse live when you're just sitting there with nothing else but your phone. I've had to go to a lottttttttt of MLB games as the rest of my family loves it.

I would be much more likely to watch bad baseball if it wasn't as slowly paced. If the average minute is filled with more actual pitching and hitting I think you would see a great increase in the quality of the viewing experience. Clearly there's a tipping point where it would be absurd, but I don't the game currently is anywhere near that.

Oh and adding replay would be great, lol at letting these fat old idiots decide everything absolutely.

People who don't watch baseball because it's too long generally don't like the game anyway. And they don't like the game precisely because of its general speed and the hundreds of small pauses between pitches that, for my money, make it more interesting and suspenseful. I highly doubt that people watch pitchers who work faster more than pitchers who work slowly.

Making pitchers take 15 seconds between pitches as opposed to 20 or whatever wouldn't move the dial much IMO.

Using baseball as an example, there are various "narratives" that determine whether you like or will watch the game

-Is it the 9th inning of a perfect game? Is it the last few innings of the playoffs? Is it in extra innings? These make exciting narratives that end quickly.

The problem is without these narratives it becomes "Wow, what a great curveball", which appeals to many people (my immediate family included) who play/have intimate knowledge of baseball. But without that knowledge baseball starts to... well... lack narratives (Read: Suck).

Which is why the NFL draws so many fans:
-The last quarters (especially 4th) are largely like the last/extra innings in baseball, the game might basically end at any time if a team gets a large enough lead
-"Peak Action" in NFL can last 10-20+ seconds during a big play, while in baseball it lasts ~5 seconds on average
-Fantasy Football, the opportunity every play for your horse to score points

Got bored writing this, there's others, but i think people get the point

It's more about the pacing of the game than the overall length. Obviously one affects the other.

lol at that searix post, sorry your narratives will be shortened by 20-30 minutes in real time.

So if baseball had pitching timers you'd care about innings 1-7 right?

I would be much more likely to care about the entire product, not sure what you're driving at honestly.

NFL is more accessible than baseball.

Oh ok I misread you what you were trying to say then, I don't disagree with that.

As a born and bred baseball fan, as well as amateur pitcher, I totally agree about the pitch pacing. It's so ****ing AIDS.

Especially if someone is on 2nd base. ZOMG HES GANO STEAL R SIGNZZZZZZZZ LETS TALK ABOUT THE NEW FORMULA FOR CALLING PITCHES BETWEEN EVERY PITCH.

I legit don't even watch Yankees/RedSox games specifically because they all average like 4.5 hours. Just so ****ing ridiculous. They had a 9 inning playoff game that lasted 5:14 iirc. And the talking heads sucked them off for CARING SO HARD about EACH PITCH.

****ing DIE. There is no reason at all that a pitch can't be thrown in less than 30 seconds. Some playoff games have 2 minutes between a pitch.

And none of this even deals with the Tony LaRussas of the world who make 684 pitching changes in the 8th inning of a 17-2 game.

Noze has a point.

Can someone clarify for me wtf is going on with Riverman?

Any FREE MONEY in relation to his absence?

Well there was that guy who hijacked cars and killed people in California yesterday, but he was like 20.

And you know you want to see who the first pitcher is that walks home the winning run because he didn't get a pitch off on time.

Maybe he was Jerry Buss?