How to Improve Baseball?

[Steve_424]

MLB will be testing six new rules they are going to try at the Arizona Fall League. They are:

• A two minute, thirty second timer on changing pitchers

• Pitchers must throw a pitch within 20 seconds of getting the ball

• Teams are limited to a maximum of three mound visits per game

• Pitchers no longer have to throw four balls for an intentional walk

• A 2 minute, 5 second break between innings

• Hitters must keep one foot inside the batters box at all times

I'm not sure many of them will have a major impact, although I do love the final rule.

I'd add the following ideas:

International Draft - Under current rules, a Cuban player who establishes residency in a third country may then sign as a free agent with any MLB team. But one who seeks asylum in the United States and then declares his intent to play in the majors is subject to the amateur draft. Why not eliminate the risks these men take (many use human traffickers), add excitement to the draft, and help get mid and lower markets some star power? Imagine if players like Jose Abreu and Yasiel Puig were in the draft - wouldn't you pay attention more?

Designated Hitter Added to the NL - There are DH people and non-DH people, but it's got to go one way or the other. I'm just not a fan of it being different between leagues. Considering the Players Union is unlikely to want to get rid of the DH and adding the DH to the NL would increase offense, I say install it everywhere.

Expand and Consider Realignment - This is a more radical idea, but it might rejuvenate the game a bit. I'd add expansion teams in Montreal and Charlotte and move to eight, four team divisions - similar to the NFL.

AL East - New York, Boston, Toronto, Baltimore

AL North- Cleveland, Minnesota, Chicago, Detroit

AL South - Houston, Kansas City, Texas, Tampa Bay

AL West - Los Angeles, Oakland, Seattle, Colorado

NL East - New York, Philadelphia, Montreal, Pittsburgh

NL North - Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Washington

NL South - Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, St. Louis

NL West - Arizona, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles


Within this realignment, the Wild Card would be gone. The Division winners would be seeded 1-4 and square off in the DS, the CS, then World Series.


Thoughts on these ideas? What other ideas do you have?

 

[TwoPistols]

I really hate baseball right now and I've been thinking of how to improve it. I'm very happy to see what I think are two of the biggest needs on their list: Speeding up the time between pitches and not allowing the hitters to step out of the batter's box. The last Indians game I watched, the pitcher was taking 1 minute between pitches, and that's absolutely absurd. They can't allow hitters to step out of the batter's box and readjust batting gloves and shin protectors after every pitch. I'd like to see them take the 20 second between pitches rule even further, and implement something like not allowing the pitcher to be off the mound for more than 5 seconds.

I'd support realignment if it put the Reds in the Indians' division. Otherwise, I don't see a point. It's exciting for a second, but unnecessary and I think people are too caught up in the current divisional rivalries that have been built.

 

[Tornicade]

I think if they mandated steroids the game would be far more entertaining

 

[bigfoot5415]

Cut out 30 games. Casual fans don't care once football season starts. Nor do they want to see a game literally every night. Spread the remaining months out.

 

[elcheato]

Forcing the batter to stay in the batter's box and actually enforcing the time limit on a pitcher should be enough to speed the game up.

 

[AZ_]

 

[shoes22]

Shouldn't those charts have weighted percentages for those numbers to actually mean anything? The disparity in the number of games and average stadium capacity makes comparison difficult.

 

[Jack Brickman]

I've improved baseball for myself by not watching it. Never been better.

 

[Huber.]

All I got from that graph is that American NHL coverage is a joke and ESPN tries to punish the NHL since they don't have the rights to it.

 

[Steve_424]

I've improved baseball for myself by not watching it. Never been better.

Good one.

 

[macbdog]

Other than the stuff that has already been said, here are my suggestions for improving baseball:

1. Make pitching EXCITING!
The game is skewing back towards pitching and defense after the Steroid Era came to a close. For whatever reason, pitchers have seen more gains physically than the hitters since then. More guys throw 95+ mph today than pitched in the entirety of the 70s. Fact is, the casual fan claims they like good pitching but in reality, pitchers' duels are boring to them. Hitters going up and either flailing or hitting ground balls or pop ups just gets old to these people. So to me, you have to make pitching more exciting. How do you do that? Here are my ideas:

• Robot umpires. Imagine this: an animatronic home plate umpire (think the FOX NFL robot), upon a Corey Kluber strike 3 that paints the corner, has flamethrowers that pop out and blast flames that form a giant K over its' head? As for balls and strikes, MLB already relies on pitchFx data for evaluating the current umps for their accuracy. PitchFx already provides the data that backs million dollar contract deals. Why not just skip the middle man and have the computer call balls and strikes? With a holographic display projected overhead that shows the count and each call? Fans would eat this up.

• Announce Ks like a NBA game does 3 pointers. To coincide with the flame throwers, a booming 'STRIIIIIIIKEE THREEEEEEEEE' booms over the PA system, like a 3 pointer at an NBA game? Nothing gets peoples' attention at NBA games while the do everything but watch the game like a call on a 3 pointer.

• Digitally add flame trails for pitches over 95 mph. Maybe even add a little explosion when it hits the glove. FOX did something like this with a glowing puck years ago for the old NHL broadcasts. Hockey fans absolutely hated it. But that was Canada that didn't like that- Americans, we love our flames, violence, and explosions. The non-baseball fan would love watching the flame trail on a Clayton Kershaw fastball, or on a Aroldis Chapman 100+ mph offering.

• Encourage strikeout dances. The NFL is the No Fun League because it has killed the idea of players celebrating their own accomplishments. Fans everywhere complain about this, regardless of race, creed, or color. MLB should buck this trend by encouraging pitchers to celebrate these small victories. In fact, hire Jose Lima as a leaguewide coordinator to host clinics during spring training if need be. A possible biproduct of the increased dancing? Hitters may become embarassed, and in turn, try to strike out less, so as to avoid seeing Trevor Bauer do a forced strike out dance.

There are other wonderful ideas that the other two popular sports have done that keep fans entertained and coming back game after game (cheerleaders, dance teams, quality officiating, new uniforms, areas for women in bikinis, high priced alcohol) that baseball could do. I think what the game does poorly is market and highlight half of the game- the pitching side. This is the key to winning over the next generation of fans, and what baseball needs to really focus on if it wants this new generation.

 

[CavsFinals2016]

• Encourage strikeout dances. The NFL is the No Fun League because it has killed the idea of players celebrating their own accomplishments. Fans everywhere complain about this, regardless of race, creed, or color. MLB should buck this trend by encouraging pitchers to celebrate these small victories. In fact, hire Jose Lima as a leaguewide coordinator to host clinics during spring training if need be. A possible biproduct of the increased dancing? Hitters may become embarassed, and in turn, try to strike out less, so as to avoid seeing Trevor Bauer do a forced strike out dance.

Dude, Jose Lima has passed.

 

[Kyrieville]

I would like geographical realignment to create more rivalries and fan interest. I'd rather the Indians have 19 games each against the Pirates and Reds than the Royals and Twins.

Here's an idea I found from a Google search:
Eastern Division
Boston Red Sox
New York Mets
New York Yankees
Philadelphia Phillies
Toronto Blue Jays

Central Division
Cincinnati Reds
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Minnesota Twins
Pittsburgh Pirates

Midwest Division
Chicago Cubs
Chicago White Sox
Kansas City Royals
Milwaukee Brewers
St. Louis Cardinals

NATIONAL CONFERENCE:

Southeast Division
Atlanta Braves
Baltimore Orioles
Florida Marlins
Tampa Bay Rays
Washington Nationals

Western Division
Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies
Houston Astros
Seattle Mariners
Texas Rangers

California Division
Los Angeles Angels
Los Angeles Dodgers
Oakland Athletics
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants


Here's my 4 division realignment plan:

Eastern Division
Boston Red Sox
New York Mets
New York Yankees
Philadelphia Phillies
Baltimore Orioles
Washington Nationals
Toronto Blue Jays


Midwest Division
Chicago Cubs
Chicago White Sox
Cincinnati Reds
Cleveland Indians
Pittsburgh Pirates
Milwaukee Brewers
Minnesota Twins
Detroit Tigers


NATIONAL CONFERENCE:

Southeast Division
St. Louis Cardinals
Kansas City Royals
Atlanta Braves
Florida Marlins
Tampa Bay Rays
Houston Astros
Texas Rangers

Western Division
Los Angeles Angels
Los Angeles Dodgers
Oakland Athletics
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
Seattle Mariners
Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies

I would prefer 4 large divisions. This scenario would ensure that rivalries are generated. Attendance would increase significantly. Fans would enjoy it more. Shorter travel for most MLB teams.

Here's a map for visual:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/312fc3l1y9yxfyw/teams_map.jpg?dl=0

 

[AZ_]

Like the first idea better than the second (with a few tweaks of course), those divisions would ABSOLUTELY be more enticing the average fan and would bring far more rivalry to the game than currently constructed.

With that said, it would get hung up on the elimination of the DH (an inevitable byproduct of such a switch) and the historical significance of having some teams in certain leagues (The Reds, for example, are NL members since 1880).

 

[bob2the2nd]

just from game 7 of the world series

1. bang bang plays at first dont get 3 minute reviews. he was called safe, and replay (despite what harold renyolds insisted) was pretty inconclusive.
2. get rid of the ump calling strikes. ump has been great all game till bumfucker comes out and suddenly the strike zone is HUGE
3. keep the pitchers pitching. a guy on first is no reason to take 30 seconds to throw. (looking at you asleft)
4. batters dont get to just fuck around either. you can step out very briefly but none of this re-adjusting everything.
4. Limit the time a team gets to make an injury decision
5. No warm up pitches for a pitcher during said injury decision (unless its the pitcher in question, in which case he gets 2-3 the same number relievers should get)
6. allowed steroids- chicks dig the long ball