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Everyone is *****ing that baseball games are to long.

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nosterbor

Well-known member
Jun 20, 2010
6,093
427
Sunny Florida
Sooo why are they sooo long MR Manfred? Well I have been watching all the playoffs this year and I have come to the conclusion MR Manfred that it is all about the MONEY! You have an avg of 5 min after every half inning in TV commercials. That's an avg of 85 min added to a game. Now I am seeing side commercials between batters. Enough already! Then add more time with every pitching change. Soooo MR Manfred MLB is extending a game by at least an hour and a half because of MONEY.
So stop Bi tching! The longer the game goes the more money that is being made.
I am very sure that the networks are loving it also.

Now you can understand why the avg time of a game pre-1950 was 1 hour and 41 min. No TV No Commercials. Hell, Babe Ruth pitched and won a 14 inning world series game in 1916 that took only 58 minutes to play, the whole game! A 14 inning game. Thanks for reading my BI TCHING.

P.S. lets add another 15-20 min for instant replay.
 
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Letch77

Well-known member
Jan 28, 2018
1,608
353
Midwest
I've been saying this all along...advertising is lengthening the games. "But, we don't want to cut into our advertising revenue, so let's alter the game play (change the rules) to free up more time for advertisers...er...make the games shorter!" You and I know full well that if they could take 3 hours of actual gameplay and shorten it to 2 hours, they would add more commercials so that the duration is right back to 3 hours.

If they're serious about shortening the gameplay, they should enforce the batter's box rules. If you step out during an at-bat, a strike is called. Enforce a pitch clock and if the pitcher fails to deliver a pitch before time expires, a ball is called. Limit the number of pick-off attempts per batter and if the pitcher exceeds it, a ball is called.

Some new rules implemented are good, like limiting the number of mound visits and restricting manager visits to 30 seconds dugout-to-dugout. Some new rules are pathetic (IMO), like not having to toss 4 balls for an IBB.
 

rsmath

Active member
Nov 8, 2008
6,086
1
You have an avg of 5 min after every half inning in TV commercials. That's an avg of 85 min added to a game.

It's actually 2 minutes, 55 seconds between half innings in a postseason game and a postseason 9-inning game is about 51 minutes of between inning time.

I would like to see a pitch clock implemented in 2019 - it makes the Triple-A game more crisp when you have a pitcher or both pitchers who work deep counts because they can't throw strikes. It's best seen in the regular season when you finish streaming a Triple-A game and then watch a west coast game and if that MLB game isn't competitive or exciting, you can feel how excruciatingly slow the MLB game is.

I'd also like to see replays tied to mound visits (similar to how replays are tied to time-outs in the NFL - lose a replay, lose a timeout).
Lose a replay in MLB, you lose a non-pitching change mound visit. I feel also remove the restrictions of replay changes each manager has and don't let them have a replay unless they have a mound visit available to lose if they lose the replay (and I feel the NFL should do the same - allow NFL coaches to have as many replays as they want as long as there is a timeout on the scoreboard to lose if they lose a replay).

EDIT: games earlier in the 1900's probably got away with being an hour or hour and a half because there were not broadcasts (shorter time between half-innings) or when radio arrived, the rights were not monster money so you didn't need a lot of ads and promos to break even on the radio broadcast costs.
 
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smapdi

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
4,397
221
I saw a stat somewhere that Game 3 was longer than the entirety of the first Dodgers/Red Sox WS, or something like that.

Every once in a while, it makes news when a game takes under 2 hours. You see these games that take 1:54 and are 4-1 wins, so not exactly pitching duels. But each team might use 3 pitchers, there are some number of hits, etc., and it's not a stunt or artificially sped up game. Those games should be studied and see what, other than actual play, is going on and what went so much faster than every other game.
 

rsmath

Active member
Nov 8, 2008
6,086
1
I saw a stat somewhere that Game 3 was longer than the entirety of the first Dodgers/Red Sox WS, or something like that.
Those games should be studied and see what, other than actual play, is going on and what went so much faster than every other game.

I'm amazed that the bastard version of the WS Game 3 (MLB Network's cutdown repeat of it) is more than 5 hours shorter than it took to play! ;)

as for the quick 2 hour games, if it's in the modern era like many of Mark Buehrle's games, it probaby was because both pitchers were throwing strikes and getting quick outs and didn't feature a lot of deep counts or batters fouling off 5 balls in an at-bat.

I have heard one modern 2 hour game was played because both teams agreed to try to hit the first pitch or two of each at-bat in a game that had no playoff meaning and was just playing out the season so it didn't matter who won and going after the first pitch or two got a result from an at-bat quicker in most at-bats.
 

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