How to speed up baseball

While the intentional walk proposal would definitely speed things up a bit, they aren't common enough for the MLB to realistically make a change. Also, Gary Sanchez (Yankees catcher) rectently hit a home run off an intentional walk pitch, so it can keep things interesting as well.

Hers some:

Play 5 innings

Make it 2 strikes is an out and 2 balls is a walk

Cut the strike zone in half

Eliminate the national anthem

Eliminate a fielder position and just play 8 on 8

Intentional walks are very uncommon. I watch the red sox play every night and I can't remember the last time one happened.

An obvious answer would be to reduce the commercial lengths but that will NEVER happen because that is what generates revenue.

Limiting non-action changes throughout the game is honestly the only thing that the MLB would even consider. For example, limit the amount of pitching changes, or limiting the amount of warm-up pitches. Or eliminating mound visits by the catcher or any managers.

An odd idea I had that I know mlb would never go for, but could save a HUGE amount of time would be to eliminate stealing. If you eliminate stealing it means the pitcher only needs to focus on the hitter/catcher. If you take the average time between pitches while the bases are empty vs when there is at least 1 base runner and multiply that exponentially by each pitch times every time there is at least 1 base runner times 9 innings, I imagine it could instantly shave off 30 minutes per game!

It would be even faster to 'play' it as a computer simulation

Dueling algorithms, live streamed on steam

Players may not leave the batter's box between pitches.

A foul ball with 2 strikes becomes strike 3.

A limit of 1 relief pitcher change per inning.

Eliminate elbow armor.

give everyone headsets (batter, fielders, pitchers, catchers, baserunners) and let them receive audio from the dugout so there is no looking for and coding of signs.

don't let the batter leave the box.

if you are behind you keep batting until you get ahead or have used up all your outs (maybe after the 4th inning or so). the typical in ingredients rules still apply.

There are entire games where there are no intentional walks so if the goal is to speed up baseball as a whole -- every game -- then that is not a solution.

Purists might scream, but I see nothing wrong with a pitch clock. Basketball and football have shot/play clocks. The existence of those clocks does not change the nature of those games at all, merely the tempo of them. And that is the point of their existence. Having a pitch clock, unlike other solutions, will not only affect every MLB game, but it will also not change the way baseball is played, except for the tempo, which is the whole point of the exercise. If pitchers have 15 seconds to deliver a pitch from the time they receive the ball back from the catcher, nothing will change the way the game is played unless they go over that time limit.

Don't forget, even with a pitch clock, baseball is also the only major sport with no game clock, so it is already hampered, length-wise.

I don't think baseball games are too long. But having said that, I would eliminate catcher mound visits, don't let batters leave the box, and, if necessary, implement a shot clock.

Depressed PNSO wrote:

Hers some:

Play 5 innings

Make it 2 strikes is an out and 2 balls is a walk

Cut the strike zone in half

Eliminate the national anthem

Eliminate a fielder position and just play 8 on 8

How would eliminating one member of the defense make a game go by faster? Baseball goes by faster when the defense does its job, right?

You might average 1-2 intentional walks per game. That may be a high estimate. An intentional walk may take a minute each so you're talking about a two minute savings in a 3 plus hour game. They could bring back the golf carts that used to bring pitchers in from the bullpen but really, it's the amount of time spent between innings while commercials are aired that slow the game down. When I was a kid you had ONE commercial between innings.It lasted a minute. Now you can't keep count. But there's your culprit.

Why would anybody want to speed up the game? I look forward to those 3 hours everyday when my team is playing and I listen on the radio or sometimes watch on tv. When the game goes longer, I consider that a BONUS. There is nothing better than listening to a day game starting at 1 pm and ending after 5!

Nobody is serious about making the games shorter. If they really wanted to do that, the first thing they would do is get rid of the ridiculous replay challenges. Besides taking 30 or 40 seconds after every close play to even decide if you are going to challenge, the challenge itself can take 3 or 4 minutes. Even after a handful of challenges, the game can be decided on a bad call that can't even be challenged for one reason or another. That is a total waste of time.

You actually want to make games slower and double the number of teams.

See, currently, there are 30 teams that play 162 games, in 26 weeks, thus 30*162/26/7=27games on every day. Now if you double the number of teams there will be 54games on every day. So, now there are plenty more games to watch simultaneously. But here's the catch, by slowing down each game, you make sure that you miss NOTHING while you are watching any of the other 54 games. Q.e.d.

First get rid of the "strike zone" and put something there for the ball to strike, like some sticks.

Then make the ball bigger and easier to hit. While you're at it make the bat bigger too, and flat so the batter can aim the hits more easily. Then slow down the pitches by making them looping overhand throws.

Get rid of the three strikes and three outs. Instead, a strike or a caught ball is an out, and 11 outs ends the inning. Pare it down to 1 inning each and you've got a simple ball and stick game that only takes.... well actually 5 days, never mind.

Let's play 2 wrote:

A foul ball with 2 strikes becomes strike 3.

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I like this. I remember that's the way we played wiffleball. Or 4 fouls and you're out.

for what it's not worth wrote:

Let's play 2 wrote:

A foul ball with 2 strikes becomes strike 3.

.

I like this. I remember that's the way we played wiffleball. Or 4 fouls and you're out.

I don't like this. So much of the excitement of the game comes from long at bats.

I don't really know why the game needs to be sped up. If I wanted speed, I'd go to a hockey game. If I'm going to a baseball game, I am doing so because I want to hang out at the park for the evening and enjoy a few beers with friends while a baseball game goes on in the background. The speed of the game is fine as it is for the purpose that baseball serves.

Baseball games are long because of commercials. Everything else is just noise.

Disallow all visits to the pitcher by the catcher, manager or any coach.

For a pitching change, the manager goes straight to the ump to inform him of the change. The already warmed up relief pitcher comes out and gets a few more throws on the mound and then the game resumes.

The intentional walk without pitches is already under consideration and should implemented.

No timeouts should be allowed to be called by the batter.

Stay in the box. lay at the pitcher's pace.

Shorten the break between innings.

Here is a funny joke from a comedian about an inside the park home run on a walk.

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/ets989/stand-up-nate-bargatze--little-league-star

One strike "looking" and you're out. (swing at the damned ball!)

Two balls is a walk. (get the damned ball over the plate!)

That's all you need.

What would the penalty be if the pitcher takes longer than 15 seconds?