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Proposed MLB changes.

Slight adjustments to the strike zone have been made before, in both directions. (Making it larger; making it smaller.) That is no big deal.

To the other proposal, eliminating pitching four balls for an intentional walk, I say NO!!

I have seen a wild pitch during an intentional walk.
I have seen a pitch close enough to the strike zone to being hit by the batter for an extra base hit during an intentional walk.
I have seen a pitch close enough to the strike zone to being hit by the batter for an out during an intentional walk.
I have seen a balk called during an intentional walk.

So I say again, NO!!!
 
To the other proposal, eliminating pitching four balls for an intentional walk, I say NO!!

I have seen a wild pitch during an intentional walk.
I have seen a pitch close enough to the strike zone to being hit by the batter for an extra base hit during an intentional walk.
I have seen a pitch close enough to the strike zone to being hit by the batter for an out during an intentional walk.
I have seen a balk called during an intentional walk.

So I say again, NO!!!

Sorry Mils, they are doing it for the 2017 season. Gee, saving 14.3 seconds per game. Yeah, that should speed things right along...

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb...al-for-intentional-walk/ar-AAnc4rt?li=BBnba9I
 
Echoing Milagros' sentiment you are also taking away the running aspect of the game. A possible wild pitch with a runner on third could conceivably score a run.
 
The way I see it is that you will go to watch a game that will normally last about 2 1/2 hours. I've not seen any changes that will affect that to any great degree. If you're in such a hurry that a few minutes makes some life-changing difference, maybe you should refrain from going at all.
That pretty much goes with football and hockey as well. All three sports have regular season games lasting about 2 1/2 to 3 hours, including commercial time. If you want to significantly cut the length of the games, cut out the commercials.
 
To the other proposal, eliminating pitching four balls for an intentional walk, I say NO!!

I have seen a wild pitch during an intentional walk.
I have seen a pitch close enough to the strike zone to being hit by the batter for an extra base hit during an intentional walk.
I have seen a pitch close enough to the strike zone to being hit by the batter for an out during an intentional walk.
I have seen a balk called during an intentional walk.

And I, and probably a billion other people by now, have seen a batter fooled into striking out thinking he was going to be served up a ball a mile outside. And not just any batter, but the Hall of Famer Johnny Bench, a catcher himself, and in not just any nine-inning contest but Game 3 of the 1972 World Series:


So the potential for such a cunning stratagem would be lost should they do away with the formalities of the intentional walk. Kind of going the opposite way than the NFL, who made pro football games a little more interesting by moving the kicker back so that PATs aren't gimmes anymore and head coaches have a lot more reasons to think about opting to go for 2 (but then again the league is still so concussion lawsuit-spooked that they've also pretty much eliminated the potential drama of returned kickoffs by putting the tee on the 35 so modern strong-legged kickers can launch the ball safely into the end zone stands almost every time).
 
Here is the article:

MLB looking to change intentional walks, strike zones
Jessica Kleinschmidt - 2/6/2017

There could be some good news for those who may consider baseball a “slow sport.”

According to ESPN’s Jayson Stark, Major League Baseball made formal proposals to the players’ union to “usher in changes.” Those changes, for starters, could result in this being the year baseball “raises the strike zone and does away with the practice of intentional walks.”
At the moment, that is all it is — a proposal. Stark explained this cannot be implemented without the approval of the Major League Baseball Players Association. Also, the decision needs to be made “sooner rather than later,” a source told Stark, since spring training games are just around the corner.
When it comes to the strike zone aspect of the proposal, they would want to raise the “lower part of the strike zone to the top of the hitter’s knees.” The lower part of the strike zone, since 1996, has been defined as “the hollow below the kneecap.”
“Data shows that umpires have been increasingly calling strikes on so many pitches below the knees that, if umpires enforce the redefined strike zone, it would effectively raise the zone by an estimated 2 inches,” explained Stark.
The intentional walk modification would get rid of the pitcher throwing four “soft pitches” outside of the strike zone. The team could simply give some sort of signification they want to intentionally walk a batter. This would hopefully “eliminate dead time.”
One of MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s to-do list since getting the job was to speed up the game of baseball, or the “pace of action” as he often refers to it as. This has been difficult to do.
Altering a game like this could be a challenge. The intentional walk proposal could be very successful, but don’t expect it to cut a ginormous amount of game time. There were only 932 intentional walks last season, but it seems the commissioner is trying to shed off as much time as possible, even a minute amount.
The altering of the strike zone could change the way the game is played. More action and more base running could be significant. Perhaps making the game more entertaining so you don’t feel as guilty spending over $15 on your beer.
Stark also reports the players seem to be “lukewarm” about the ideas and wanting to revisit them in the future, but are well aware of Manfred’s goals to increase the pace of play.
 
The way I see it is that you will go to watch a game that will normally last about 2 1/2 hours. I've not seen any changes that will affect that to any great degree. If you're in such a hurry that a few minutes makes some life-changing difference, maybe you should refrain from going at all.
That pretty much goes with football and hockey as well. All three sports have regular season games lasting about 2 1/2 to 3 hours, including commercial time. If you want to significantly cut the length of the games, cut out the commercials.

I think maybe the NFL should adopt the Rugby rule and keep the clock running at all times. The only stoppage would be an official time out or a called time out by a team. I've always thought it was a wussy play to spike the ball just to stop the clock and I've always disliked the idea of calling bunched up time outs at the end of a game. That defeats the purpose of time outs and why they were created. I would give a team one time out to call in the last two minutes. If they try calling more it's an automatic 15 yd penalty (kinda like a tech in college basketball).

I can see the new MLB rules either way. I'm not going to cry if they make intentional walks automatic (hence the term 'intentional' to begin with). However, the strike zone difference could be a huge factor.
 
Just proves that the people who run MLB don't much care about the integrity of the game. :(

What Major League Baseball is finding out, and the reason for the proposed changes, is to appeal to millennials. Now it's in direct contrast to old school fans who say that it doesn't need to be tweeked. I am in the middle, I can take or leave the new rules but there are things that can be done to speed the game up without affecting the integrity of the game:

Speaking of the strike zone, when I played little league, we were taught that the strike zone was from the armpits to the knees, but I guess the umpires didn't listen to that and made their own strike zones, specifically toward the low end of the strike zone.

Regarding the rule to start an extra inning game with a runner at second base, are you kidding me? Earn that position, enough said.

I like that the intentional walk can be used without throwing the pitches, but others here have made some good arguments.

Above all, you want to speed the games up without affecting the integrity of the game, here are a few suggestions:

Have the batters stay in the batters' box instead of stepping out after every pitch. Not the only culprit but Big Papi used to step out and readjust his batting gloves AFTER EVERY PITCH, significantly taking twice as long for an at bat.

Having a pitching change and the incoming pitcher take another 5-10 minutes to warm-up after a 15 minute warm-up in the bullpen.

On that note, constantly bringing in pitchers to pitch to one batter, or waiting for a batter to be announced, and then going to the mound to change pitchers (see the above comment), or vice-versa, having a pitcher come in, take his "warm-up" tosses and then bringing in a pinch hitter. When the pitcher comes in, after his first toss, or even as he takes the mound, notify your intentions of a pinch-hitter. If a pitcher comes in, make it mandatory that he pitch to three batters, it might end the half-inning.

I realize that things have been proposed to speed up the game but you don't have to change the spirit of the game to shorten it. Just my two cents.

Barbershopman
 
What Major League Baseball is finding out, and the reason for the proposed changes, is to appeal to millennials. Now it's in direct contrast to old school fans who say that it doesn't need to be tweeked. I am in the middle, I can take or leave the new rules but there are things that can be done to speed the game up without affecting the integrity of the game:

Speaking of the strike zone, when I played little league, we were taught that the strike zone was from the armpits to the knees, but I guess the umpires didn't listen to that and made their own strike zones, specifically toward the low end of the strike zone.

Regarding the rule to start an extra inning game with a runner at second base, are you kidding me? Earn that position, enough said.

I like that the intentional walk can be used without throwing the pitches, but others here have made some good arguments.

Above all, you want to speed the games up without affecting the integrity of the game, here are a few suggestions:

Have the batters stay in the batters' box instead of stepping out after every pitch. Not the only culprit but Big Papi used to step out and readjust his batting gloves AFTER EVERY PITCH, significantly taking twice as long for an at bat.

Having a pitching change and the incoming pitcher take another 5-10 minutes to warm-up after a 15 minute warm-up in the bullpen.

On that note, constantly bringing in pitchers to pitch to one batter, or waiting for a batter to be announced, and then going to the mound to change pitchers (see the above comment), or vice-versa, having a pitcher come in, take his "warm-up" tosses and then bringing in a pinch hitter. When the pitcher comes in, after his first toss, or even as he takes the mound, notify your intentions of a pinch-hitter. If a pitcher comes in, make it mandatory that he pitch to three batters, it might end the half-inning.

I realize that things have been proposed to speed up the game but you don't have to change the spirit of the game to shorten it. Just my two cents.

Barbershopman

Good points Barber. I especially like the one to stop batters from taking all day when they come to bat. Some do not realize but the only person allowed to call time during a game is the umpire. The batter can hold his hand up or step out of the box or do whatever he wants, and is almost always allowed to hold up the game. But technically, the umpire is the only one with authority to call time out during play.

I dislike it when coaches try to 'outsmart' the rules. There are several instances of this in NFL play too.

Again, good post Barber!
 
For postseason games when Kershaw is pitching, make it 6 innings. :rowfull:

You mean with all those billions the Dodgers try to buy a trophy with every year, they still can't find a key starter to last more than 6 innings during the playoffs??
 
I'm looking forward to the new changes in baseball, the game is way to slow,
so hopefully these changes will change some things
 
I'm very upset by the changes. I remember seeing a game lost on a wild pitch during an intentional walk, and I thought that was amazing. Basically no time is being saved by doing this, but they are losing an element of the game, and making players play less. It's the little things like this that make baseball (albeit slow) the best sport out there (opinion of course). The intentional walk rule will bring in 0 new fans, as more or less no time is saved and the stigma about baseball being slow won't go away with this rule, but it does make a lot of current "die hard" fans upset. The rule change is stupid.
 
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