My Red Sox were in the American League Wild Card game on October 5th. For those of you who don't follow baseball, this is a win-or-go-home type of game. This is exciting for me as a fan, the big problem was: I didn't know how I was going to watch the game. It was on ESPN and I don't have ESPN on my very basic cable package. I subscribe to several streaming services and one of them is MLB-TV (Major League Baseball). Even though I've paid for the entire season, I don't get the Post Season games. Every October, I have to scramble to find a way to see the games. I could pay for YouTube TV or Sling, but then if the Sox get eliminated, I'm stuck paying for a service I don't want for at least a month. I have zero interest in watching anything else on these services. The challenge of how to watch the game is a newish problem among sports fans. I finally found a reasonable solution to this one game. I watched it on a relative's laptop who was borrowing a friend's YouTube TV account.
A lot has improved about the baseball fan experience since I was a kid but accessibility of the games is not one of then. Growing up in northern Rhode Island, I could watch all of the Red Sox games for free on channel 38 a local Boston channel, pre-cable. When I was down on the beach, during the Summer months, I could catch an occasional game on channel 6, a local Providence channel, on a miniature black and white set. We got better reception on cloudy days. It is so utterly frustrating that I could see more games, for free, under those circumstances than I can now. The entire season and playoffs were free back then and we only had a handful of stations. A curious kid couldn't help but fall in love with the game; one of the big reasons was that there was nothing else on. How can a kid, nowadays, stumble upon the game if even a hardcore fan like me, has go through high-tech gymnastics every October? MLB bleeding their hardcore fans dry while hiding the game behind a pay wall.
Most people become fans of a sport when they are young. For me it was the 1975 World Series with Fred Lynn, Jim Rice, Carlton Fisk and captain Carl Yastrzemski on the Boston Red Sox, going up against the Big Red Machine of Cincinnati with Johnny Bench and Pete Rose. A classic. Many a New Englander fell prey to this affliction that Fall, called Red Sox Fever. I'd sit on the floor in front of the television with my baseball cards and check their stats. I'd arrange the players in the shape of a diamond in front of me. You had to check the paper each day to see what time the game was on. We had nothing like a smart phones sending us reminders. In the internet age I renew my MLB subscription each Spring for $106.00 for the season. With this I can stream every out of market regular season game. This is great for my wife who is a Cubs fan. They are out of market, but because I live in New England, the Red Sox game are blacked out. MLB is trying to get as much money out me as they can and force me to spend more money to pay my in-market provider. This is how badly MLB treats their loyal fans. I call my cable provider every year to find out if I can subscribe to NESN only (who broadcast the Red Sox). I don't want Comedy Central or the Golf Channel etc. I just want Sox games. I get a big NO every year. I would have to pay about $80 more each month for a few hundred channels that I just don't want.
It seems that MLB is missing the boat here. If they want young people to be exposed to the sport, they need to get the broadcasts out there. Get it into more homes, not less. Most kids now, won't be exposed to this game if their parents aren't subscribers to MLB or has paid enough to have NESN, the YES network or Marquee sports in their cable package. Another big way kids get exposed to the sport is by attending local minor league games, but MLB is contracting a lot of those teams as well. Go figure.
Interest in baseball has waned in the past few decades giving way to faster more violent sports. The average age of the baseball viewer gets older each year because young people aren't being attracted to it. The average age of the current baseball fan is 53. If you didn't grow up watching games, you might find it boring or tedious. You might miss the sublties of the game-within-the-game that the hardcore fans love so much. Waiting four minutes for another pitch that gets fouled off is just not that appealing to a generation of kids brought up on the immediate gratification of iPads and X-Boxes. At least, that is what I hear. I am not so sure I believe it. No sport is appealing to everyone. Baseball is attractive to analytic types who love stats and the poetry of a crowd. I could go on about the beauty of the game, but today I talk about the problems of the professional game.
MLB seems to want to change the game to meets the needs of the young. This seems misguided. It has become a game of home runs, strike outs and walks and much less base stealing, bunting and the basic ground ball that goes up the middle. Advanced stats has a lot to blame here. If you know a batter hits to the left side of the field 70% of the time, you can shift your fielders to the left thus taking a hit away (aka less base runners and less action). Players only hit a pitch in play 15.8% of the time. Other times, it is fouled, a strike or a ball. This is down from 18.3% from ten years ago.
In the 2021, over a thousand pitches were thrown over 100 mph. Twenty years ago, only about 100 pitches were thrown that hard in a season. The pitching has gotten so good, that hitting has greatly decreased. So we have less balls in play and if it is in play, the hitters are less likely to get a hit because of the shift. This means, you got it, less action.
Some changes have been made to stop this, but not much. It is still the same game and has not had a huge affect.
Universal DH: This is a long time coming. Currently, only the American League (AL) has the Designated Hitter. In the National League (NL), the pitcher actually bats. When I am in an NL park, I use this time to go take a pee, because there is a very good chance that nothing is going to happen. It is usually strike out and a bad bunt attempt. In 2021, pitchers batted .109 which is the lowest since 1916. This is horrendous. It is time to kiss this dinosaur goodbye. Like I say to my NL fan friends, "Who would you rather see hit? Jon Lester or David Ortiz?" This is a no brainer. Let the pitchers concentrate on pitching. For those few pitchers that are good hitters, let me come into the game as pinch hitters once in a while.
The Relief Pitcher problem: The game really slows down in the mid to late innings. This is because teams have some many specialty pitchers now, they bring them in whenever they need them. Some pitchers would come in for one batter and then another and another etc. This means that play stops, the old pitcher walks away often when a manager visits the mound, the new one arrives and he gets warm throws. It is crazy slow. The new batter minimum rule says that the pitcher has to stay in the game for at least three batters or finish the half inning. It was instituted for the COVID season, 2020, and stayed around. The big impact this rule has had is that sometimes a pitcher just doesn't have his stuff and he stays in the game giving up bombs or walking the bases loaded. I like it but, please note, not when it is the Red Sox having this problem. I do think this rule has help speed up the game.
Extra Innings: A big complaint from players and basically, everyone involved in putting the game on, is that extra inning games can go on forever. Even television stations hate it because the unpredictable length of the game screws up broadcast schedules. The new rule, introduced during the COVID year, puts a runner on second base at the start of the extra inning. Whoever made the last out in the previous inning, gets put on second base. I was prepared to hate this rule, but I ended up loving it. It has a sudden-death quality that I find appealing. The best action in baseball is when there is a runner in scoring position (aka on second or third). With someone on second immediately, it is tense right away. The problem with the rule is that I don't think it speeds up the game. I haven't seen the numbers yet, but I noticed that often both teams score a run in the 10th and it goes onto the 11th because they are still in a tie.
Seven inning double headers: Since COVID, when two games are played in one day (aka a double header), those games are only seven innings. I hate this rule. It made sense when they first started playing during COVID, limiting people exposure to each other. Now that most of the players are vaccinated, we can get rid of this which I believe they are. MLB hasn't reduced the price of seven inning games which is bullshit. They owe refunds to a lot of fans. Baseball games are nine innings ... enough said.
Pitch clocks: Currently, there is a pitch thrown in an MLB game every 24.9 seconds. A 15 second pitch clock would really speed things up. It is being used in some Single A leagues and college games now. The time would be increased if there is a runner on base. It is doubtful if MLB will ever implement this. There is some concern that decreasing the time between pitches, may increase injury due to less recovery time.
Restricting the shift: Starting in 2022, infielders will have to start the game on the infield. Crazy huh! Sometimes they go further back onto the outfield grass. For some, this doesn't go far enough. I have heard some, like Joe Girardi, say that Short Stops and Third Basemen should have to start the inning on the left, Second and First Basemen on the right side of the field and the outfielders have to be in the outfield. So far I haven't heard any talk of this.
If you are confused as to what a shift is, this is a video on how the Houston Astros shift against Joey Gallo:
Since Gallo usually hits to the right, the Astros put most of their fielders on the right side of the field. It worked.
Cap on mound visits: Each team has a limit of five mound visits during a nine inning game. This rule was introduced in 2016. In extra innings the teams get more. A counter is displayed in most parks, if not all, showing the number each team has used. Mound visits do slow down the game, but I don't think this rule has helped speed the game up at all. Only once have I seen a team run out of mound visits and it was the Yankees in the Wild Card game mentioned in the first paragraph. If they really want to speed up the game, eliminate mound visit altogether. The pitcher is on their own. That would improve hitting as well.
Automatic intentional walk: When a player is intentionally walked, prior to 2017, a pitcher would lob four balls way outside the strike zone and the batter would take his base. Under the new rule, the manager just has to point to first base and the player is walked saving a little time. I have a few problems with this. One: it has happened in the past where the catcher has missed one of these lobs and the base runners advanced. Albeit, this is very rare, but very amusing when it does. Two: if you are in the stadium watching the game, you often don't notice this happens. It is confusing. A lot of people are saying "how did that runner got onto first?". They put this info on the jumbotron, but if you miss it, you are out of luck. If you are in old enjoyable park like Fenway, Wrigley, Camden Yards or Yankee stadium, some stranger around you may fill you in. If you are in one of the very loud stadiums like Tropicana Field, Guaranteed Rate Field or Minute Maid Park, you will just have to sit in ignorance because no one can hear each other because they are blasting Lady Ga Ga. No talking to strangers in those parks.
My Wish List:
Perhaps I am old school, but I don't think the game needs to change at all. I think it is perfect. Young people, not all, will love the game if you expose them to it. Many won't. Don't ruin your product that fans love to reach a crowd that may never be into it, no matter what. It is not football, soccer or basketball.
Here are some changes I'd make if I were commissioner of baseball. Please note: none of them have to do with game play.
1) Every Sunday night, ESPN gets the Sunday night game. All other games are during the day. This sounds great except that for people like me, who don't have ESPN, I can't watch it. MLB-TV blacks out these games as well, out of market or not. Not only that, their coverage is awful. They spend most of the game pontificating about metrics, launch angles, past games and jerking each other's chain, often ignoring what is happening on the field. Everyone I know that watches these games, mutes it and listens to their local radio broadcast. If I were commissioner, I take the Sunday game away from them and give it to TBS or even Fox.
2) Singing is fun at a ball park. The American and Canadian national anthems, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," "Sweet Caroline" at Fenway, "Go Cubs Go" at Wrigley and "Thank God I'm Country Boy" at Camden Yards are all very much appropriate and some of them are a lot of fun. After the 911 Terrorist Attacks, most (if not all) ball parks introduced "God Bless America" into the rotation. Some parks still play it. Some only play it on weekends and holidays but it is still out there. Sometimes an announcement comes over the loud speaker telling to stand up and put your hand on your heart. One: This is not our national anthem so no I don't stand or put my hand on my heart. Two: I don't believe in God or god. Three: even if I did, I don't think god would bless any nation over any other. This is an awful, offensive and divisive song and I resent getting the stink-eye every time I refuse to stand up for it. It has not place in a ball park. Games are supposed to bring us together. Even the song's writer didn't like the song. Irving Berlin kept it in a draw for twenty years before he shared it. If I were commissioner: Can the song!
3) Mid season trades really bother me. In the middle of the year, the team that you root for becomes a very different team over night. If, in March, you bought a ticket for a September Cubs or Nationals game this year, the team that was on the field in September was nothing like the team that you bought the tickets for. Also, I wonder what advertisers think who have paid for the broadcast of a team of stars but then, mid-season a bunch of no-name players take the field. Even if you are on other end of these trade, receiving the stars not losing them, it is annoying. I would much rather the Red Sox develop their young first baseman, Bobby Dalbec, than trade for someone to replace him with Kyle Schwarber, even though I really love the ex-Cub. I was rooting for one team up until July and then ... boom ... mid-season it is a different team. Every team has a farm system to pull from. If I were commissioners, the trade deadline would be April 1st, no exception.
Today is October 19th. Game 4 of the ALCS is tonight and I cannot wait. My trial subscription to YouTube TV runs out tomorrow. If there is a Game 6 or 7, how am I going to watch them? I have no idea. The World Series is on Fox, a channel I have in my cable package. I can pay $50 or so for games 6 and 7. Oh no, I'm not. Crazy!
