T1B

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/12351 ... play-rules

New rules to speed up the game will be tried out this season.

One of them will require keeping one foot in the batter's box between most pitches. No more stepping out, walking around in a 20 foot circle, scratching balls and adjusting both batting gloves between every pitch. Nothing but good can come from this.

Chuck Knoblauch and Nomar would be turning over in their graves (if they were dead).

Knob would be so upset he would attempt a throw to first spike the ball in disgust.

I'll take less offense if the games move along a little quicker. I wasn't a fan of the shrinking the strike zone talk earlier.

If the owners tie shorter ballgames to lost revenue we can expect to see this go away quickly.

Prototype wrote:If the owners tie shorter ballgames to lost revenue we can expect to see this go away quickly.

Don't see that happening.

Shorter games= more fan/family friendly experience= more asses in seats

The longer commercial time between innings and pitching changes, which has doubled the last fifty years, that has nothing to do with the games being longer, does it?

No no. Of course it's just player histrionics.

For watching the game at home which is where I watch 99% of Tigers games, the shorter the better although I'll do the TiVo delay thing and wait a half hour and then skip through commercials. I'm generally alright with a 9 inning game that goes 3 hours.

I think most people will go who already go to games. The casual fan doesn't go to many games. You might get more eyes on games on TV if they move along a little quicker.

When you're at the park, I don't think 20 or 30 seconds between innings is going to make the difference between being able to run to the bathroom or run to get a snack or beer and not miss any of the game. Many of the stands at Comerica either overlook the field or there's monitors nearby so you can watch while you're in line. If you get up between innings, it's a given that you're not going to get back to your seat when the next pitch is thrown. Or rely on the beer guy that comes down the aisles.

R-Jack wrote:Knob would be so upset he would attempt a throw to first spike the ball in disgust.