[greymule]

"Undoubtedly?" You are certain that no other factor over all those years had/has anything to do with the lengthening of games from 1903 to now?

I'll stop trying to use irony in my posts.

I would not say it is because the umpire has a 2 second delay on his strike call. This would only account for anywhere from 5 to 8 minutes extra per game, and that is negligible.

And even an umpire's delay in making a call does not mean that the next pitch is delayed by the same—or any—amount of time.

Box scores from the old days reveal a lot about the changes in the psychology of the game. Yes, pitchers were expected to complete their games if possible. Looking at the old records, you can see that Johnson, Mathewson, Dean, Hubbell, et al. were often left in when their teams had decent leads. If Dizzy Dean had a 6-1 lead after 7 innings, the Cards' manager would let him finish even if he gave up 2 or 3 runs in the 8th and 9th. Today, after 7 he'd be finished, trouble or not.

The times of the old games indicate why my dad, in 1937, could leave school, get to the Polo Grounds for a 3 o'clock game, and get home for dinner.

My dad says that fans could leave by the field exits, and minor equipment like the rosin bag was just left on the field. Nobody touched it. He also says that on the subway ride home, he'd sometimes see players. Fans would say things like, "Nice double in the eighth, Mel," and the player would thank the fan. I wonder how many players ride the NYC subway today.