Ok,

[greymule]

I love baseball, but the pace of MLB games today is murderous. I find myself working in my office while the TV plays the living room. If things start happening, I go watch.

MLB needs a lot more than a 12-second clock. How they're filling the parks, I don't know. And it's not just MLB: last Saturday, my partner complained to me about the 3-hour, 40-minute regulation Legion game he had endured the night before.

I know you can't really compare baseball today with baseball 100 years ago, but . . .

In the 29 games of the first 5 World Series (1903, 1905-1908), the average time of game was 1:52. A half inning—time between third outs—took on average 6 minutes and 17 seconds. (Seems like it takes that long between innings today.) The 29 games saw a total of 15 relief pitchers.

The 4 games of the 2005 World Series averaged 3:51. A half inning took on average 11 minutes, 25 seconds. Game 3 (14 innings) took 5 hours, 41 minutes. The White Sox and Astros used 15 relief pitchers in game 3, and 31 in the 4 games.

[mbyron]

Fans think they want a lot of scoring, without realizing that base runners lengthen the game. Baseball is a business, so the customer is always right...

[Jim Porter]

Here's video of the two incidents. The umpires had issued a warning about the pitcher taking too much time during Magglio Ordonez's at-bat just prior to the first incident. The warning was explained to manager Eric Wedge.

http://menotomyjournal.com/mlbvids/eddings1.wmv
http://menotomyjournal.com/mlbvids/eddings2.wmv

[fitump56]

Originally Posted by greymule

I love baseball, but the pace of MLB games today is murderous. I find myself working in my office while the TV plays the living room. If things start happening, I go watch.

MLB needs a lot more than a 12-second clock. How they're filling the parks, I don't know..

Disneyland. most MLB parks are entertainment venues with basball as a side show.

[Jurassic Referee]

Apparently MLB issues a list to their umpiring staff on what pitchers, hitters, etc. are delaying the game. Makes sense.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...707050386/1048

[PeteBooth]

In the 29 games of the first 5 World Series (1903, 1905-1908), the average time of game was 1:52. A half inning—time between third outs—took on average 6 minutes and 17 seconds. (Seems like it takes that long between innings today.) The 29 games saw a total of 15 relief pitchers.

The 4 games of the 2005 World Series averaged 3:51. A half inning took on average 11 minutes, 25 seconds. Game 3 (14 innings) took 5 hours, 41 minutes. The White Sox and Astros used 15 relief pitchers in game 3, and 31 in the 4 games.

What were the average players salary back then?

MLB can do certain things but the almighty dollar has taken over which IMO is the biggest reason for the lenght of games.

Another BIG factor that needs to be addressed is when a team is warming up a pitcher in the bullpen.

First F2 will go out and talk to F1
Then the pitching coach goes out and talks to F1 and
Finally the manager (especially Joe Torre) takes that SLOOOW walk out to the mound and F1 is finally removed
Then when the change is made another set of commercials

I do not know about you but I very rarely watch a MLB game these days from start to finish.

I know it will NEVER happen but regardless of the purists baseball should be TIMED especially in the amateur game.

High Schools in certain areas have put time limits on games below the varsity level. Also, there is nothing like doing a weekend tournament in which time limits are imposed except fro the Championship Game.

Pete Booth