Cowboy Joe Rips Yankees/Red Sox
 

Tell it like it is, Joe! All of baseball needs to step up the damn pace. 3.5 hours and longer is a joke!

I'm with Joe, but
 

for a completely clueless/fanboy viewpoint check out

Joe West - Sox Yankees games "Pathetic & Embarrassing" - Sons of Sam Horn

I laughed at this, mainly cause it's so over the top:

The NFL changed it's scheduled start times (Eastern)

Used to be 1:00 & 4:00

Now 1:00 & 4:15

Because games are taking over three hours.

But Hey - it's FOOTBALL so it's OK that the games are that long.

What's the wall clock time for an NBA game or an NHL game?

Why isn't anyone complaining about them?

Perception; they have clocks. You think you can know when it will end. Who knows when a baseball game will end?

For hockey, most games start at 6:05PM (locally) and they're over by about 8:40PM at the latest.

There are MLB games that start at 7:35PM locally that run until near midnight. No other sport has games that run (routinely) over 4 hours.

Also, the NFL has a 17 week schedule, and the NBA and NHL play half the games MLB does. Fewer games means I'm more tolerant of long games. But when my team plays 10 days in a row, I don't want to stay up till midnight every night watching night games.

I'll caveat by saying I attend a lot of games at all levels - HS, College, and Pro.

Baseball is the slowest with the most "potential lack of activity." The other sports you talk about all are faster with much going on (good or bad) and forced (albeit breif sometimes) activity.

In baseball, there is the possibility, that a pitcher and catcher can be the only action....and, if someone gets to first/second and we start shaking off pitches, stepping out of the box, and tossing the ball to the base, there can be a great deal of inactivity/slow action which can get boring.

I like em all, but there is a distinct difference between watching them all - especially in person.

I know this might not be popular, but it's just my $.2. Just saying.

And this is the exact reason I haven't taken my (just-turned) 3-year-old to a professional baseball game. His attention span isn't long enough to endure the pauses in baseball. He has been to a few of the games I've umpired, but he spends more time at the playground nearby.

I have taken him to hockey games, though. When the clock is running, there is *something* for him to watch, whether near the puck or not. And, when the clock is stopped, there's music and loud noises that keep him interested.

It's getting worse and worse for MLB. They must not care if they continue to lose their fans... took my son to Astros/Red Sox game last year and it was rediculous how much time they took between innings. I know they have to pay for advertising, but it was bad, and it was a low scoring closer game than some.

Last night Yankeees what was it 3-1. Should have been 2 1/2 hr.

Give me Greg Maddox on the mound anyday and lets get it over under 2hr.

Thanks
David

Because they are action packed. I am not an avid hockey fan as I once was but IMO it is a great sport to see in person. Action up and down the ice.

NBA and football are the same meaning there is "action" going on.

Baseball has too much "down time" within the game. Also, the Yankee pitcher's (although they will not admit it publically) do not like Posada to catch them. Constantly during the game when Posada catches he goes out and talks to the pitchers more then any other catcher I know of.

MLB needs to so something about player conferences. There should be ONE visit ALLOWED to F1 by any member of the team PERIOD. In other words if F2 talks to F1 that is a charged conference.

Also, forget about throwing 4 balls on an IBB. Use the FED rule. I know people will bring up Rolly Fingers pitching to Johnny Bench in the world series but in MLB how many times has their been a mishap on an IBB.

The strike zone. It is different from back in the day. More strikes need to be called and I am not talking about the Eric Gregg strike zone.

In other words when a baseball game takes 3.5 to 4 hours to complete for the most part it is BORING compared to a Hockey / football or basketball game where there is constant action.

Pete Booth

The NBA's brand of basketball has become a sad joke on what was once a wonderful game.

Curt Schilling blows a lot of gas, but some of what he says here is spot on:

"Not to mention [West] often times acts like he'd rather be any place in the world other than the field.''

"... Part of the reason their games are slower is because [the Yanks' and Sox's] offenses are so deep, and so good. Hitters never give away at-bats. Every pitch matters, on both sides, for nine innings."

"The reason the games are slow is very clear, and one not many will print -- TV. Ad revenue has gotten to the point that TV is allowed to dictate pace of game, not the game itself."

Gee - the NFL and NBA and NCAA have all those TV commercial time-outs where the players are just standing around sucking their thumbs for a couple of minutes at a time. Keep track sometime of how often commercials interrupt play and how long the interruptions last. It's dead time on the field when that's happening.

Most baseball parks have something going on during the breaks - whether it be the Phanatic, a sausage race, or something on the giant screen in CF - or in the minors the beanbag toss, toilet musical chairs, tee-shirt cannon, fan-quiz or whatever promotion is happening that night.

If you're bored it's because your team is behind and you have little faith in their ability to catch up.

I agree that TV is a major problem. What is it like 2:25 per commercial break? That alone is a minimum of 16 breaks in the game. That is over 30 minutes there(too lazy to do exact math).

I love baseball. I can stand to watch 4 hours of it. I think the problem is time. Many times, I don't have 4 hours to waste like that. It detracts from other things.

Football has a lot of down time. Actually, the average offense/defense is only playing about 20 minutes of the game. Much of it is standing around and letting the clock go down. Not to mention the clock stopping for incompletes and out of bounds. It is perceived different but it is very similar. An average of 30 or more seconds is wasted between each play. That adds up.

I agree that the clock probably makes the perception different. Everyone knows how much time is in the game unlike baseball. They know the end is coming.

Cut out the commercials and it would probably get a lot better. After that, then they can discuss rule changes. I think they need to get to the "heart of the matter" first -- TV commercials.