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Originally Posted by EarlWeaver4
I also think that it was a different game in the 80s. You had an element of the game which is an endangered species today: speed. The National League had ballparks in Montreal, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Houston which were the infamous "cookie-cutter", multi-purpose stadiums with AstroTurf. Some of those teams had guys who stole more bases individually than most teams do now. It was a faster-paced game then with stolen bases, hit-and-runs, bunts, etc. In the American League, you didn't have as many teams utilizing this strategy, but Toronto, Minnesota, Kansas City and Seattle did especially the Royals.
I don't think fans have a problem with a leisurely pace; it's the lethargic pace they dislike.
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Valid points from you and the previous posts. A key issue is that baseball is a daily event. Football games are once a week so even when you have a night game, staying up late for one night is a mild annoyance. Baseball is six or seven nights a week. The average fan isn’t willing to invest three-plus hours in a game.
I grew up a baseball junkie and it remains my favorite game. That being said, we went to the DC United soccer game and it was wonderful to have the game run for almost exactly two hours. I’m not saying that baseball should target two hours but having constant action for a fairly well defined time period was refreshing,