MLB 2023 Season

[Syd Thrift]

Originally Posted by rudel.dietrich

I gave the Braves-Nationals a chance and the game was moving with some pace.
I may find myself watching more baseball this year

Yeah, I am really liking the fact that at bats don’t take 30 minutes all the time now. Hope they keep enforcing the pitch clock…

[Cobra Mgr]

my favorite uniform # just became 222

[Cobra Mgr]

Roger Clemens.........

[kq76]

Wow. That Blue Jays-Cardinals OD game was one of the most back and forth affairs I've ever seen (final score was 10-9 for the Jays).

And get this, at the point when Knizner popped up that bunt attempt, my catcher did the exact same thing a few seconds later while playing OOTP. Hah!

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

my favorite uniform # just became 222

mistake

[monkeyman576]

Active players with at least 15 years experience:
Miguel Cabrera(20)
Yadier Molina(19)
Nelson Cruz(18)
Joey Votto(16)
Evan Longoria(15)

[Syd Thrift]

I’m not sure what I liked more, the fact that the Mariners won or that the entire game took 2 hours and 16 minutes to play. Okay, of course I liked the win more but wow, the pitch clock is great!

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Syd Thrift

I’m not sure what I liked more, the fact that the Mariners won or that the entire game took 2 hours and 16 minutes to play. Okay, of course I liked the win more but wow, the pitch clock is great!

Agree. I see no downside.

[kq76]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Agree. I see no downside.

While I like it overall, I do agree with those who want it off during the ninth inning or later as long as the game is within a certain score. What that is, maybe 4 runs or less, I don't know. I just like the drama and I don't see the need to race through the most drama-packed part of the game.

I can't help but think that with all this time saved they're just ultimately going to increase commercial length anyway. Before with baseball I always felt like I could go make a drink, get a snack, use the washroom, but now it's, "oh no, you better hold it, you can't risk missing anything". I kind of liked the slow leisurely pace of baseball. It was just too slow with nothing happening. Call me Goldilocks if you want, but this is probably too fast. I'll admit it, I was all for it before, but I'm wanting to pull in the reins a bit now.

I think what was worse about the last several years in baseball was the next to no action and I think they may have solved that. Today alone I saw several bloop singles into shallow right field that probably would have been outs last year. And yeah, the faster pace is probably at least somewhat contributing to the increase in action as players are probably making more mistakes, but I'm less sold than before that game length is what we should focus on to improve the game. The action and drama is what matters.

[Westheim]

There's still a few things to iron out here and there. Jeff McNeil had a strike called on him (putting him at 0-2), because Big Pete allegedly walked back to first base too slowly on a foul ball, as divined by home plate umpire Larry Vanover. Let's stay real, okay...?

And I say that even though McNeil ended up singling home a run in the same at-bat.

[monkeyman576]

The downside is that MLB thinks that any new rule is a good new rule, and when it comes to robot umps, ghost runners, and banning the shift, I disagree.

[Westheim]

The one I really hate is the "three disengagements is a balk" rule.

[Boomcoach]

Originally Posted by Westheim

The one I really hate is the "three disengagements is a balk" rule.

That one doesn't thrill me, but I think that the clock is pretty meaningless without it, if the pitcher can just step off any time the clock gets low.

[dsvitak]

Cards-Blue Jays took well over four hours. In the old days, it would have been five and a half.

[Syd Thrift]

Originally Posted by kq76

While I like it overall, I do agree with those who want it off during the ninth inning or later as long as the game is within a certain score. What that is, maybe 4 runs or less, I don't know. I just like the drama and I don't see the need to race through the most drama-packed part of the game.

Nah, screw this. There's still going to be plenty of pausing late in games when pitching changes are made and when the manager goes out to talk to a guy. I'm rewatching the bottom of the 8th in the Seattle game right now, where the M's got 2 guys on base for a Ty France HR to break open a 0-0 game and the pace was fine. The pitcher still got to waste a *little* bit of time by throwing over to first base a little bit (although he almost overthrew once) but by and large guys just had to get in there and go. Right before the France dinger was a long at-bat by Kolten Wong that had a couple of fouls and ended with a 3-2 HBP and it was just plain great that it didn't slow down interminably.

I think the best parallel is to the way close NBA games grind down into slowness. Some people like that; I suspect most people kind of don't but accept it as part of the game. Baseball doesn't have to lie back and think of England this way and I'm glad they're not. If anything, the games wrapping up much more quickly might help the league to do away with the ghost runner rule, and if I'm really being a purist here, I'd waaay rather have an enforced pitch clock and no ghost runners instead of extra innings slowing back down to a crawl with the extra guy on 2nd to open every inning.

[Syd Thrift]

Originally Posted by dsvitak

Cards-Blue Jays took well over four hours. In the old days, it would have been five and a half.

I had a double-header in OOTP wind up with I think it was 38 runs scored by both teams combined. I thought that could be a record but nope, not even close! I actually still don't know what the double-header record is for runs scored but in 1922 the Cubs beat the Phillies 26-23 in a *single game*. The Cubs were even up something like 24-6 at one point before letting Philadelphia back into it.

Anyway, the total time for that game? 3 hours and 1 minute. Let's not pretend for a second that time-wasting by every single batter is an integral part of the game's history.

[rudel.dietrich]

Small sample size. But opening day games were 26 minutes shorter than last year's games.

Yes, please
I very much think I will watch more baseball than in the past few years which had been dwindling down to close to the single digits.

In the 2000s it was my favorite sport and now I barely even pay attention.
And I am still a demo that MLB should think they can capture.


The only other “issue” is that I don’t really care about any other team besides the Braves. They have always been my favorite team. But back when I was a fan, I could watch any two teams.
That is not the case anymore. But that is more of a "me" problem than anything.

I wish this years The Show had been better. It would of gotten it and maybe some games in that would of gotten me used to more players and teams
But Sony seems to have forgotten they released a next gen system and that game has crept along in development since the PS5.

But I digress. Baseball is fun again and that is really exciting since I do enjoy the sport. It has just become this horribly bloated and unwatchable mess.

A few things still need to be done around the edges. But this is a huge step forward.

[Boomcoach]

This is much more a "me" issue than a widespread one, but one thing that has helped me maintain an interest in MLB for a long time was ESPN's Baseball Tonight.

It came on at 11, my time, right about the time that my wife usually goes to bed, I am usually up another hours or so. It was usually entertaining, gave me a good catchup of the days games, helped me keep track of who was hot around the league and generally talked MLB to me for half an hour every night.

I really have not found a replacement for this. For two years I have been unable to watch any of the local teams that I follow, and MLB has not seemed interesting enough for me to go out and hunt down the information to keep my interest.

[monkeyman576]

Originally Posted by Boomcoach

This is much more a "me" issue than a widespread one, but one thing that has helped me maintain an interest in MLB for a long time was ESPN's Baseball Tonight.

It came on at 11, my time, right about the time that my wife usually goes to bed, I am usually up another hours or so. It was usually entertaining, gave me a good catchup of the days games, helped me keep track of who was hot around the league and generally talked MLB to me for half an hour every night.

I really have not found a replacement for this. For two years I have been unable to watch any of the local teams that I follow, and MLB has not seemed interesting enough for me to go out and hunt down the information to keep my interest.

Switch to T-Mobile and get MLBtv for free.

[Boomcoach]

Originally Posted by monkeyman576

Switch to T-Mobile and get MLBtv for free.

Won't help me watch my teams, until Bally finally gives up the RSNs. Do they have a good evening wrap-up show?