Why does every rule change make the game worse? And the main complaint is always that the games are "too long" yet most rule changes just make the games longer.

This sudden new rule change- I guess it's actually more about how the umpires are enforcing a rule that was changed awhile ago- regarding how the catcher sets up on plays at the plate is absurd. And nobody seems to understand what the rule actually is.

If you're so worried about collisions at the plate just make home an automatic forceout like at first. The catcher has the ball and touches the plate before the runner tags, the guy is out. No collisions.

And for God's sake, get rid of the ponderous replay review. It's ruined the game. Every great bang bang play can't be appreciated until after it has been pored over by some dopes in New York as if it were the Zapruder film. At that point all the excitement has been drained from the ballpark. And the same amount of calls are gotten wrong anyway. Replay review should be reserved for home runs.

Not to mention the lawyering that goes on at second base during a double play. Double plays used to be one of the most gorgeous things in the game. Now they're subject to careful examination before they are allowed to stand. And that holding the tag on a runner to see if he slightly comes off the base on a steal or close play reminds me of the Jewish kids I grew up with arguing about technicalities during pickup games.

The real change that needs to be made they can't be bothered to address. There needs to be a reduction in walks and strikeouts. It make take some experimentation to get there in a way that works, but that experimentation should immediately begin in the minor leagues.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Kash, and Don

keep the lawyering

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

It's still a wonderful game no matter how much they try to screw it up. Minimizing the starting pitchers role, data geeks power, fear praising, soft weak injury prone sjw players, guaranteed contracts. Tinkering with rules seems like a band-aid fix to a game disintegrating before our very eyes. There's going to be a point where it's not watchable anymore if things continue as they are.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Kash, and Don

The pitch clock is great and hitter clocks are great. Give the pitcher a QB helmet so they can get the signs that way and not get their head blown off by liners while also making them pitch worse. I know they have some push button system now, but take it farther.

Keep the bases the same size, but put a safety base at first. It's always annoyed me as an umpire that the running lane is in foul territory and 1st base is fair, so that fixes it. Unlike the complaining when they tried to clean up the collisions at 2nd, no one will actually complain that they actually like baseball because of collisions at 1st. Don't make it orange though, that looks bad.

The shift. Eh, don't have a strong feeling either way.

Fewer pointless pick-off attempts are good.

As more guys that played in the minors come up that have dealt with these rules, the smoother it will be.

Replay has to be killed...the conversation starts and ends there.
Limiting bullpen changes is a must.
Pitch clocks and hitter in box restrictions would be welcome.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the shift. That's the least of baseball's problems.

Agree with KD on 1st base

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Absolutely wrong.

If guys like CB Bucknor and Angel Hernandez are going to still be employed as MLB umpires, replay must remain a part of the game.

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As I’ve said about replay in every sport, you get 15 seconds to look at it. If it’s not obvious enough to overturn by then, leave it.

I would say 30, maybe 45 seconds, but agree with the overall premise. If its not an egregious mistake, the call on the field stands.

But Angel Hernandez has egregious mistakes nearly every game, if not every inning.

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*ding ding*

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I can't stand the banning of shifts. I would have much rather seen them move the mound back five feet if the goal was to increase offensive production.

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Let me know when a professional sports league actually does this. I agree with you in theory, but the reality is they just can't help themselves to use replay time as a smoke break. It's awful in every sport.

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I think I posted this in another thread here.

I believe the best way to reduce both strikeouts and walks is to limit the number of pitchers that can pitch in a game per team. For discussion purposes, let's call it four. If you've only got four pitchers per night, your pitchers, especially your starting pitcher, has to be less reliant on the strikeout which likely drives up his pitch count, and needs to pitch more to contact.

When you have more contact, you have more baserunners via a hit, or an error. When you have more baserunners and pitchers who are pitching more to contact you have hitters that are less likely to be hunting for a walk because (a) fewer walks will be issued because pitchers are seeking contact and (b) you're not looking just to get a guy on for a hoped for 2-3 run HR, but can actually sustain a rally.

Right now pitchers can essentially hunt for a K for every batter because they don't have to worry about pitching deep into a game or for multiple innings. So the mindset is hunt the K, and the BB doesn't matter because you'll K the next guy. If you've only got four pitchers to use that evening, having your starting pitcher pitch 4 and 2/3 striking out 8 and walking 3 while racking up 105 pitches isn't a viable alternative.

The players union would never go for limiting the number of pitchers because that would devalue the high priced closers and setup guys. Also you start limiting pitchers and its only a matter of time before games are shortened to 7 innings. Extra innings would also longer exist and you have outcomes determined with a home run derby or something akin to a hockey shootout.

Sure starters sometimes nibble and are hunting for the K, but there are also times where the starter just doesn't have it and after 6 runs in 2+ innings the manager has to make a move. Now you have 3 pitchers to cover 20 outs or more? That seems like a recipe for disaster and even more pitching injuries.

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The highest paid pitchers are starting pitchers, you create more need for developing starting pitching and there will be more of those guys to make big dollars. Someone like Scherzer probably makes more this season than 20 closers combined.

High paid set-up guys. LOL. The whole theory behind how teams have set up their staffs is that you just have 8 guys in the pen who are easily replaced with AAA ready made guys who just come in and throw 98 with a wipeout slider until they break down. Essentially the team to perfect or first use the current model of 5 inning SP and then 4 flame throwers is Tampa Bay, you think those guys developed their staff around a model that would require "high priced set up guys". The whole modern pitching staff is built, and I mean BUILT, around knowing that you have an endless supply of arms that you can ramp up to throwing 97+ with one other pitch.

Sure, there are definitely times when a starter doesn't have it, and you take him out, that's when you bring in your swing man or long reliever. Those are roles that aren't filled in the modern bullpen because you don't need a guy who can get you 9-15 outs from the bullpen because you've just stocked your pen with a revolving door of guys who stomp around the mound between throwing 97+ MPH fastballs. You limit your usage to four pitchers a game, and every staff is going to have at minimum two long men. These guys used to be plentiful all over baseball. Danny Darwins, Dave Draveckys, Don Robinsons, etc.

Another way to limit strikeouts and walks is to blatantly cheat like the Astros did to win a World Series. Maybe the game would be better if everyone cheated as bad as the Astros did when they won the World Series.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

This doesn't refute much of what I said, and the days of starters throwing 300+ innings are long gone. This isn't 1960. Max Four/Five pitchers a game will never happen.

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The bigger bases and limit of pickoffs should increase SB, and therefore knock down the walks a little bit. Hit and run should go up a bit too. I'd put the rubber back 6" to start out with and see how that goes.

The shift annoys me. It's probably a sound strategy, but it's gaming the system. To me, banning the shift is the baseball equivalent of the 24 second clock. It's a directive to stop f$$cking around and play baseball.

I get it. It annoys me too, but apparently it doesn't annoy hitters. It's a give-in.

I would think any decent hitter would love it. The fact that MANY don’t take advantage is an indictment of them.

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“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

I agree with KD and Frank on this.

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“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

If you're a good power hitter I can see why you would ignore it and just do your thing. The chance of hitting the homerun could very well outweigh the near certain single. For the rank and file hitter, however, you're absolutely right.
If those hitters won't help themselves and beat the shift, baseball is just going to have to do it for them. No shifts equals more hits and more action on the base paths.

100%.

The defensive positioning index card in the baseball cap has to go.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Nobody is looking at running a guy out there for 300+ innings a year. You limit teams to four pitchers per game and you're going to develop a whole lot more 235 IP starting pitchers, and multiple inning relief pitchers. The more innings a guy has to throw, the more efficient he's got to be with his pitches. The more efficient he's got to be the fewer strikeouts he's going to hunt. The more balls in play, fewer walks, etc.

I'm not saying that capping the pitchers is on the horizon, I'm just saying that if you view the prevalence of walks and K's as a problem for the entertainment value of baseball, capping the number of pitchers per team per game is probably the most sure fire way to reduce K's and walks.

It appears the pitch clock may speed the games up somewhat. But there are limits to that because of commercials, especially in postseason.

The truth is, the length of the games isn't the real problem. Game 6 of the 1975 World Series lasted four hours and nobody complained that it was "too long."

The problem is the game is boring as shit as batters try to coax walks and take as many pitches as possible. Any rule change should be designed to get more balls in play. Period.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Kash, and Don

Yeah, that’s why I’d love to see the automatic strike zone in combination with a rule where a called strike counts as two strikes. If you go up there swinging, you get three or more chances to swing (depending on foul balls). If you are looking to nibble, you might only get two. I see no downside to this. It would save pitchers’ arms, speed up the game, and get batters to swing. I wouldn’t advocate for it with umps calling balls and strikes, but that issue is close to being solved.

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This past week Jack McDowell struggled to articulate that the rule changes don't fix the core problems dragging the game down strikeouts, launch angle, metrics. It went over P & S heads and they just mocked him.

"Manfred's man" on 2nd cheapens the game. Extra innings games are baseball at its best. But they clash with using 15 pitchers in 2-1 9 inning games ...so bye-bye.