Time To Shorten the Baseball Season?

• sherm03

  

  My buddy posted this on my Facebook wall today.
  
  http://www.npr.org/2011/08/31/140034507/too-many-days-hath-september-and-baseball
  
  Interesting thought. I agree with a lot of what the author says. I think baseball would have more fans if the season were shorter. I think the best way to do it is to eliminate inter-league play. Taking out those nearly 20 games gets us down near that 140 number, and inter-league play sucks anyways.
  
  However, I completely disagree with the author about expanding the playoffs to 16 teams. Instead, I say we move one NL team to the AL to balance them at 15. Then do away with divisions altogether. Top 4 from each league make it into the playoffs.
  
  What do you guys think?
• Hb31187

  

  Baseball def would have more fans if the season was longer. The season lasts entirely too long, gets boring after a while. But I wouldnt expand the playoffs to 16 teams, thats a little much. (kinda like its too much in the NBA)
  
  But I doubt it ever happens
• thavoice

  I love interleague play.
  
  
  IF they would ever shorten it dont expect it to be less than 154. The game is predicated on records, stats, etc etc etc. That is what is used to be and dont expect it to change at all.
• Hb31187

  

  Yeah, thats probably the main reason they wont ever change it. Because then the records for hits, hrs, ect ect will NEVER be touched. And baseball more than any other sport, is stat obsessed lol
• karen lotz

  

  The games only get boring to fans of teams who have fallen out of the playoff race. 16 playoff teams is WAAAAAY too many. If you look at the standings right now, the Reds and the Mets would be playoff teams with the LOLDodgers only a half game out.
• thavoice

  Hb31187;880757 wrote:Yeah, thats probably the main reason they wont ever change it. Because then the records for hits, hrs, ect ect will NEVER be touched. And baseball more than any other sport, is stat obsessed lol

  More than any other sport....baseball is stat obsessed. Maybe because there are sooo many diff stats in the game, and each player pretty much has the same opportunity to garner those stats. Plus.....baseball is a game where there is a perfect balance between team and individual accomplishments. You can be on an awful baseball team but still shine individually, more than in other sports.
• Ironman92

  

  Sports seasons aren't getting shorter. Not everyone likes baseball. I love baseball.....there are no close races...but I don't care...still love baseball over everything else..
  
  There are far more things to do than there used to be......there are still plenty of fans to keep baseball going.
• Al Bundy

  Four hour games bother me more than 162 games. Make hitters stay in the box, and make pitchers pitch in a timely manner.
• Sykotyk

  

  Baseball needs to embark on a 'two-tier' schedule.
  
  Play 120~ or so games with all 30 teams. After that, the dead weight gets cut (say, 16 teams continue playing, the worst 14 stop playing). The schedule could be a simple AL/NL round robin of three home and three away against the other 7 teams in your league. Everybody starts off again with a clean slate. The top four advance to the playoffs, etc.
  
  Teams with nothing to play for already dump salary every year and only act as obstacles or gateways to playoffs for the teams that still have a chance.
  
  Better to just truly end their seasons than to let them play like they've ended.
• Mulva

  

  Like most aspects of the major sports leagues, I think the NFL has the best playoff model.
  
  12/30 teams getting in (or 32 in football) is a good ratio. 8 might be too few, but 16 is way too many. There's a reason that 7 and 8 seeds don't win Stanley Cups or NBA titles.
  
  I don't really think cutting the number of regular season games back from 162 to 154 is going to take away the perception that the season is 'too long' though, especially if the playoffs are extended on top of it.
• HitsRus

  

  Baseball is fine. Basketball is the pro sport with the problem. Everybody in the world gets in and then they are matched up with the #8 team having absolutely NO CHANCE to beat the #1 seed. Because of the nature of baseball, you have got to play the playoffs in a series format. With basketball, it is just a cash generating device to suck more money out of season ticket holders.
  
  
  what I'd like to see with baseball is the season shortened to 154 games and an extra 'wild card' added, ...and the two wild cards playing a 2 out of 3 'Wild Card Series' to determine who is the 4th team in the divisional round. Having one extra wild card possibility keeps a lot of teams( and interest) in longer without getting ridiculous and admitting a lot of undeserving teams to the 'dance'.
• Hb31187

  

  Al Bundy;880792 wrote:Four hour games bother me more than 162 games. Make hitters stay in the box, and make pitchers pitch in a timely manner.

  Like Josh fucking Beckett. Takes like 30 seconds between pitches, and hes a **** to top it off lol
  
  Dont watch much baseball, but i tuned into the Sox/Yanks the other night, like 2 hours into the game it was bottom of the 3rd or something, it was horrible. Beckett taking 30 seconds per pitch, and the batters calling time to fuck with him.
• Ironman92

  

  Use a pitch clock....25 seconds from when he gets the ball back....clock gets to zero and it's a ball.
• Sykotyk

  

  Ironman92;881071 wrote:Use a pitch clock....25 seconds from when he gets the ball back....clock gets to zero and it's a ball.

  Players union would never allow that change because the pitchers would ***** up a storm.
• Little Danny

  

  Outside of NY, Boston, Philly,and maybe Chicago does anyone really give a rat's arse about baseball once football season starts? Sure people might watch some of the playoffs and the World Series but honestly why watch a game in September if your team is out of the picture. The regular season should end 8/31 the playoffs/WS to be played in the month of September.
  
  Someone above mentioned basketball--- that is another can of worms all in themselves.
• sleeper

  

  HitsRus;880934 wrote:Baseball is fine. Basketball is the pro sport with the problem. Everybody in the world gets in and then they are matched up with the #8 team having absolutely NO CHANCE to beat the #1 seed. Because of the nature of baseball, you have got to play the playoffs in a series format. With basketball, it is just a cash generating device to suck more money out of season ticket holders.

  Tell that to Golden State and Memphis.
• Al Bundy

  Sykotyk;881084 wrote:Players union would never allow that change because the pitchers would ***** up a storm.

  Owners don't want it either because you sell a lot more concessions at a 4 hour game than a 2 hour game.
• thavoice

  Al Bundy;881376 wrote:Owners don't want it either because you sell a lot more concessions at a 4 hour game than a 2 hour game.

  Beer sales cease sometime in the 7th. The concession guys stop walking down the isles as well later in teh games.
  We went to a game that lasted till midnight...and after 10 the concession walkers were nowhere to be found.
  
  Went to the 14 innning reds game last sunday.......forget when they stopped coming down the isles.
  but the stands were open...
• Al Bundy

  thavoice;881386 wrote:Beer sales cease sometime in the 7th. The concession guys stop walking down the isles as well later in teh games.
  We went to a game that lasted till midnight...and after 10 the concession walkers were nowhere to be found.
  
  Went to the 14 innning reds game last sunday.......forget when they stopped coming down the isles.
  but the stands were open...

  I wasn't referring to extra-inning games. The stadium sells a lot more beer if it take 3 hours to get to the 7th inning than if they get the 7th inning in 1:45. Money is the main reason that you will not see games or the season shortened.
• thavoice

  No doubt. It is the money. Even at 154 games in a season that is 4 less home games....some big, big bucks!
• BigYtownRed

  Will never happen but I say drop 4 - 6 weeks off of the schedule. The first week in April & all of Sept. I like inter-league play, so I would keep it. 12 teams make the playoffs with the top two teams in each league having a bye in the first round.
  
  The first round is a three gamer just like during the season over three days @ the team with the better record. Then best of seven for the rest of the playoffs. You would have a champ by the end of Sept/begin of Oct with much better weather no matter where you played in the country & a 130+/- game season.
  
  The records over time would adjust, players would stay healthier longer & we would get to see our favorites play better ball over a longer career IMO.
• saunastubes

  Most Baseball players enjoy hitting. Baseball players love is there for fun smacking row units along with the occasional long ball. Players Enjoy hitting so much that they can make a huge selection of Baseball hitting drills and workouts to improve their game.
• Ironman92

  

  saunastubes;895506 wrote:Most Baseball players enjoy hitting. Baseball players love is there for fun smacking row units along with the occasional long ball. Players Enjoy hitting so much that they can make a huge selection of Baseball hitting drills and workouts to improve their game.

  
  Reps
• karen lotz

  

  saunastubes;895506 wrote:Most Baseball players enjoy hitting. Baseball players love is there for fun smacking row units along with the occasional long ball. Players Enjoy hitting so much that they can make a huge selection of Baseball hitting drills and workouts to improve their game.

  
  Truer words have never been posted on teh interwebz.
• Commander of Awesome

  

  I have long said that Baseball should shorten to 100 games. 100 games and get rid of divisions, I'm sick of seeing shitty teams from the NL West make it over a 95 win team in a tough division. Pitch clock as well, simial to a shot clock in basketball. Also a player argues a call should be an automatic out, sick of seeing managers run out to argue with the ump to "protect his players", smh.