So I went to my first baseball game this weekend

Mar 17, 2019, 4:24 PM

We sat there for almost 3 hours when the game could have easily been condensed in under 5 minutes if they would take it seriously. I almost got the feeling that these guys were being paid by the hour because no one was really in any hurry to do anything. I do not know if the umps, or the coaches are to blame, but the players seemed very unmotivated to me, just an observation.

I DO have some suggestions that could revive this sport, because honestly the fans I saw there yesterday looked pretty bored.

1. The most glaring thing I saw is that the defense is not allowed to throw the ball at the base runner to tag them out, but actually have to do it themselves. I think this is a major blown opportunity here. A real test of arm talent is the ability to hit a moving target, and I think the players would take the game a little more seriously if stepping off the bag meant a fast ball to the head.

2. To speed things up, there needs to be a pitch clock, kinda like a shot clock in basketball. If the pitcher can not get his first pitch into the strike zone in under 30 seconds, it should be considered a walk.

3. Hitting the batter should be considered an out for the pitcher. I just do not understand how standing there and letting yourself get hit by the ball should be considered an offensive strategy, if anything it should the opposite. If the batter is taking too long to get settled over the bag, or keeps stepping off the plate, the pitcher should be able to throw them out on the spot by hitting them with the ball. Again, wasted opportunity when they were coming up with the rules to this sport.

4. It needs to be two 20 minute halves instead of nine innings. Every other sport is this way, why should baseball be any different? The clock will not run when the ball is in the pitcher's hands, but at all other times. I think combined with the pitch clock this would speed the games up and motivate the players to make plays instead of just standing around scratching themselves and spitting. That aspect of the game really confused me and needs to be eliminated all together. I think if these guys were winded more often they would NOT have time to spit and touch themselves.

Anyway, just my two cents on how to make this game more exciting. Baseball needs to be more like hockey, and less like corn hole IMHO.