Monday, April 3, 2023

April 3, 2023. Madison, Mississippi. Baseball.

 The rules have changed in major league baseball.  I like the changes.  The bases have increased by three inches so a player running to the base will get there faster.  This should increase stealing which should make the game more interesting.  In addition, the batter must stay in the batters box and not walk around the catcher and the umpire.  This should speed up the game.

Next, the pitcher must pitch the ball with a 65 second time period from when he receives the ball.  This also should speed up the game.  In addition, the pitcher must only throw to first base twice to keep the runner tied to first base.    Again, this should speed up the game.  If the pitcher throws to first base for a third time, the runner gets to advance to second base.  If the pitcher takes too long to pitch, the batter gets a ball.  So there are consequences.

In addition, fielders are not to move all players to one side of the diamond.  The players must be spread out around the infield.   The season is only one week old but on average the games were shorter by 30 minutes.  In addition, many teams are beginning their games at 6:30 or 6:40.

I watched three innings of a game  on Sunday night.  The game was noticeably faster so I liked all the rule changes. Hats off to MLB.  Finally they have done something to speed up the games.

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