What Would Make You Watch More Baseball?

[BwareDWare94 723]

Baseball is an incredible game, but it can get very hard to watch at times. What are some things that would improve the game to the point that you think you'd watch it more?

 

FTR, I actually prefer to listen to it on the radio.

 

Here are somethings that would make the game easier to watch:

 

1. Every pitcher forced to work at a Mark Buerhle pace. The new rules that don't allow pitchers to delay, delay, and delay have already made the game better. This would probably up runs scored while shortening the game. Pitcher's duels might be somewhat entertaining, but nothing beats a game where each team scores a few runs

 

2. I like the human element of an umpire calling balls and strikes, but I do think that in innings 7-9, electronic monitors should be able to overrule wrongly called 3rd strikes.

 

Just a couple of things that would make the game even better than it already is. I also think this would draw more fans in.

[BradyFan81 404]

The extra wild card is one of the dumbest things in sports to me. 162 games boiled down to 1 game? I'd probably murder someone if I watched the Red Sox win 90 games and play great all year, and then they lose because any of the numerous bullshit flukey things that can occur in a baseball game happens, and your season's over.

 

Also the playoffs have lost that prestige that it had when it was just 8 teams total. Making the playoffs use to be a huge accomplishment and now it's just not as special cause it's easier with the extra slot. They fucked it up badly.

 

I watch a lot of baseball though. Can't think of any changes to the actual game besides expanding the DH, but that will happen soon.

Edited May 30, 2015 by BradyFan81

[BC 331]

Make the entire league DH. Shorten the season a couple of months so the world series is around September.

[FartWaffles 1,857]

Bring back the steroids.

[Tridentdawgpound 1,043]

I watch like 10 live games a week as is so yeah. But I absolutely hate the 2nd wildcard. At least make it a 3-game set.

[Sarge+ 3,436]

I'll watch it no matter what happens...

[Zack_of_Steel+ 3,014]

Torture, guns to the heads of my family, other various threats.

[RazorStar 4,025]

Shorten the season by about 90-100 games or so, and then we can talk.

 

Also you'll need to chop my balls off because it's a gutless sport.

[oochymp 2,393]

I thought I was gonna be the crazy one saying cut the season in half, but a few have already suggested it, the season is just too damn long, I have trouble following when the outcome of individual games just doesn't matter

 

As for the second wild card, I actually really like that change. They managed to simultaneously add a team to the playoffs and put a premium on winning the division, because if you need a wild card to get in you've got a really tough route. A one game play in is perfect because in addition to being more subject to randomness (bad bounces, bad calls, bad days, etc) by being a single game, you also burn your best pitcher making him only available once in the next round.

[Cherry 1,302]

82 game season at most, and play up the individual players more. We all know Peyton, Brady, Watt, Calvin, Roethlisberger, AP. Who in baseball does the American public really know? McCutchen, Trout, and Ortiz?

 

 

Also steroids.

[RazorStar 4,025]

I don't think I know who any of those people are.

 

Albert Pujols

uh...

 

Dan Uggla because Trident loves him or something.

[SteVo+ 3,702]

Baseball could make small changes to speed up the game, and they already have, but the soul of the game, the spirit of baseball, is not going to change. At the end of the day, people either like baseball or they don't. The game may be too slow for some, but some simply don't see it that way. Hell, you can make an argument that football is a slow sport (there's five seconds of action at a time), and we all love it.

 

Another problem Major League Baseball has with the season is that it begins in April, when sports fans are glued to the NBA and NHL playoffs, and it finishes in October, when we're all fixated on football season. We can give baseball our attention in the summer, but that's about it. On a Sunday or Monday night in October, I think most sports fans would rather watch a football game than playoff baseball.

[JetsFan4Life 542]

No problem with the second wildcard. Don't want to play in it? Win your division.

[Sarge+ 3,436]

The Pirates have been in the play-in game both years so far. They won once and lost once, so I'm not really biased when I say I actually like it. The MOST ideal would be a best 2 out of 3, however the season is already long as it is. I'm not sure making the season longer is going to help attract more fans. That's what the point of this thread is, right?

 

But yes, MLB does need to market their stars more. Especially Harper, Trout, Stanton, and McCutchen. These guys are going to be fixtures for the next 10 years (15 in the case of Trout and Harper). No excuse not to do everything possible to push them. And since it's a pitching league these days, why not market those guys more? Pitchers usually aren't seen as the biggest stars of the game in the eyes of casual fans, but maybe there's a way to change that perception, even if it's just a bit.

 

Offense as a whole is way down from the steroid era. But it's not just because of the strict testing. It's because there are so many talented pitchers in the league now, and there are more coming. In truth, there will never be as many runs scored again as there were in the 90's. And there's nothing that can be done about that.

 

So the only way for MLB to market itself for the future is to accept that pitching now dominates baseball, and to help casual fans appreciate pitching more. That's one big part of it, IMO. So along with those young hitters, guys like Matt Harvey, Jose Fernandez, Gerrit Cole, etc... should also be touted as the future of baseball.

 

You can't change the culture of the game as it is right now. All you can do is embrace what it is and be proud of what it is. A lot of casual fans only want lots of runs scored, and in the past that was certainly possible. More people would find baseball interesting even today if they appreciated good pitching. You can't force people to do that, but what you can do is promote the pitchers as equal stars in the game as the hitters. I honestly don't think that's been done in baseball's history. Only the real hardcore fans talk about and appreciate pitchers to the length they deserve. That will have to change at some point if MLB is to continue to attract new, younger fans.

[Glanvilles Grits 142]

If it were football or hockey while broadcasting on tv

[butta54 371]

I'd have to be paid per game.

[blotsfan 2,112]

Lower the number of games, and have the teams be composed of NFL players and have them play football.

[theMileHighGuy 656]

Fill the outfield full of alligators, make the base runners run through boot-camp style obstacle courses between the bases, put a Double-Dare style challenge at home plate that must be completed for the run to count.