re: MLB has to adapt or the league is going to die

quote:

---

But while teams should prioritize that which gives them the greatest probability of a successful outcome, there’s going to be problems if you don’t entertain the paying customers.

---

Yep.

One thing I've noticed a few times is guys stealing 2nd and the defense just not giving a shite at all, and this is happening in 1 run games in the 9th. The shift is so important that they don't even care about the runners on base, just get the guy batting out. You're up 1 with a runner on 1st and 3rd with 1 out, and you just let the guy steal 2nd, ending the double play and putting the winning run in scoring position. I don't understand this. Twice last night in extra innings the Yankees just let the Indians steal 2nd with a runner on 3rd, putting two guys in scoring position in a tie game where they bat last.


Last year was the most stolen bases since 1987. The success rate was 80.1%, which was the highest ever by almost 4.5%. The last 4 years have been over 75%, which had never happened before in baseball history.
I know the rules changed last year and helped baserunners steal more, but I think some of it is the other team doesn't really give a shite about guys stealing bases anymore. Lots of no throws and not covering the bag b/c of the shift. Runner on 2nd, 3rd baseman playing shortstop, easy steal for anyone who isn't a fatass.

I think the pitch clock has helped, and I have grown to like putting a man on second in extra innings. You really do see teams trying the hit and run and just moving the man to third or a base hit usually wins the game.

I think the biggest problem in baseball is the huge difference in revenue. The NFL became the number 1 sport slowly but surely when it equalized revenue and put in the salary cap and a few other changes with free agency being much bigger now.

There is not much parity in baseball and sure decades ago people were fine with the St. Louis Browns being out-spent by the Yankees and never having much a chance to be competitive.

The NFL nailed it with parity and on any given Sunday any team can win. People want that now. We don't want to wait five years for your favorite small to middle market team get a bunch of young players and then have to trade them or lose them to free agency.

Moneyball was cute, but we saw the end result.

Baseball was more interesting when McGwire and Sosa and Bonds were hitting .400 with 80 HRs. I wonder what happened?

Strikeouts for pitchers and extra base hits for hitters are proven to be the most efficient way to play. Front office execs are paid to win, not entertain the fans. Maybe there could be rule changes that make more balls in play possible, disincentivize 3 true outcomes, etc. but it’s just not smart at all from a winning perspective for teams to prioritize bat to ball contact. It’s very very difficult to string together multiple singles in an inning against the pitching in today’s game.

quote:

---

1980 = 42 million viewers. 225 million people in the US. Nearly 25% of people watched the WS then

2023 = 9 million viewers. 333 million people in the US. 2.7% of people watch the WS.

---

in 1980, vast majority of America only caught 3-4 channels.
and one of those channels was playing the World Series.

here is the TV lineup for a Friday night game of the 1980 World Series


so even people who may not necessarily be "fans" of baseball, likely watched at least some of the game.


Last year's World Series Game 1 was on a Friday
that same night on TV you had:
2 - NBA Games
an NHL Game
2 - College football games (small schools)
WWE
College Basketball
Women's College Basketball
College Volleyball

this doesn't even take into account all the HBO, Showtime, Starz, other movie channels, etc.
Let alone all the streaming services to watch movies, TV series, other sports events, etc.

A third of all plate appearances are either a walk or strike out. That number used to be down to around a quarter. In fact, it was only about 10 years ago that it rose to above 30%.

I hate some of the recent rule changes and feel more changes are going to alienate the core baseball fans and MLB will NASCAR themselves.

Pitch clock - while I like the quicker pace of the game I disagree with any sort of clock in baseball. I think if the umpires were instructed to enforce a pace of play and the ability to call balls on the pitcher/strikes on the hitter for stalling that it would work better. Also, regarding pace of play, regular season games need to keep moving, but playoff games, the stalling of the action in big spots helps build the tension as a pitcher and a batter play mind games with each other by stepping off the mound, delaying, or stepping out of the box, trying to break the others concentration.

Bigger bases - not even noticeable.

Pickoff rule - hate it. Again, if a player is trying to steal a base in a big situation there should be a dual between the pitcher and the baserunner. Also, see the above about a pitcher using a throwover to break the concentration of the batter and dictate the pace of the at bat.

Ghost runner on second - are you freaking kidding me? It has turned into beer league softball. Frick Manfred for this.

Banning the shift - eh, batters should learn to go oppo and hit it where they ain't.

Also, for the home run or bust, analytics crowd, things change, the game evolves. Take notice of how the Brewers are winning this season by laying down bunts and putting the ball in play. Stringing together hits still works to score runs. Anybody who watched the Twins v Padres game last night saw how the Padres came back to win that game by putting together 4-5 straight hits, one of them being a HR admittedly. Still, putting runners on the bases creating RBI opportuntities still works.

1980 World Series was Philles v Royals. My favorite player was George Brett and he was going up against the Phillies slugger Mike Schmidt.

Still, I was probably watching the Incredible Hulk/Dukes of Hazzard on a Friday night, and my parents were not missing out watching JR Ewing. That was definitely a CBS on the main TV and World Series on the 13" black and white type of night.

I don’t know how to fix it. When we had the roids years it got more press because it was something to talk about.

One thought, and it won’t change due to minor league cities loving their minor league teams. But in all other sports you have college seniors immediately go to the pros. This carries college fans right over to pro teams. In baseball it can take forever for a great college baseball player to get to pros so you lose a huge base of college fans.

Look at NFL, a lot of college players are followed and are on NFL rosters and even starting so you maintain all the hype and fans they had in college. But in baseball once college is done it takes a long time before that great player is in pros. So you lose the fan momentum.

As for changes, these will never happen but just for fun.

Put another first base bag about 4 feet or so closer to home but keep existing bag. Fielders would still need to throw only to existing bag but runner only needs to get to new bag to be safe. Would add runners to game.

Make gloves smaller (never happen but funny idea)

Move mound back

Make ball a bit bigger

Honestly there is nothing wrong with the game it changes like all sports do. Moving mound a few feet back means that college and minor leagues have to as well. Peeps just have so many sports to choose from these days. I think the college to pros does lose a lot of potential fans due to name recognition but there is no way to fix that for baseball.

quote:

---

The worst thing about MLB is the payroll discrepancy.

---

The NFL has virtually no payroll discrepancy and less overall parity than MLB.