BASEBALL IS BACK JULY 23rd ???

I dont know... these changes see minor to me. There could be more intensity with a shortened season; it's like the whole seasom is a drive for the play-offs. As long as most players play, I think it will be different but still really good. But I wonder how the game will feel without fans. Fans are not just people who pay money but they actually become part of the game itself as they help to create the drama and intensity. That would be the question for me: is it going to feel like wstching spring training games?

Two odd things I think will be happening:
1) Some will HAVE fans in the stands, some will not.
2) Where will the Blue Jays home be?? Buffalo?? Rochester?? Dunedin??

We'll find out who the TRUE professionals are

One big concern for me is injuries. Will guys even be willing to play through them? I think hitters will dominate early and since there is no late, it could be a big season for offenses.

Due to the unfortunate circumstances we have a 60 game schedule much like the 1870's. The runner on second in extra innings is ridiculous. Why not just put him on third and tell the away team to throw a wild pitch in the bottom of the inning! How about 3 balls for a walk and unlimited 2 strike bunt attempts? Forget the garbage cans, cameras and whatever teams use to get an edge(CHEAT) just let the batter KNOW what pitch is coming.

I totally agree with Frank about the "runner on second" fiasco--i'd rather see a tie game with one point going to each team (and two points for a win, like in hockey).

The designated hitter will be used in both leagues this year for the first time and also Major League Baseball for the first time will adopt an extra-inning approach employed by the minors, with each team starting an extra inning with a man at second and nobody out.

Cripes, I'm glad I stopped following baseball a few years back. Where's Radagast? This is as bad as calling for a high or low ball.

I agree I have no desire to watch a softball exhibition. I'm giving up on Baseball forever I think. I have the SOM CD ROM game and about 40 seasons, as well as OOTP so I'm all set to play baseball on my own terms. Infact I think I'm giving up on all sports. They just keep ruining their sports.

"It's supposed to be hard! If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great!"

Jimmy Dugan

The runner on 2nd rule is another step this commissioner is taking to shorten games which he believes will bring back fan interest in droves. It makes no difference if the game is 2½ hours or 3½ hours. Some people believe baseball is boring and that won't change their opinion. Leave those rules alone. I do like the rule about a RP having to face 3 batters or get to the end of the half inning however so I guess I'm a hypocrite.

The runner on 2nd in extras is just a Little League call however. Why not have a 10 run rule (or however many runs) and call the game early too then?

Baseball has forgotten many of its endearing traditions, akin to the old saying, "Traditions are solutions to problems we have long forgotten".

They added a DH to enhance interest (to be honest--it was a hand-out to washed up athletes). Didn't work--all it did was make a mockery of the game and added runs which made games less about tactical play and more about dingers.

They reduced mound heights, brought in fences, shrunk the strike zone, and added replay. See above--All they added was delay in the conduct of the game in each case either by removing the importance of tactics by extending games with additional meaningless run scoring, or adding actual delay with replay.

They allowed the proliferation of ridiculous time outs to be granted--between each pitch. It is not fun to watch the idiosyncratic OCD player grab his crotch 7 different ways and then adjust his helmet, reattach is batting glove and then decide he can't wait 3 seconds for the pitcher to deliver so he calls another.

For a game without a time limit, you cannot allow large amounts of scoring to become the end state goal. It creates disinterest because even the part of the audience that is hopeful does not relish the time it would take to mount a comeback when it is 13-1.

These are some of the reasons I can no longer watch modern baseball. And I can't imagine why anyone would want to. It is a horrid game as it is played today. So congrats--Cranky Frankie says congrats to baseball for losing its traditions and accelerating its demise.

After all, who cares about bunts, hit and run, taking a lead, stealing a base, playing tight D, hitting the cutoff--it has all been reduced to meaningless drivel. The game is essentially try try try hit over fence. Trot around basepaths without having heart attack. Repeat.

Well said Frankie, I am in complete agreement.

I guess I disagree. The skill level necessary to survive in the modern game is enormous. A hitter has to be able to hit a 100 mph fastball...and then be able to to react to filthy breaking stuff. Any significant flaw in the swing, timing mechanism, reactions, ability to put your swing quickly through the zone...can you put out of baseball quickly. Guys dont go from .300 to .230 when they fade...they go to .150. Older hitters have difficulty staying in the game because obviously physical changes make it more difficult for them (eyesight, reactions,etc,) to stay in the game but also because theeir fielding ability goes down as well as their running ability. Hitters have to deal with the shift as well and good defenders at every position. You cannot be a really bad defender and survive in the major leagues unless you are a top hitter and even then you are probably moved to DH (or perhaps first)

And then the starting pitcher throws in the mid to high 90s and needs at least two good secondary pitchers, they cannot get through the order three times because hitters are too good to get through the order 3 times unless the pitcher has amazing stuff and/or control. Otherwise, line-ups adjust and pulverize most line-ups the third time through the order. A starting pitcher cannot last if he has only two pitches no matter how good--eventually hitters adjust and he goes to the bullpen.

The modern baseball player is an incredible athlete. And the weeding out of players who cant cut it is ruthlessly efficient. I am not going to pine for the good old days...when the athletes were not nearly as good.