Shorter Game Times –
Due to the newly added 15 second clock that keeps players from dawdling between pitches, the average game this season lasted just two hours and forty minutes. This is down a remarkable twenty four minutes from last season. Due to the shorter game times, fan attendance has risen ten percent to its highest level in six years.
Despitethis change, Major League Baseball still has a big issue. This season, the sport includes less action than at almost any other point in history. Baseball executives have tried to fix this by adding new rules, including not only the clock but the bases becoming larger in hopes of increasing steals and restrictions on where fielders can stand to allow for more hits. Though this effort, the problem has not been even close to fixed.
The Increase in Strikeouts –
In 2018, strikeouts surpassed hits and there have been more strikeouts than hits in every year since. This is happening mainly because of pitchers becoming stronger, meaning they can throw a harder and quicker pitch. Computer analysis has taught them how to spin pitches even more effectively than before, and teams have jammed their rosters with pitchers so that many only need to throw once an inning. This allows pitchers to throw as hard as possible to just a few batters a night.
Fans Wanting More Liveliness in Games –
Though the increase in fans this season, it is still about 10% below its 2007 peak. Poll’s have shown that baseball has slipped to be the country’s third favorite sport, behind both football and basketball. To address this, the sport has a few more promising ways to address this problem. For example, it could limit the number of pitchers on a roster, could lower the mound, as it did in 1969, or shrink the strike zone.
Even if these changes are made, it is not certain that the sport will regain its original popularity. These changes may sound overaggressive, but most successful sports have made big and small changes throughout history to get where they are today.
Cites
https://nl.nytimes.com/f/a/jeHlywpXUPq7BGG3qUGj-w~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRnDljEP4QzAWh0dHBzOi8vbWVzc2FnaW5nLWN1c3RvbS1uZXdzbGV0dGVycy5ueXRpbWVzLmNvbS9keW5hbWljL3JlbmRlcj9jYW1wYWlnbl9pZD05JmVtYz1lZGl0X25uXzIwMjMxMDE1Jmluc3RhbmNlX2lkPTEwNTI2MyZubD10aGUtbW9ybmluZyZwYWlkX3JlZ2k9MiZwcm9kdWN0Q29kZT1OTiZyZWdpX2lkPTIwMzk0NTQwOSZzZWdtZW50X2lkPTE0NzM5NiZ0ZT0xJnVyaT1ueXQlM0ElMkYlMkZuZXdzbGV0dGVyJTJGY2M1ZjMwZGYtYWYyZi01MGM4LWI2OTItNGRhYmZhOGY2M2RjJnVzZXJfaWQ9M2ZlMjFlNjY0YjU1ZmU0NjQ5MjFhNDM5M2FkMWI1ZTRXA255dEIKZR3E0ytls6vZIFIdbG1vc2tvZmZAZmxhZ3N0YWZmYWNhZGVteS5vcmdYBAAAAAM~
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