How to save baseball

It'saDoneDeal

Well-known member
Jul 24, 2007
19,233
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It seems like baseball is slowly dying. I probably haven't really emotionally invested myself in a full game since the early 2000s, and attendance is consistently dropping. These ideas might be a little out there, but I'm just tossing out some things that might help keep the game relevant for the Fortnite generation:

1. Mic up the pitcher and batter: Remember in "BASEketball" how you'd have a guy talking **** to try and psyche out the batter? Steeeeve Perry! Let's mic up the pitcher and batter and let the **** talk flow. Here comes my heater, you tiny pecker eater! as the pitcher goes into his windup. *Wild screaming in incoherent Spanish, for what we can only assume is lots of swearing* as the overweight Dominican at the plate angrily awaits the pitch and digs in. Oh, foul ball! Let's do it again. Ratings goldmine.

2. Get rid of the national anthem and God Bless America: Do we really need to hear the national anthem every single time before each of the one hundred and sixty f'n two games they play? I don't think so. Reserve that **** for the playoffs. And God Bless America is nationalistic trash anyways, we don't need to be reminded again in the seventh inning stretch that we're in America after already listening to the national anthem just a couple of hours before. And get rid of the seventh inning stretch to begin with. They talk about finding ways to shorten to the game, right? Boom, here you go.

3. More personality from the players: It's often joked that Mike Trout, the best player in the game, probably wouldn't be recognized by most people at the airport. That's a problem. Put in contractual incentives for star players to be more visible and fashionable. Most baseball players dress like guys who still watch Scarface on DVD (and even still watch DVDs lol). I mean, who the hell still wears a gold chain in 2019? Only baseball players, apparently. How cool would it be if Mike Trout had his own custom uniform? Or had his own fashion line like Kanye and had a different uniform for every day of the week? That'd be sick.

4. Themed events and activities in the stands: How do you get people back in the stands? How about themed activities and events? Say one night you have one big slumber party where fans who dress in PJs and bring blankets gets half off their tickets, and everyone snuggles up with each other during the game. And then the next night you have a big tickle fest, where the fans are encouraged to leave their seats and chase each other around the park tickling each other with glee during the game. And then the next night you have a huge game of tag. Endless possibilities.

Anyone else?
 

Supercat67

New member
Feb 16, 2017
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It seems like baseball is slowly dying. I probably haven't really emotionally invested myself in a full game since the early 2000s, and attendance is consistently dropping. These ideas might be a little out there, but I'm just tossing out some things that might help keep the game relevant for the Fortnite generation:

1. Mic up the pitcher and batter: Remember in "BASEketball" how you'd have a guy talking **** to try and psyche out the batter? Steeeeve Perry! Let's mic up the pitcher and batter and let the **** talk flow. Here comes my heater, you tiny pecker eater! as the pitcher goes into his windup. *Wild screaming in incoherent Spanish, for what we can only assume is lots of swearing* as the overweight Dominican at the plate angrily awaits the pitch and digs in. Oh, foul ball! Let's do it again. Ratings goldmine.

2. Get rid of the national anthem and God Bless America: Do we really need to hear the national anthem every single time before each of the one hundred and sixty f'n two games they play? I don't think so. Reserve that **** for the playoffs. And God Bless America is nationalistic trash anyways, we don't need to be reminded again in the seventh inning stretch that we're in America after already listening to the national anthem just a couple of hours before. And get rid of the seventh inning stretch to begin with. They talk about finding ways to shorten to the game, right? Boom, here you go.

3. More personality from the players: It's often joked that Mike Trout, the best player in the game, probably wouldn't be recognized by most people at the airport. That's a problem. Put in contractual incentives for star players to be more visible and fashionable. Most baseball players dress like guys who still watch Scarface on DVD (and even still watch DVDs lol). I mean, who the hell still wears a gold chain in 2019? Only baseball players, apparently. How cool would it be if Mike Trout had his own custom uniform? Or had his own fashion line like Kanye and had a different uniform for every day of the week? That'd be sick.

4. Themed events and activities in the stands: How do you get people back in the stands? How about themed activities and events? Say one night you have one big slumber party where fans who dress in PJs and bring blankets gets half off their tickets, and everyone snuggles up with each other during the game. And then the next night you have a big tickle fest, where the fans are encouraged to leave their seats and chase each other around the park tickling each other with glee during the game. And then the next night you have a huge game of tag. Endless possibilities.

Anyone else?
I bet your life sucks worse than baseball does.
That’s all.
 

Kaizer Sosay

New member
Nov 29, 2007
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I think the op is onto something here.

Other suggestions:

1) do away with the 7th inning stretch
2) ban the singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"
3) Instead of America's Passtime rename it Global Passtime.
4) No more ballpark hot dogs!!! Tofu burgers only!!!
5) Bonus run awarded to the team with the "best dressed" player to be voted on by fans
7) Best dressed team at the All-Star game determines which league gets home field advantage in the WS.
8) Everyone gets a trophy!!!
 

vhcat70

New member
Feb 5, 2003
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Seven inning games. Life is too short for 3.5 hr games. Same for FB for that matter - 12 minute Q's. That's where hoops & soccer have the advantage.
 

LineSkiCat14

Well-known member
Aug 5, 2015
37,306
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One of my favorite things is how Kentucky basketball players can basically launch them selves at the hoop 30 time a game and still come away fine.. but half of the Yankees basically injured themselves before walking onto the field for the first time this year.. How is that possible?
 
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sluggercatfan

New member
Aug 17, 2004
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It seems like baseball is slowly dying. I probably haven't really emotionally invested myself in a full game since the early 2000s, and attendance is consistently dropping. These ideas might be a little out there, but I'm just tossing out some things that might help keep the game relevant for the Fortnite generation:

1. Mic up the pitcher and batter: Remember in "BASEketball" how you'd have a guy talking **** to try and psyche out the batter? Steeeeve Perry! Let's mic up the pitcher and batter and let the **** talk flow. Here comes my heater, you tiny pecker eater! as the pitcher goes into his windup. *Wild screaming in incoherent Spanish, for what we can only assume is lots of swearing* as the overweight Dominican at the plate angrily awaits the pitch and digs in. Oh, foul ball! Let's do it again. Ratings goldmine.

2. Get rid of the national anthem and God Bless America: Do we really need to hear the national anthem every single time before each of the one hundred and sixty f'n two games they play? I don't think so. Reserve that **** for the playoffs. And God Bless America is nationalistic trash anyways, we don't need to be reminded again in the seventh inning stretch that we're in America after already listening to the national anthem just a couple of hours before. And get rid of the seventh inning stretch to begin with. They talk about finding ways to shorten to the game, right? Boom, here you go.

3. More personality from the players: It's often joked that Mike Trout, the best player in the game, probably wouldn't be recognized by most people at the airport. That's a problem. Put in contractual incentives for star players to be more visible and fashionable. Most baseball players dress like guys who still watch Scarface on DVD (and even still watch DVDs lol). I mean, who the hell still wears a gold chain in 2019? Only baseball players, apparently. How cool would it be if Mike Trout had his own custom uniform? Or had his own fashion line like Kanye and had a different uniform for every day of the week? That'd be sick.

4. Themed events and activities in the stands: How do you get people back in the stands? How about themed activities and events? Say one night you have one big slumber party where fans who dress in PJs and bring blankets gets half off their tickets, and everyone snuggles up with each other during the game. And then the next night you have a big tickle fest, where the fans are encouraged to leave their seats and chase each other around the park tickling each other with glee during the game. And then the next night you have a huge game of tag. Endless possibilities.

Anyone else?
#2...GBA & NA are ****!? Must be one one of those bleeding heart sorry *** libs...get your *** out the country! God bless America and the MLB! At least one pro sport SEEMS to respect the GREATEST NATION THAT HAS EVER BEEN CREATED...getm Gladys.
 
Jan 28, 2007
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Used to be a huge baseball fan - I honestly feel like analytics destroyed it. Took a lot of the mystery out of it and removed a lot of the player diversity - seems like it's now mainly dudes who can mash and throw 95+.

To fix - some ideas:
  • Make shifts illegal
  • Shrink the vertical strike-zone
  • Back up the mound 6 inches
  • Put in a pitch clock
  • Allow only one pitcher change per inning / and perhaps only three per 9-inning game
 

BlueRaider22

New member
Sep 24, 2003
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#2...GBA & NA are ****!? Must be one one of those bleeding heart sorry *** libs...get your *** out the country! God bless America and the MLB! At least one pro sport SEEMS to respect the GREATEST NATION THAT HAS EVER BEEN CREATED...getm Gladys.



Agreed. Don’t mess with the anthem. Every sport around the world sings their repespective anthems before games. Do not change ours.



My thought is that the season is too long, with too many games. Very few care about the start of the season, and then of the season is way the heck in Fall competing against football which is king right now.
 

CrittendenWildcat

Well-known member
Nov 28, 2003
12,023
12,437
113
Ticket prices across the board for sporting events have become stupid expensive. You are alienating a good part of the fanbase by pricing them out of the market and making even television games inaccessible to them. Stop throwing mad money at players and stadiums and overcharging for concessions and parking, and start making available some cheap seats for the little guy. Also, get some games on free local TV, don't put them all on cable. Make it accessible to the common man.

Do NOT change the time-honored traditions of the national anthem and the seventh-inning stretch. They are like hymns and rituals at church, you know them and it makes you feel a part of what is happening.

Other than that, I don't know. There's not much you can do to speed up the game, it can be a 2-hour pitching duel or a 4-hour slugfest, it is what it is.

I loved baseball growing up, listened to Marty and Joe religiously. As I've gotten older, though, my interest has waned. Although I try to keep up with the Reds, it's hard for me now to sit through innings and pay attention to what is going on. I just don't have the patience and/or attention span and/or passion like I did when I was younger.

It also helps when the home team is winning, which the Reds haven't been doing over the last several years. I like the moves that the Reds have made this offseason, and the Reds currently (and surprisingly) have the best overall ERA in the NL, so I did pay attention the series against SF this weekend...only to have them lose 2 of 3, and the 2 losses occurred after having big leads. Coffee is for closers, gentlemen.
 
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mrhotdice

New member
Nov 1, 2002
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It seems like baseball is slowly dying. I probably haven't really emotionally invested myself in a full game since the early 2000s, and attendance is consistently dropping. These ideas might be a little out there, but I'm just tossing out some things that might help keep the game relevant for the Fortnite generation:

1. Mic up the pitcher and batter: Remember in "BASEketball" how you'd have a guy talking **** to try and psyche out the batter? Steeeeve Perry! Let's mic up the pitcher and batter and let the **** talk flow. Here comes my heater, you tiny pecker eater! as the pitcher goes into his windup. *Wild screaming in incoherent Spanish, for what we can only assume is lots of swearing* as the overweight Dominican at the plate angrily awaits the pitch and digs in. Oh, foul ball! Let's do it again. Ratings goldmine.

2. Get rid of the national anthem and God Bless America: Do we really need to hear the national anthem every single time before each of the one hundred and sixty f'n two games they play? I don't think so. Reserve that **** for the playoffs. And God Bless America is nationalistic trash anyways, we don't need to be reminded again in the seventh inning stretch that we're in America after already listening to the national anthem just a couple of hours before. And get rid of the seventh inning stretch to begin with. They talk about finding ways to shorten to the game, right? Boom, here you go.

3. More personality from the players: It's often joked that Mike Trout, the best player in the game, probably wouldn't be recognized by most people at the airport. That's a problem. Put in contractual incentives for star players to be more visible and fashionable. Most baseball players dress like guys who still watch Scarface on DVD (and even still watch DVDs lol). I mean, who the hell still wears a gold chain in 2019? Only baseball players, apparently. How cool would it be if Mike Trout had his own custom uniform? Or had his own fashion line like Kanye and had a different uniform for every day of the week? That'd be sick.

4. Themed events and activities in the stands: How do you get people back in the stands? How about themed activities and events? Say one night you have one big slumber party where fans who dress in PJs and bring blankets gets half off their tickets, and everyone snuggles up with each other during the game. And then the next night you have a big tickle fest, where the fans are encouraged to leave their seats and chase each other around the park tickling each other with glee during the game. And then the next night you have a huge game of tag. Endless possibilities.

Anyone else?
Bring back chewing tobacco. Put Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame.
 

rmattox

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Revenue sharing
THIS IS THE ANSWER!
Other things that would help:

1 minute between innings
20 second pitch clock
Any pitcher entering the game must remain in the game for three outs.
Pick-off attempts count as a pitch ie a ball
Limit number of time-outs or times-out per game. OR if a batter calls time, he gets a strike. If the defense calls time, the batter gets a ball.
No mound visits by players.
Make the strike zone bigger. Armpits to knees.
 
Last edited:

etowncatfan

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Jan 3, 2003
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Make the players available to the fans before and after the game. Also quit letting teams load up on all the good players come Playoff time. Whatever people you have in your organization at the start of the season you play with. Have one week for trades the week before the ALL STAR GAME!!
 

Get Buckets

Well-known member
Nov 4, 2007
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  1. He is the finishing pitcher in a game won by his team;
  2. He is not the winning pitcher;
  3. He is credited with at least ⅓ of an inning pitched; and
  4. He satisfies one of the following conditions:
    1. He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least one inning
    2. He enters the game, regardless of the count, with the potential tying run either on base, at bat or on deck
    3. He pitches for at least three innings.
 
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JamesLee

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Aug 4, 2009
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- Less games (but they won't do that because the game is all about records and statistics)
- Batters should be rewarded for intentional walks (i.e. 1st walk batter goes to first, 2nd walk batter goes to second)
- Third foul ball is a strike
- "Pitch Clock", pitcher has 10 seconds to throw the ball or batter is rewarded a ball
 
Jan 28, 2007
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The problem with all these things is that the knucklehead players won't agree to change anything without big-time concessions from the knucklehead owners.
 

blubo

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Oct 14, 2014
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The way to fix it is to bring ticket prices down to where working stiffs can afford to go to games, not just a couple times a season but a couple times a week.
I spent many a day and evening at riverfront stadium during the red machine era, sometimes going to three games a week or more, work permitting. that always included as much beer and food as i wanted, without crimping my budget too badly, as i was newly married with a house payment and a kid.
Most working young people nowadays simply can’t afford to attend baseball games very often, or any other pro sport game for that matter.
We used to get to the stadium early to watch batting practice. i hear that’s been stopped. some years i would by tickets for all double headers—no more double headers....etc.
 
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UpstateNYCat

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Cheerleaders
Switch it to Wiffle Ball
Twi-Night Doubleheaders
Aluminum Bats
Underhand Pitch
Manager of the Day(fan out of stands is Mgr of that game)
 

kyboy1998_rivals34276

Active member
Mar 20, 2006
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I’d just salary cap to make all markets viable with good decisions and leave the game alone.

The more markets you can make believe it is possible, the more interest you’ll have.
 
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