Ten steps to save Baseball

Ken Levine is mostly a playwright these days, but he has written books, movie screenplays, and for any number of TV shows including some of the best known TV shows of all time, such as M*A*S*H, Cheers, Frazier, and The Simpsons. A former Top 40 DJ, Levine has also worked as a TV director and, more relevant to this post, as an MLB announcer, broadcasting games for the Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, and San Diego Padres.

White Sox announcer Jason Benetti mentioned Levine and specifically Levine's baseball-themed "Dancin' Homer" episode (written with David Isaacs) during a recent broadcast.

In addition to his many other accomplishments, Levine writes a hugely popular blog. He sometimes jeopardizes his vast national and international readership by indulging in an occassional post about baseball, such as this June 3 post, "How I would fix Major League Baseball."

This post started off as a comment to that one -- a comment that, when concluded, exceeded the limits allowed by Blogger for such things. At some point, Blogger reasons, if you have so much to say, you should get your own blog. Which I already have.

Unfortunately, as a stand-alone article, my prior comment didn't make that much sense. (I would appreciate your not going for the obvious response to that sentence. Instead, read on for 10 steps to save baseball.)

A lot of these 10 steps boil down to this: Make the game shorter. But where's the clickbait in having only one step? And there are, as you will see, more than one way to shorten the game.

Some of these steps are negative -- don't do this or don't do that -- mainly because a lot of well-intentioned people, like the aforementioned Mr. Levine, have made suggestions that would make baseball into some other sport altogether. I only want to "change the game" for the better -- not "change the game" into something baseball fans might no longer recognize. Herewith, then, 10 steps to save Baseball:

1. Don't ban the shift! The reason teams shift is because they know where the batter will hit the ball. So batters should adapt and not hit the ball as expected. I know the skill has been lost, especially with power hitters, but a bunt down the third base line by a left-handed power hitter would be a double every time. Hit 'em where they ain't. Otherwise, stop moaning about it.


2. No clocks in baseball! Actually this might be better phrased as "no more clocks in baseball." When the bases are unoccupied, a pitcher has 12 seconds, from the time he receives the ball back from the catcher, to throw his next pitch. See, Rule 5.07(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, 2021 edition. You've never heard of that one, have you? Neither, apparently, have most umpires. But every time the pitcher violates the rule, the ump is supposed to call a ball.
   
   The first time this is called, the offending pitcher would lose his mind and his manager's head would explode. But if the umps rigorously enforced this rule it would speed up the game right there.


3. Make the umpires accountable for the pace of the game. They already are, according to the rule book, but you'd never know it to watch. Or, watching, you might think MLB umpires get paid by the hour.
   
   In his post, Mr. Levine suggests firing Angel Hernandez. A lot of fans have umpires they love to hate. I don't know if the players or owners would like it if I were Commissioner, but I am dead certain sure that the umpires would hate it. Because I would fire umpires who let games drag on too long. You want a playoff assignment or to call a World Series? Get your games finsihed in three hours or less -- or get another job.
   
   Some of you reading this may think that an unfair and unreasonable demand. But I say it can be done, by the umpires, starting today, and without changing a single rule. How?


4. Stop the staring contests. I blame this one on TV. When TV coverage became more sophisticated, cameras could zoom in on the faces of the pitcher and the batter, and we could see all the grimacing and glaring and way too much of the scratching and spitting. Then the pitcher would step off the rubber and then the batter would step out of the box and the announcers would fill the dead air with riffs on the 'drama' of the moment. At one point... the 1970s perhaps... this staged drama was interesting. It has long since lost any appeal it might have had. And while this slow-motion dance routine is going on... and on... the ump just stands there like a mannequin.
   
   The umpire has the power to tell the batter to get in the box and get ready to swing. He can call a strike on a batter for not stepping in. He can call more than one if a player is not appropriately responsive to the demand he get back in and hit. A player can call 'time' all he wants -- but the ump does not need to grant it. See, Rules 5.04(b)(2)-(4). We've already mentioned the 12-second rule. When there are runners on base, a pitcher can also be called for a balk if, in the umpire's view, the pitcher takes to long to pitch. See, Rule 6.02(a)(8). The umpire is anything but a helpless bystander.


5. Call strikes in the whole strike zone. Take a look at this:
   
   This illustration of the strike zone is taken straight from the rule book. The written definition is as "that area over home plate the upper limit of which is a horizontal line at the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants, and the lower level is a line at the hollow beneath the kneecap. The Strike Zone shall be determined from the batter’s stance as the batter is prepared to swing at a pitched ball."
   
   I've had it up to here with a ball at the belt-buckle being described as a "high strike." No wonder we have so many uppercut-swinging behemoths these days -- but when they strike out enough times in a row they'll figure out that they'd better start looking somewhere else than shins to kneecaps.
   
   Yes, I know that strikeouts slow the pace of play. But walks are worse. Baseball has too long preferred players who can hit the ball far (chicks dig the long ball... remember?) over players who can hit the ball often. With a rulebook strike zone, though, making contact will again be important and pace of play will improve. (And... don't tell the stat heads... but, if in April, when it's barely above freezing, I for one will not complain if the strike zone goes from the nose to the toes. But, then, I also have a suggestion about playing games in April when it's barely above freezing... keep reading on.)


6. Baseball has to invest in its future. Mr. Levine and I are prototypical baseball fans these days. We are both of, well, a certain age. If baseball is to survive the eventual passing of us Baby Boomers, it is going to have to figure out how to attract younger fans. Faster games will help, I am certain, but there are other things we must do besides.
   
   Play more day games, for example. Even with faster games, kids may not be able to watch night games. A lot of kids on the East Coast have only heard rumors of Mike Trout. This is a shame.


7. Kids have to be able to actually watch games. I'm not saying games have to go back on free, broadcast TV. I'm not even sure that, these days, most kids live in households that actually can get the local broadcast stations.
   
   But teams are looking to set up their own networks. They should be able to, and required to, stream them, free, gratis, and for nothing in their home markets. They won't make money that way with carriage fees to cable, sattelite, or other streaming services, or at least not as much, but they will control the airtime and get all the commercial revenue from their own networks. Maybe the teams could make more in other ways -- probably this is so. But not every household can pay $200 a month for cable/satellite/streaming packages and kids who grow up without baseball in their daily lives will not suddenly mutate into fans as adults.


8. Kids have to be able to attend games in person. I understand that there's no going back to 50-cent or one dollar bleacher tickets, even adjusted for inflation, such as existed when I was a kid. Players aren't going back to selling life insurance or automobiles during the off-season either.
   
   
   
   But a family needs to be able to go to a game without putting a second mortgage on the house. Mom or Dad should be able to buy a beer in the park for less than the price of a case outside.
   
   But it's not entirely about the money. That's owner-thinking. Attendance has to be made affordable in order to hook that next generation of fans.
   
   Even with access on TV, or some sort of screen, kids need to experience the big league game in person. There's no grass greener than at the ballpark. The sky is bluer, the lights are brighter, and the noise is something that you don't just hear with your ears, but feel in your bones. These kids may some day grow up able to afford full price -- but they won't come out unless they fall for the game as kids. They need to have a memorable---and memorably good---experience.


9. All future MLB stadiums must have retractable roofs. I can understand blowing up the old Metrodome in Minneapolis. I can't understand MLB allowing the Twins to build a replacement stadium that did not have a roof. It's not that Minneapolis doesn't have beautiful weather in the summertime. It just doesn't have 81 good days. A couple of years ago, the White Sox got snowed out of an entire early season series in Minnesota.
   
   The weather in Chicago can be gorgeous in the Summer. And cold, damp, and misearable early in the season and (sometimes this is relevant, you know) late in the season as well. A retractable roof, open to the elements on nice days, and closed otherwise, would give teams (and fans) a high degree of confidence in getting their 81 games played on time and on schedule, with no rain delays. And teams could hope for as many bodies in the seats in April as in August because conditions at the park would be optimal for baseball at either time. Maybe teams could even set aside a few dates to get their future fans in for reasonable amounts....


10. No work stoppage in 2022. All the signs and portents are ominous. The current collective bargaining agreement will expire December 1 and players and owners seem headed for yet another strike. Baseball has lost ground to football, it is losing ground to basketball, and if it keeps losing fans and market share owners and players alike are going to wind up derailing the gravy train. Permanently.
    
    If only MLB had a Commissioner. Someone who could step in and bang heads together and make owners and players see their mutual advantage in going forward together. Alas....

But we still have this year. If only we could get rid of the dumb man-on-second rule for extra innings....