Candy’s Idea To Improve Baseball

[candycorn]

I wrote this a few years back so some of the stuff may be no longer in effect.

Well, first you have to decide what needs “improvement". Different stake holders (Owners, Labor, Fans) have different priorities. One source said that the profits from a single MLB team are over $100M. That is profit. Not revenue. So I doubt the owners see much need in "fixing" things. The other two stakeholders? Probably see room for improvement. Here are my ideas. First, I think as far as scheduling goes, the NFL has it down to a science so MLB should seek to copy them from my point of view.

1. The season. Starts on the first Tuesday in April with a noon game in Cincy (every one else plays that night) and ends on the first weekend in October.
2. All Star game.
   • Make it a Monday-Friday celebration with the game on Tuesday. It seems to me that most players would rather have the three days off instead of the honor of playing in the meaningless game. So give the players that play in the game 3 days off as well. Everyone just take a weekend off pretty much.
   • Expand the All Star rosters to 40 players for each team. Currently there are 20 position players and 12 pitchers. Make it 25 and 15 so there are fewer snubs. Since nobody really cares about the game, nobody should really be upset that some players are making the team while others are not.
     • I'd have 1 position player and 1 pitcher (on each team) out of the 8 new spots filled by a HOF committee (of sorts) who appoints a "favorite" to play an inning or two. Like if they are having the game in Chicago, perhaps have Frank Thomas as an appointee and maybe Kerry Wood from the Cubbies. Lets say this was 2005 instead of 2025...maybe have Eckersley and Gibson re-create their historic at-bat. I bet Wade Boggs could still work a count to his advantage. Anyway, make it local; make it fun....it’s an exhibition.
   • Let the manager decide who starts. Currently, the starting line up is determined by the fan's vote and the reserves are selected by a player ballot and a commissioner's office. The manager should be able to pick who starts and who doesn't....thats what managers do. Remove any clause from contracts that has a start-in-the-all-star-game clause and replace it with being selected.
3. Expand to 32 teams. Put a team back in Oakland and a new one maybe in Nashville. Take the current 15 team leagues that have 3 divisions and convert them into 16 team leagues with 4 divisions. Just like the NFL.
4. In 2021, the D-Backs played the Padres, Dodgers, Giants and Rockies 19 times each. Holy Shit!Does anyone need to see 19 games between two teams? My plan would be to do the following
   • Play your 3 division rivals 14 times a year (42 Games). Play each team in your league 9 times (108 Games). That will get you to 150 games. The other 12 are inter-league with another division from the other league. Just like the NFL sets it up every year to where you play 2 home games and 2 away games with a division from the other conference, you have that with the opposite league's teams. Meaning that the NL West would play 2 away series (6 games) with two AL Central teams and two AL Central teams would visit (for 6 games). See #7
5. Two parts to this one.
   • When the other league’s team comes to visit, I would only have it on weekends and do a double header on the Saturday followed by a Sunday night game. This would mean you have two double headers scheduled a year. Slash the prices for that weekend. Make it kid-friendly. Fathers day weekend and mid-August for the other one; do it when kids are on their summer break (if they still get those--lol.). Get families involved..have the “run the bases” day after the game, fireworks, giveaways, the whole thing. Make some memories! There was a time when the D-Backs were drawing 7,000 fans a game. HS Football was outselling them. Nobody grew up watching the Dbacks or the Las Vegas Athletics....
   • I love what they did with Iowa last year. More please. I would have a lot more special venue games. About 6 per year. Puerto Rico! The DR. Mexico City. Sao Paulo. Even a barn-storming event once in a while. Hank Aaron stadium in Mobile... There is a beautiful stadium up in Buffalo, NY. I'm sure there are great little parks around the mid west and northeast.
6. For the players... I would take the 10 & 5 rule and make it an 8 & 4 rule. Satisfaction means different things these days.
7. I would expand the rosters but only make so many players eligible for substitution. Expand it to 28 from the 26. However, the other three players would not be eligible for every game. This would give the manager some flexibility on resting a player. Bryan McCann talked about how AJ Hinch would tell him that he was not going to be catching on Thursday night. So McCann would be able to go to the stadium later than usual, not go through the pre-game drills, etc...
8. One last thing for the players. What I would do is set aside some road trips where the family could come along on a trip. This would be optional for the players of course but if you're going to New York or LA for 4 games (or the DR perhaps), how nice would it be to be able to take the wife and kids along so they could hit the beach or the Empire State building. Most players probably don't have trouble taking their family on a vacation during the off season and all but it would just be nice for the clubs to do something like this for the families and the players.

 

[Anathema]

Some interesting things there, unfortunately you have forgotten the one word that has kept MLB alive for so many years… TRADITIONS. The league, the whole sport relies upon traditions. The “unwritten rules” as they say.

MLB has made some very non-traditional changes in recent years with replay, the pitch clock, and in 2026 will introduce a system to review/overturn ball/strike calls. While fans have grudgingly accepted most of these changes, any sort of serious, wide spread changes will potentially cause a catastrophic resistance in the fan base.

 

[rightwinger]

Some interesting things there, unfortunately you have forgotten the one word that has kept MLB alive for so many years… TRADITIONS. The league, the whole sport relies upon traditions. The “unwritten rules” as they say.

MLB has made some very non-traditional changes in recent years with replay, the pitch clock, and in 2026 will introduce a system to review/overturn ball/strike calls. While fans have grudgingly accepted most of these changes, any sort of serious, wide spread changes will potentially cause a catastrophic resistance in the fan base.

Agree
MLB has turned into a fantasy baseball league with fans only concerned with HRs and Strikeouts

The nuances of the game are gone, no bunting, no hit and run. The rules are tilted towards the offense.
A relief pitcher has to face three batters while the team at bat can substitute at will.
A pitcher can only throw to first three times, then the runner can take as big a lead as he wants.
Bigger bases mean a shorter distance between bases

 

[August West]

If we can have only one sport, I`ll take baseball. After the NFL draft, we often hear a GM say that they drafted great players in the skill positions. All baseball positions are skill positions.

 

[candycorn]

Agree
MLB has turned into a fantasy baseball league with fans only concerned with HRs and Strikeouts

The nuances of the game are gone, no bunting, no hit and run. The rules are tilted towards the offense.
A relief pitcher has to face three batters while the team at bat can substitute at will.
A pitcher can only throw to first three times, then the runner can take as big a lead as he wants.
Bigger bases mean a shorter distance between bases

I only really watched the playoffs this year...it was very exciting baseball.

 

[22lcidw]

The sport is traditional. Eliminate two teams and make two 14 team leagues. Each team in each league will play the other thirteen teams in their league twelve times. That is 156 games. That means there is some equality in competition and saves at least a week. So, the options are. League leaders play each other in the World Series. Or first two teams in each league play in a League championship series. Or if you even add more teams. It is a long season with a lot of games. Then the playoffs cheapen those who deserve to play for the championship. One negative is that there is not a revenue sharing system that makes a difference and teams that have the money sign the better players.

 

[roman roman]

I agree with adding two teams to make it an even 32. Have two leagues with four divisions each. First playoff round is 3 out of 5. Next round could be best of five or seven.

Cincinnati playing the first game of the season was too hastily scrapped. It hurts nothing, but adds to the game.

I like bringing doubleheaders back. Great marketing

I agree with different venues. Dyersville Iowa is great, but I can't for the life of me figure out why foul territory is so huge. Anyway, I would restore the game at Cooperstown. Rickwood is another good one.

 

[candycorn]

I agree with adding two teams to make it an even 32. Have two leagues with four divisions each. First playoff round is 3 out of 5. Next round could be best of five or seven.

Well, the NFL model is very nearly perfect. Everyone knows 10 of the 17 games before the season even starts. Like my Raiders....I know we'll lose 2 to KC, lose to 2 Denver then probably lose 2 to the Bolts....Thats 6 losses. If we're playing the NFC West, we're going to play the Forty-winers, the Crards, Hawks and Rams. The only variable is which of those 4 games is at home and which is on the road. Baseball can benefit from a similar system in my view. The only thing I'd perhaps change from my plan in the OP is to change the inter-league opponent; instead of saying a The Mets must play the Astros, Rangers, A's and Mariners. Have them play two of the teams (one home series, one away series)--the A's and the Astros for example but instead of playing the Rangers and Mariners, they play the Yankees twice; the Cubs play the White Sox twice...

Cincinnati playing the first game of the season was too hastily scrapped. It hurts nothing, but adds to the game.

Couldn't agree more. Its one of those things they changed for the sake of changing it. Made no sense to me.

I like bringing doubleheaders back. Great marketing

The big bug-a-boo with the DH is that if there is a rain out; you have to make up 2 games instead of just one. I say roll the dice and go with it anyway.

I agree with different venues. Dyersville Iowa is great, but I can't for the life of me figure out why foul territory is so huge. Anyway, I would restore the game at Cooperstown. Rickwood is another good one.

I think its a good once-in-a-while thing but something that should be done sparingly early in the season.

I

 

[Mr. Friscus]

Agree
MLB has turned into a fantasy baseball league with fans only concerned with HRs and Strikeouts

The nuances of the game are gone, no bunting, no hit and run. The rules are tilted towards the offense.

These aren't by choice, they're via analytics.

Batters got better, but pitchers got even more better (spin rate, speed, able to throw 4-5 pitches, etc.)... and the ability to make contact went down. Thus, batters go for more so that they can make their hits count since contact doesn't happen as much.

 

[Mr. Friscus]

Some interesting things there, unfortunately you have forgotten the one word that has kept MLB alive for so many years… TRADITIONS. The league, the whole sport relies upon traditions. The “unwritten rules” as they say.

MLB has made some very non-traditional changes in recent years with replay, the pitch clock, and in 2026 will introduce a system to review/overturn ball/strike calls. While fans have grudgingly accepted most of these changes, any sort of serious, wide spread changes will potentially cause a catastrophic resistance in the fan base.

Pace of play and horrible umpires were harming the game. Bad umps still do, but at least they can be corrected to an extent now. There's no charm to an amorphic inconsistent strike zone. We have the technology to improve the governing of the sport, we should use it. Tennis did, and it was good for calling lines. Watching umps get fooled by "framing" by catchers is pathetic. It only proves how fragile and bad umpiring is.

 

[Mr. Friscus]

The sport is traditional. Eliminate two teams and make two 14 team leagues. Each team in each league will play the other thirteen teams in their league twelve times. That is 156 games. That means there is some equality in competition and saves at least a week. So, the options are. League leaders play each other in the World Series. Or first two teams in each league play in a League championship series. Or if you even add more teams. It is a long season with a lot of games. Then the playoffs cheapen those who deserve to play for the championship. One negative is that there is not a revenue sharing system that makes a difference and teams that have the money sign the better players.

There's just too many games in the season.. it makes any single game so un-important that I think a lot of fans don't want to take the time to watch.

That's why the NFL is so hot. You can watch a team's entire season by committing to 3.5 hours a week. A quarter of football is somewhat equal to 4 baseball games (12 hours plus).

Playoff baseball is good. Regular season baseball is a snoozefest.

 

[Anathema]

Pace of play and horrible umpires were harming the game. Bad umps still do, but at least they can be corrected to an extent now. There's no charm to an amorphic inconsistent strike zone. We have the technology to improve the governing of the sport, we should use it. Tennis did, and it was good for calling lines. Watching umps get fooled by "framing" by catchers is pathetic. It only proves how fragile and bad umpiring is.

Umpiring is part of the game. Always has been and always will be. The diehards and traditionalists will never go for full-scale digital officiating. I would never want to see unlimited challenges. In fact I want challenged looted to 90 seconds, maximum. If you can’t determine the correct call in 90 seconds and 5 camera angles, let the call on the field stand. The more we take the human element out of the game the more it’s going to become unwatchable for many of us.

 

[rightwinger]

Umpiring is part of the game. Always has been and always will be. The diehards and traditionalists will never go for full-scale digital officiating. I would never want to see unlimited challenges. In fact I want challenged looted to 90 seconds, maximum. If you can’t determine the correct call in 90 seconds and 5 camera angles, let the call on the field stand. The more we take the human element out of the game the more it’s going to become unwatchable for many of us.

That little rectangle when you watch on TV has ruined umpiring.
The TV viewer and crowd at the game can see how far off the calls are

 

[Mr. Friscus]

That little rectangle when you watch on TV has ruined umpiring.
The TV viewer and crowd at the game can see how far off the calls are

It’s saved the game. Now we are moving to make the strike zone static, not some amorphous blob that exists inside only in the umps mind.

I’d rather have the hoop at 10ft every night.. not 10ft 1 inch one night and 9ft 11 inches another.

 

[Mr. Friscus]

Umpiring is part of the game. Always has been and always will be. The diehards and traditionalists will never go for full-scale digital officiating.

They will when they don’t exist anymore. But as it stands Baseball definitely has a dinosaur gatekeeping guard.

I would never want to see unlimited challenges.

Me either, just a cubed laser grid static zone. I dont care about chest or knees.. same zone for all batters.. in basketball 7 footers shoot at the same 10ft hoop as 5ft 5 inch players.

 

[rightwinger]

It’s saved the game. Now we are moving to make the strike zone static, not some amorphous blob that exists inside only in the umps mind.

I’d rather have the hoop at 10ft every night.. not 10ft 1 inch one night and 9ft 11 inches another.

Agree

I initially hated the idea of automated balls and strikes.
But what it gives you is consistency
A pitcher knows a ball in this position will be a strike.
Not dependent on the umpire.

Same goes for the batter. He knows what a strike will be and what he can lay off of

 

[leftwinger]

I wrote this a few years back so some

Lol! Nice try with that massive cut-paste, perfectly formatted in sections. Just stop. Just SHUP. Stain can't get out of bed w/o?

 

[Anathema]

They will when they don’t exist anymore. But as it stands Baseball definitely has a dinosaur gatekeeping guard.

Me either, just a cubed laser grid static zone. I dont care about chest or knees.. same zone for all batters.. in basketball 7 footers shoot at the same 10ft hoop as 5ft 5 inch players.

All of us old farts are training the next generation. I’m spending ten days with family over Christmas. Tw of my nephews and I will probably spend most of the time talking about baseball. Old time baseball.

A unilateral strike zone will NEVER happen. The pitchers and the Batters will never allow it. Nor would they ever allow a totally electronic strike zone. MLBPA would shirt the league down before allowing either of those things.

 

[rightwinger]

All of us old farts are training the next generation. I’m spending ten days with family over Christmas. Tw of my nephews and I will probably spend most of the time talking about baseball. Old time baseball.

A unilateral strike zone will NEVER happen. The pitchers and the Batters will never allow it. Nor would they ever allow a totally electronic strike zone. MLBPA would shirt the league down before allowing either of those things.

I think both pitchers and batters would appreciate a consistent strike zone

 

[CrusaderFrank]

I wrote this a few years back so some of the stuff may be no longer in effect.

Well, first you have to decide what needs “improvement". Different stake holders (Owners, Labor, Fans) have different priorities. One source said that the profits from a single MLB team are over $100M. That is profit. Not revenue. So I doubt the owners see much need in "fixing" things. The other two stakeholders? Probably see room for improvement. Here are my ideas. First, I think as far as scheduling goes, the NFL has it down to a science so MLB should seek to copy them from my point of view.

1. The season. Starts on the first Tuesday in April with a noon game in Cincy (every one else plays that night) and ends on the first weekend in October.
2. All Star game.
   • Make it a Monday-Friday celebration with the game on Tuesday. It seems to me that most players would rather have the three days off instead of the honor of playing in the meaningless game. So give the players that play in the game 3 days off as well. Everyone just take a weekend off pretty much.
   • Expand the All Star rosters to 40 players for each team. Currently there are 20 position players and 12 pitchers. Make it 25 and 15 so there are fewer snubs. Since nobody really cares about the game, nobody should really be upset that some players are making the team while others are not.
     • I'd have 1 position player and 1 pitcher (on each team) out of the 8 new spots filled by a HOF committee (of sorts) who appoints a "favorite" to play an inning or two. Like if they are having the game in Chicago, perhaps have Frank Thomas as an appointee and maybe Kerry Wood from the Cubbies. Lets say this was 2005 instead of 2025...maybe have Eckersley and Gibson re-create their historic at-bat. I bet Wade Boggs could still work a count to his advantage. Anyway, make it local; make it fun....it’s an exhibition.
   • Let the manager decide who starts. Currently, the starting line up is determined by the fan's vote and the reserves are selected by a player ballot and a commissioner's office. The manager should be able to pick who starts and who doesn't....thats what managers do. Remove any clause from contracts that has a start-in-the-all-star-game clause and replace it with being selected.
3. Expand to 32 teams. Put a team back in Oakland and a new one maybe in Nashville. Take the current 15 team leagues that have 3 divisions and convert them into 16 team leagues with 4 divisions. Just like the NFL.
4. In 2021, the D-Backs played the Padres, Dodgers, Giants and Rockies 19 times each. Holy Shit!Does anyone need to see 19 games between two teams? My plan would be to do the following
   • Play your 3 division rivals 14 times a year (42 Games). Play each team in your league 9 times (108 Games). That will get you to 150 games. The other 12 are inter-league with another division from the other league. Just like the NFL sets it up every year to where you play 2 home games and 2 away games with a division from the other conference, you have that with the opposite league's teams. Meaning that the NL West would play 2 away series (6 games) with two AL Central teams and two AL Central teams would visit (for 6 games). See #7
5. Two parts to this one.
   • When the other league’s team comes to visit, I would only have it on weekends and do a double header on the Saturday followed by a Sunday night game. This would mean you have two double headers scheduled a year. Slash the prices for that weekend. Make it kid-friendly. Fathers day weekend and mid-August for the other one; do it when kids are on their summer break (if they still get those--lol.). Get families involved..have the “run the bases” day after the game, fireworks, giveaways, the whole thing. Make some memories! There was a time when the D-Backs were drawing 7,000 fans a game. HS Football was outselling them. Nobody grew up watching the Dbacks or the Las Vegas Athletics....
   • I love what they did with Iowa last year. More please. I would have a lot more special venue games. About 6 per year. Puerto Rico! The DR. Mexico City. Sao Paulo. Even a barn-storming event once in a while. Hank Aaron stadium in Mobile... There is a beautiful stadium up in Buffalo, NY. I'm sure there are great little parks around the mid west and northeast.
6. For the players... I would take the 10 & 5 rule and make it an 8 & 4 rule. Satisfaction means different things these days.
7. I would expand the rosters but only make so many players eligible for substitution. Expand it to 28 from the 26. However, the other three players would not be eligible for every game. This would give the manager some flexibility on resting a player. Bryan McCann talked about how AJ Hinch would tell him that he was not going to be catching on Thursday night. So McCann would be able to go to the stadium later than usual, not go through the pre-game drills, etc...
8. One last thing for the players. What I would do is set aside some road trips where the family could come along on a trip. This would be optional for the players of course but if you're going to New York or LA for 4 games (or the DR perhaps), how nice would it be to be able to take the wife and kids along so they could hit the beach or the Empire State building. Most players probably don't have trouble taking their family on a vacation during the off season and all but it would just be nice for the clubs to do something like this for the families and the players.

One more comment: MLB season ends whenever the NY Yankees are eliminated from the playoffs