data.3news-bydate.train.rec.sport.baseball.104836 Maven / Gradle / Ivy
From: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Game Length (was Re: Braves Update!!
Organization: Clark University
Lines: 35
[email protected] (Michael Zimmers) writes:
>First, a longer game in no way suggests "more baseball to watch," unless
>you include watching the grass grow as baseball.
I definitely do. That's why I don't like going to see games played
on artificial turf :-)
>The lengthier games
>are so because of batters stepping out of the box, pitchers taking
>longer between pitches and excessive trips to the mound by managers
>and pitching coaches.
>
>And while it's true that the gaps between plays can be interesting, this
>is only true when they don't become extra-long.
Well, your idea of "interesting" differs from mine. I think
batting practice is interesting, for example, and make a special
effort to get to the game very early in order to see it. I think the
delaying tactics of batters, pitchers, catchers, and managers are
interesting because they're attempts to gain advantage through control
of the flow and timing of the game. Of course, the umpires can, and
should, intervene when these tactics get out of hand. As Ryan Robbins
has pointed out, there are rules that cover this.
One of the more fascinating things about baseball, I think, is its
open-endedness with regard to time. You never know if the game is going
to zip right by and be over in less than two hours, or if it's going to
go on until four in the morning. Likewise, some games are action-packed,
and some games are slow and lazy. That's fine by me. Those folks who
want constant action should watch the games on TV so they can channel-
surf and cater to their short attention spans.
Heather
[email protected]