Major League Baseball: How to Lenghten the Game

Sunday’s New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox game clocked in at a tidy three hours and 41 minutes. It went by like the snap of a finger, starting right around dinner and wrapping up just after a respectable bed time on the East Coast.

Don’t you want more?

Baseball, the sport which is packing stadiums and attracting new blood across the nation, is too short of a game. Changes are in order, and these are the measures which can be taken in order to successfully lengthen our old national pastime.

1. Four Strikes

Pitchers already have the advantage of eight fielders backing them up. Why should they need only three strikes to record an out, but can throw four bad bitches before issuing a walk?

Four strikes would even the playing field. Just imagine the possibility of 15 minute at-bats with 12 foul balls. Plus, there would be substantially more questionable offerings for managers to futilely argue with umpires about. It might even bring old Bobby Cox back to the diamond.

2.  Four Outs

Again, why three? Four balls earns a walk. Grand slams are worth four runs.

Four outs would help to even the playing field between the one batter and the nine fielders. Pickoff attempts would increase substantially, as would those intriguing meetings at the mound.

And just imagine the quadruple-play.

3. Ten Innings

This is the easiest way to lengthen game time. Ten is a nice round number. Plus it means more relief pitchers, who rarely allow a run.

4. Batting Practice Before Innings

Pitchers are allowed to throw a series of warm up pitches between frames. Why shouldn’t batters be afforded a few hacks? Five apiece would work.

5. Equipment Changes on the Fly

Batters are routinely stepping out of the box to adjust their batting gloves or various protective devices, while pitchers constantly step off the rubber for similar tweaking. Wouldn’t it be better for all if, say, a player could just change their shoes or pants? This way everyone is comfortable and able to better deal with the breakneck speed of baseball.