Yea, Be nice to me.  I'm old and set in my ways.

It just seems so "over the top to me, and is a distraction to viewers.  If you ae listening on the radio you probably don't even notice the change much, but on TV we've got new craziness with countdown clocks, and God now what with the graphic showing runners on base and yellow boxes.  The tail really seems to be wagging the dog here.

1 hour ago, Mustang said:

...and God now what with the graphic showing runners on base and yellow boxes.

This made me laugh out loud!

Small sample size, but the changes made by MLB appear to be having the desired effect. 

2 hours ago, Jumper_Dad said:

Small sample size, but the changes made by MLB appear to be having the desired effect. 

MLB is trying to get the casual crowd Ron watch and attend more games. This will all help. 

Shhhhh, everyone .... please don't say anything to @Mustang about the Kroger patch on the Reds uniforms.

On 4/12/2023 at 6:53 PM, Mustang said:

Yea, Be nice to me.  I'm old and set in my ways.

It just seems so "over the top to me, and is a distraction to viewers.  If you ae listening on the radio you probably don't even notice the change much, but on TV we've got new craziness with countdown clocks, and God now what with the graphic showing runners on base and yellow boxes.  The tail really seems to be wagging the dog here.

Crazy. I watched a game with a neighbor recently and we both commented on how much the clock wasn’t impacting viewing in this way. I feel like they hid it very well.

Baseball may be "America's Game" but the pace of play and everything else was sending it down the list of desired things to watch. Reds moved home games to 6:40 because a 7:10 game would sometimes go until almost 11 and the casual fans wouldn't tune in that long. 

 

I try to watch the Reds every night I can and I love the fact that a 6:40 or 7:10 first pitch is over by 10:00 when I try to start going to bed. All the other rule changes like the bigger bases are increasing runs and stolen bases and exciting plays. Other sports have made changes to increase scoring or exciting play, like the NHL making the goals wider and less icing calls. It was past time for baseball to do the same.

I love the pitch clock and all the new rules except for the pickoff limit. I’ve subscribed to the MLB network for the first time and am watching baseball again regularly. The game has a much better flow, and are so much easier to watch.  Honestly, anyone who complains about is just being obstinate. I get that the penalty can be a little jarring to see, but once players and pitchers completely adjust, you won’t even notice it. 

On 4/17/2023 at 1:13 AM, rjs4470 said:

I love the pitch clock and all the new rules except for the pickoff limit. I’ve subscribed to the MLB network for the first time and am watching baseball again regularly. The game has a much better flow, and are so much easier to watch.  Honestly, anyone who complains about is just being obstinate. I get that the penalty can be a little jarring to see, but once players and pitchers completely adjust, you won’t even notice it. 

While I'm not a fan of limiting that exactly, they really had to do it, because otherwise the pitcher can just throw over constantly to subvert the clock.  I am slightly confused on if merely stepping off the rubber by the pitcher qualifies though.  I've seen that a few times where they don't actually throw over, and I wasn't sure if that counted.

On 4/14/2023 at 12:45 PM, Voice of Reason said:

Shhhhh, everyone .... please don't say anything to @Mustang about the Kroger patch on the Reds uniforms.

Not to mention Jake Fraley’s beard. 

20 hours ago, DragonFire said:

While I'm not a fan of limiting that exactly, they really had to do it, because otherwise the pitcher can just throw over constantly to subvert the clock.  I am slightly confused on if merely stepping off the rubber by the pitcher qualifies though.  I've seen that a few times where they don't actually throw over, and I wasn't sure if that counted.

At least throwing over is some kind of action. My biggest issue is I think it swings the advantage too much toward the runner and makes stealing bases a little too easy. All in all though, it's really a minor complaint.

On 4/12/2023 at 10:37 AM, gchs_uk9 said:

Has anyone been to a game in person? I haven't, but my parents went to a game in St. Louis a couple weeks ago and my dad said it was the best live baseball experience for a casual fan he's ever had.

IT was great at the game. I'm old school and I love the pitch clock. My son didn't even have time to look at his phone except in between innings. 

I went to my first game of the season yesterday.   It was over in about 2 hours 25 minutes.   Honestly it didn't feel much different than last season.  Pace was good and still had plenty of time to get food and drink when needed and not miss much action.

Now if we can get them to start a World Series game before 8:00.  I know they want the West Coast viewers, but that leaves a majority of the country in bed when your biggest games are finishing.