Ms.Huxtable Posted February 20, 2003 Report Share Posted February 20, 2003 You’ve been asked to conceive of a way to make baseball more interesting to watch. You can change the rules, the playing surface, the make-up of the teams, whatever you want, but you can only make ONE change. What would you change? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phunky Cauldron Posted February 20, 2003 Report Share Posted February 20, 2003 Although I've got to agree that baseball is really boring to watch on TV, I love going to games. So my rule change will be that whenever I watch a game on TV, Major League Baseball will provide me with my very own private hotdog/giant pretzel/beer guy who will basically do laps between my kitchen and my couch yelling out "Hot Dogs, get your piping hot Hot Dogs!" Although I don't think that you had this type of rule change in mind, I felt that it would be the only thing that would make the home watching experience any better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Posted February 20, 2003 Report Share Posted February 20, 2003 Allow checking. This change would be much more effective if all nine batters were on the field at once. Same goes for basketball. Give 'em boards and let 'em check. Or at least save us all some time and just give both teams 100 points each and two minutes to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Musicface Posted February 20, 2003 Report Share Posted February 20, 2003 I played in a fun tournament once where you had to have a shot at every base you took - THAT would be a fun thing to see in the majors! Peace, - M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottieMac Posted February 20, 2003 Report Share Posted February 20, 2003 Put lots of poisonous snakes on the field. That would be fun to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcO Posted February 20, 2003 Report Share Posted February 20, 2003 Fill the stands with shrieking, angry monkeys. I couldn't *not* watch that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitari Posted February 20, 2003 Report Share Posted February 20, 2003 Make 'em play naked! Well...maybe give 'em a cup ....nah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcane Posted February 21, 2003 Report Share Posted February 21, 2003 Kitari, get outta my brain! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kung Posted February 21, 2003 Report Share Posted February 21, 2003 I am keenly aware of the angst and bitter squabbling that will erupt when somebody tries to screw with the National Pastime. ... But it must be done, and if I don't do it somebody else will. So here's the plan. ELIMINATE THE PITCHER: This will knock at least one hour off the length of a game, which is now up to 3:42. One World Series game took five hours and 20 minutes, which is unacceptable to everybody except the Pitchers. Yes. ... So we will ELIMINATE THE PITCHERS, and they won't be missed. Pitchers, as a group, are pampered little swine with too much money and no real effect on the game except to drag it out and interrupt the action. LIMIT ALL GAMES TO THREE (3) HOURS: Like football and basketball and hockey, the Baseball game will end at a fixed time. THE SCORE, at that moment, WILL BE FINAL, based on an accumulation of TOTAL BASES IN 3 hours. ALL BASE-RUNNERS MAY RUN TO ANY BASE (but not backward) -- First to Third, Second to Home, etc. And with NO PITCHER in the game, this frantic scrambling across the infield will be Feasible and Tempting. ALL "PITCHING", by the way, will be done by a fine-tuned PITCHING MACHINE that pops up out of the mound, delivers a remote-controlled "pitch" at the batter, and then drops back out of sight, to free up the whole infield for running. ... If a batter hits a home run with the bases loaded, for instance, his team will score 16 total bases (or 16 points). But, if it's 3 up and 3 down in an inning, that team will score Zero points. Think of 22-5, perhaps, or 88-55. Yes sir, we will have Huge scores and constant speedy action for three straight hours. The heroes of the game will be CATCHERS, not Pitchers. The CATCHER will dominate the game and be the highest-paid player. ... With no Pitcher and no Mound to disrupt the flow, runners on base will be moving at the crack of the bat, and it will be the catcher's job to shut them down or pick them off whenever possible. Foot-speed and a bazooka throwing arm will be paramount. ... There will be no more of this bull about Bullpens and Managers scratching their heads on TV for hours on end, no more lame pick-off throws to first, no more waving off signs and agonized close-ups while pop fouls bounce off the roof. No, there will be no such thing as a base on balls. Each batter will get five "pitches" from the robot -- only FIVE (5) and if he doesn't get a hit by then, he is Out. ... And the CATCHER will control the kind of drop or curve or speed he wants the machine to throw. And it will obey. Those damn pitching machines can put a Slider past you at 98 miles an hour five times in a row, with no problem. They can throw hideous wavering knuckleballs and half-moon curves -- all depending and according to what the CATCHER wants to dial up on his remote-control unit. He can even order that the batter be whacked in the ribs by a 102-mph fastball, although that will cost his team TWO (2) bases, instead of one. And you won't want to have some poor Cuban drilled in the ribs when you're nursing a 31-30 lead. OK, folks, that's it for now. I am already late, and I have written too many words -- but the Concept is sound, I think, and there is a clear and desperate Need for it. ... “ Not even the New Rules would drag me back to the Ballpark -- but I am a Doctor of Wisdom, a professional man, and some of my friends in the Business have asked me to have a look at this problem, which I have, and this is my solution, for good or ill. ” Hunter S. Thompson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouche Posted February 21, 2003 Report Share Posted February 21, 2003 I think that the game could get VERY interesting if the players only get paid if they win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paisley Posted February 21, 2003 Report Share Posted February 21, 2003 reverse the drug policies... players get bonuses based on the higher the levels of banned substances are in their blood... faster, further, higher! I miss seeing coked out players with big mutton chop sideburns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hux Posted February 21, 2003 Report Share Posted February 21, 2003 the game, as is; is perfection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booche Posted February 21, 2003 Report Share Posted February 21, 2003 Thanks you Kung, beatiful, made my night. I totally forgot about that......... I say, get rid of bases, get rid of positions, get rid of the bats and gloves. Members of both teams take the field, and the object is to throw the ball at your opponents. Should you hit them, they are 'out' and leave the playing field for the duration of the match. The last man standing wins, and their team gets the points. Head shots count as two players being ejected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phunky Cauldron Posted February 21, 2003 Report Share Posted February 21, 2003 That reminds me a lot of my public school dodgeball days. I used to be the king...catlike agility, catapult power arm and laser like aim. Noone will ever be safe from the "DODGEBALL KING" !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booche Posted February 21, 2003 Report Share Posted February 21, 2003 You're pretty quick there PC ( ), I say we set up a game............. I'm coming for you first , you need an 'ego-check' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradm Posted February 21, 2003 Report Share Posted February 21, 2003 Repeal the ban on performance-enhancing drugs. (This was Bruce Sterling's idea: have an "unlimited" class for professional sports like football, allowing everything from drugs to cyborg implants.) Aloha, Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimoe Posted February 22, 2003 Report Share Posted February 22, 2003 I love baseball, but to make Blue Jays games better, I would bulldoze the Skydome and build a natural grass, 40 thousand seat baseball only stadium. That would be cool. Another thing to make games better: ban all perfomance enhancing drugs and have random drug testing - penalty for getting caught would be a year's suspension. And anoterh thing: records and milestones have become mostly meaningless due to smaller ballparks combined with juiced baseballs and even more juiced players. Eliminate the cheating and bring back the game of summer, that rightfully earned that title from baseball's glorious past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.