I say three hours because that's usually when a baseball game lasts. But now, the sudden new changes implemented by baseball last March have somehow made the game even stronger.
The reason I am bringing up the speed of baseball games yet again is because the Los Angeles Angels have recently become victims of these long 4-hour-or-so games involving multiple pitching changes or called time to allow the batter to get himself together again or even players just hitting the ball every chance they get. And, as a result, it has made the game long again.Ever since they traded for Justin Upton and Brandon Phillips, Angels games have lasted 4:33, 4:09, 3:49, and 4:38. That's an average of around 4:17 a game, and two of those games went to extra innings, thanks in part to no good pitching for the later half of those games. Unfortunately, that may continue for the last month of the season as the roster expands to 40 players and more pitchers are being utilized after only one pitcher or one player or even both.
Now this isn't just for the Angels. A game between the Blue Jays and Red Sox on Tuesday night went 19 innings. If I remember correctly, that was around six hours or so. That was incredibly long and almost a waste of time. Thank god I didn't go to that game.
Many games this season have gone to extra innings and these extra innings games have lasted so long that many people just get up and leave, because they're tired of seeing ineffectiveness, especially in late innings.
So with all that being said, MLB definitely has to do something, because to them, it almost makes them embarrassed to see how long these games are taking, and I can imagine that there's going to be plenty of new rule changes to come next season. That could include a pitch clock, which has already been implemented in Double-A and Triple-A, as well as possibly a runner on second to start the 11th. Those are just some of the few changes that baseball has been considering doing. But I have another aspect that baseball should look at: Continuing to limit the number of relief pitchers.
In recent games that I have seen, many managers will change pitchers either after one batter or after two, most likely due to if the batters hit left-handed or right-handed. And to me, I feel that's almost unacceptable, and I'm not a baseball manager.
And that's another point I'll put onto this long-game theory: Baseball managers don't trust their pitchers anymore. Especially not their relief pitchers. I can understand it for teams who have terrible pitching and can't seem to get through a single inning without giving up many runs, but it shouldn't be for teams who are competing for playoff spots or who are already in it. I mean, if you can't trust your relief pitcher to get you through a couple of batters, then how good are you at your job?
So, with all that being said, speeding up the game seems almost inevitable, because many times I just get tired of everything that slows a baseball game down: Bad pitching, too many mound visits, and even the strike zone. Last March, MLB pushed up the strike zone to just above the knees, and that has hurt a lot of pitchers who rely on that portion of the zone to strike people out. I wish that hadn't been done, but here it is now, and I guess we have to live with it.
I love baseball and I hope it doesn't change. But in order for people to enjoy baseball, you can't have these games taking four or five hours every single time. You probably think it's just the Angels games alone, but this is everybody. This is everybody whose managers don't trust their pitchers and who make too many mound visits, and as a result, long games is what you get.
Things probably will change as a result, but I won't be surprised if I didn't. But just be prepared for long hours at the ballpark while managers try to figure out how many pitchers they want to throw into a single inning. You might be sleeping in the stands at that point.
