Squanto wrote:
There's no 6 pitch max rule. I think he was making a point that most at bats don't go longer than 6 pitches.
In 2009, the MLB average for the number of pitches seen by a batter per plate appearance was 3.83. Highest was Colorado (3.99), lowest was San Francisco (3.62). So, on average, an at bat only lasts 4 pitches or so.
The issue with baseball is that there's too much downtime allowed between pitches. There's rules that try to get batters in the box quicker, keep them there, etc. There's rules that say a pitcher must deliver a pitch within 12 seconds of a batter getting into the box. There's rules that say the umps should break up conferences on the mound. However, those rules are not universally enforced, so they become useless.
The other problem is the specialization of relief pitchers. It's not uncommon for a manager to make a pitching change, have that pitcher come in, take his warmup throws, pitch to a batter, then have the manager come back out for another pitching change, warmup throws, etc... It's gets very out of hand. That alone probably adds 30 minutes a game at least.
The problem I have with commercials in football is that there are just too damn many. Take a scenario such as follows: (Very hypothetical, since it involves the Bills scoring TDs.)
Bills score a TD. Kick the XP. Commercial break.
Bills kickoff to Miami. Change of possession timeout, commercial break.
Miami goes 3 and out. Punts to Buffalo. Change of possession timeout, commercial break.
Etc...etc..
There doesn't need to be a commercial break after every change of possession. It's all money, I know, but it's stupid.
funny thing. in like 1998 or something like that, when Torre was still with the Yankees he brought in Andy Pettitte just to pick a guy off first. never threw a pitch, just picked the guy off and was taken out of the game.
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