The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

You're the commissioner of MLB.

How do you make it better?  What changes do you implement?  Is everything perfect?

Fire Sparano, Fire Ireland, and draft a QB in the first round.

Oh, wait, sorry...wrong thread :)

Instant Replay is priority #1. F the "purists". Every other major sport, including tennis, uses instant replay and it's about time the MLB gets on that.

Some ideas -- add instant replay for certain things.  In bounds, catch/no catch/home runs/outs at the basae -- not on balls/strikes.  Same rules as NFL.  Keep an ump in the booth to determine to overrule the call on the field, if needed.  There is no call to the booth.  They call down if they want to.

Shorten the season.   I don't know if you can get it in half...but maybe 3/4.  120 games or something.

More interleague play.

Expand the playoffs to include a couple of more teams.  Playoff baseball is fun.  Regular season is tedious down the stretch if things are already decided.

Don't allow players to step out of the box once they enter (without specific umpire permission for a reason).  This will speed up the game.

Three words: "Hard Salary Cap"

Aside from that, I wouldn't change a thing...

Yeah....agree on the hard cap.

I like baseball the way it is, don't think it needs much changing.  Season could be shorter, but that would ruin all the record tracking.  No more teams in the playoffs, that just waters things down.  I would agree with a hard salary cap, I think it would actually help the Yankees because they have a good minor league system.  The one thing I don't like is the late season trades - teams not bound for the playoffs empty their high priced players to teams heading to the playoffs, which changes the whole dynamics.

Speed the game up.

^ Great.  How?

I have no idea. Maybe a clock in between pitches? I mean, why do they have to adjust themselves and spit sunflower seeds after every pitch.

I don't watch baseball, mainly because of that, so I don't really know. It just needs to be faster, with more going on.

They use this already.  What, specifically, do you want to see changed with that?

* Limit the number of times a catcher, the manager, or random infielders can visit the mound.

* Reduce the number of warm-up pitches at the beginning of each inning.

* Pitchers currently are only allowed 12 seconds between pitches with the bases empty. Start enforcing that rule, especially when guys like Boston's Beckett and Buchholz (two of baseball's elite slowpokes) are on the mound.

and...on a not-completely-serious note:

* No more live renditions of The Star Spangled Banner. During pregame ceremonies, play the record at 78 RPM, and have the umpire shout his "Play Ball!" call about halfway through the "...home of the brave" line.

* Once you get to two strikes on a hitter, only allow them to hit two foul balls...and the third foul ball after two strikes is reached = a strikeout (call this the Bobby Abreu rule)

Eliminate interleague play

Why eliminate it?  I like it?  How does it hurt the sport?

It seems that it would help, because you'd want to see different teams come to town...get a chance to see all of the superstars.

Get rid of the DH....

Be able to trade draft picks....

I don't mind the replay,on just about everything,except the balls and strikes....Enforce the strike zone as it's written in the rulebook...

I don't mind shortening the season,I love the hard cap,and restricting late season trades...

1) Greater use of Instant Replay. Not for balls and strikes, but for any close play that they want to review. For all you Yankee haters, if this had already been in place, the Yanks probably don't win the 2009 World Series as they benefited from a lot of calls in their favor.

2) If you want a hard cap, you have to have a hard floor. No more receiving $30 Million checks for luxury tax/revenue sharing and then fielding a team with a $29 Million payroll.

3) DH to the National League. I'm sorry, but you can't tell me that David Ortiz batting as a DH isn't right for the game while Randy Johnson swinging a bat is. They are both extremes, but I would rather go for the one that isn't a guaranteed out and kills rallies.

4) No more playoff teams. 8 is enough. Let's not be the NBA where more than half the league gets in.

5) Ability to trade draft picks.

My man never lies. 

+1

^ Yeah, agree.

Speeding up the game is pretty simple.  A lot of fans don't know this, but pitchers are supposed to be held accountable for the amount of time in-between pitches.  They get fined quite often for infractions, it's not something you hear a lot about.  I say this needs to be stepped up.  Put this in the laps of the ump.

"X" amount of time to throw a pitch.  If it doesn't happen in "x" amount of time, a ball is automatically called.  If the ump doesn't properly follow this rule, the ump is held accountable with fines, suspensions.

This was actually put into the last CBA and removed because they simply couldn't arrive at a time.  It needs to be done, it would be a first good step.

Additionally, teams should be allotted a specific number of "time outs."  Those are the only times a pitching coach or manager may be on the field to approach the mound.  They get, say, three a game.  Use them wisely, a violation is an automatic ejection. 

Catchers and pitchers constantly meeting will be taken care of by the "x" second rule.  By the time they are done yappin' the ump would have awarded the batter 1st base.

Baseball games, under almost no circumstances, should never exceed three hours.  Three hours is pushing it.

I find it amusing that every time I bring up a hard salary cap, the Boston and New York fan watch their blood pressure go up about 25 points as they start immediately screaming for the hard floor.

And...I always agree. I have no problem with a hard floor at all, and see it as a natural counterbalance to the hard cap. I just want to get rid of the whole "We'll just outspend you for the star players" attitude that is prevalent among the high-salary squads in baseball.

More than outspending, I am bothered when teams make mistakes and don't pay for it.  I'm OK that the Redskins drop serious coin for every big name free agent that comes along.  But that's only because when it doesn't work out, they end up screwing themselves. 

I wouldn't mind the Yankees picking up these overpriced guys.  It's when the don't pan out and they can just spend for the next big name guy, without consequence, that I get bothered.

If i had my way,

Alignment - Do a Radical realignment that puts teams from the same city/state in the same division, (Mets-Yanks, Cubs-White Sox, etc). It would certainly cut the distance a team would travel.

Hard Cap/Hard floor. 100 million dollar hard cap, 50 million dollar hard floor.

Playoff teams - 6 for each league, like the NFL, the top 2 teams get a bye while the rest play 3 vs 6, 4 vs 5. Best of 5. Although i have heard that there will be one wild card added next year that will play a 1 game winner takes all against the other wild card team.

Salary cap

Eliminate all press coverage of the Yankees and Red Sox, because those two teams are all you fucking hear about.

Make home plate a pool of melted chocolate and have a slip and slide run halfway between 3rd and home.

Put a "pitch" clock behind home late. Once the pitcher receives the ball the clock starts, 15 seconds should be plenty.  Batter not ready..too bad.

What would the penalty be for the pitcher if he doesn't throw it in time. Automatic ball?

That is exactly what the current rule calls for.  I personally think that a low-voltage taser would go further toward ensuring compliance...

I honestly don't think there's anything wrong with baseball, outside of a hard salary cap and instant replay. 


Now, I'm the furthest thing from a financial wizard.  I'm 25 years old and I don't think I've ever seen a comma in my bank account.  So I'm not going to touch how to imply a salary cap.


Instant replay however, here's what I think should be done:  Don't think football and "challenge flags" and all that nonsense.  Simply put, have a 5th umpire watching the game like the rest of us.  If the call is wrong on the field, the 5th umpire would be able to chime in and instantly correct it.  With that being said, you make sure the other 4 umpires know that this "head umpire" or whatever you want to call it has final say and over rule anyone's "human error." 

1.  Instant Replay used for home run calls, foul/fair calls, plays at the plate, base running, but not balls and strikes.  Make it like the NFL where managers get two "reviews" per game.  If the manager wins both his reviews, he gets a third one.  If the game goes into extra innings, an extra review will be granted for each manager for every five innings.

2.  Put the DH in both leagues.  The pitcher hitting is basically an automatic out 99% of the time.  Pitching is a specialty that takes a lot of time to develop, as is hitting, and there aren't enough hours in a day to do both.  That's why you rarely, if ever, see pitchers hitting once they make it to the professional level.

3.  A hard salary cap to prevent teams like the Yankees and Red Sox from buying championships, and a hard salary floor to prevent teams like the Marlins, Pirates, and Royals from pocketing that luxury tax revenue.

4.  Charging the mound after getting hit by a pitch is an automatic minimum 5 game suspension, as is the pitcher (or anyone else) throwing a punch.  Anyone leaving the dugout or their position on the field during an altercation will be subject to a minimum 1 game suspension.

5.  HGH testing to go along with steroid testing.  The consequences for a positive HGH test is the same as a positive steroid test.  First time is a 50 game suspension.  Second time is a 100 game suspension.  Third time is a lifetime ban.

6.  Allow the use of aluminum bats

7.  Allow the trading of draft picks

  

As far as the speed of the game is concerned.  Baseball games and Football games are almost identical in length.  The difference is, the NFL gives you a commercial ever 15 seconds, where as MLB stays with (for lack of a better word) action.  If the NFL eliminated commericals after every change of possession, would you guys complain about the speed of the game in football?

What, are you saying that just because we signed Kei Igawa, Damaso Marte, Pedro Feliciano, A-Rod for 100 years and AJ Burnett that it didn't prevent us from winning championships and divisions? Oh yeah, it didn't. You're right. I understand your point and would never argue with it. The Nationals were dumb and gave Jayson Werth too much money. They are and will pay for it. Boston gave Carl Crawford too much money and while they will pay for it, it didn't hurt them this year, excluding the September collapse.

If a hard cap was put in place, guys like Crawford and Werth can kiss those contracts goodbye.

Instant replay for balls and strikes. Tennis style.

The problem with me is that it's slow and there is no real action in baseball. Most everyone is just standing around chewing their sunflower seeds and falling asleep on the bench. I don't know how you can improve on that without changing the game drastically, which, I don't think would really happen unless MLB was really hurting.

What do you wanna kill some pitchers???  Not enough home runs for you already??

With nobody on base:

1) Hitter's aren't allowed to leave the batter's box (This was Rick Reilly's idea back in 2003)

2) Pitchers must throw the ball within 15 seconds.

That'll speed up the game

Baseball is fine the way it is.

+ 1

If you're going to expand the playoffs like they have,they need to go back to a 154 game season.The pennant races would be just as exciting,it would shorten the boredom of teams that are 16 games back having to play out the meaningless games,and you wouldn't have the world series in freakin' November when it's cold as hell up north.What will they do if,say,the Twins play the Rockies in the series in late October with snow on the ground?Baseball is meant to be played in warm weather and the whole thing should be over by the 2nd week of October at the latest.

That's it right there. Especially, MORE interleague play.

1.  Go back to 154 game schedule.   Why?  We have an extra playoff round that didn't exist before.
2.  Come down like a fuckin hammer with the drug policy.  They waited too long on this shit and only now is it started back in the right direction.
3.  I let the players,fans and owners vote even if it's "unofficial."  Pitchers will now bat in both leagues or we will have DH's in both leagues.
4.  I'm not sure what I'd do with Interleague play.  I'm kind of a fan of an unbalanced schedule in favor of more division games since we're evidently stuck with 30+ teams now.  On one hand if you make them either all bat or all DH it both makes it more interesting to lengthen and yet it makes a case for eliminating it altogether.
5.  We're going back to two divisions.  Sorry, Realignment, you caused more crap than you solved.
6.  I'm throwing out any record broken between 1986 and the time I took over.  I don't give a shit if it's draconian.  It won't be the first time draconian measures were used to clean up the game.
7.  Pitch clock. This will also help with guys stepping out of the box. 
8.  New rule.  Only one pitcher change per inning.  If you have a pitcher who can only get left handers out, send his ass back to triple A. 
9.  Bob Costas is banned from all major league ballparks and events.
10.  Bob Eucher goes straight to the hall of fame.
11.  Joe Jackson is allowed into the Hall of Fame, the committee can vote on Buck Weaver.
12.  Pete Rose can be elected the first year following his death.
13.  One pickoff throw to first per pitch.  We know.  You're trying to hold the runner because of his speed.  You don't need to do it repeatedly.

In case you haven't noticed, and judging by the attendance you haven't...

Bob Uecker won the Ford Frick award for 2003, and is in the baseball hall of fame as a broadcaster for his contributions to the game. He's also in Milwaukee's ring of honor. I loves me some Uecker...funniest man in the history of the game!


Make it two throws over. If a pitcher throws over to pick off the runner twice and is unsuccessful on both attempts, the runner is awarded the next base.

1 Question?

How come the 1st Round isn't a BEST of 7?  Amazed that the owners haven't pushed for this increased income. ???

LCS used to be best of 5

at one point the World Series was also 5 out of 9.

You want to speed up the game the answer is simple. You enter the batter's box with a 1 and 1 count.

I used to play softball and when you got to the plate you had a 3-2 count. 1 pitch and there were only 3 possibilities; walk, strikeout or the ball was put in play.  Great game. Would take like 45 minutes to play 6 innings unless you had a pitcher that couldn't get the ball over the plate.

Agree 100%.  One of the things that makes football better than baseball is that you can't buy long term success the way the Yankees do. 

Why not completely take the human element out of it.  Put a microchip inside the ball.  Let a computer determine if it was over the plate or not. 

This one had me laughing so hard, I had tears!!!!   Great line from a great movie!!!!!!

I am fine with this. For me, the "Human Element" should always be about the players on the field. Not the umpires personal opinions. Umpires have been around forever, so I understand the desire to let them stay, but their mistakes add nothing to the game, only subtracting. Adding a computer to determine balls and strikes won't prevent Fathers from taking their sons to baseball games anymore.

it would be a great idea but I don't know how practical it is.  You'd have to have a chip in every ball, a chip in the plate, but then don't you also need some kind of reciever in the players uniforms?

Of course the chip in the ball idea won't work. The chip would get destroyed by the bats unless that team is the Mariners. I just like a system like Questech that eliminates non-player human interaction. A bad call should never ruin a player's hard work and or failure.