A topic of discussion I was talking about with a buddy the other day: baseball. Traditionally, baseball has been America’s greatest pastime. At one point in America, baseball was the most popular sport in the country. That is not the case today. Most people would say the NFL or the NBA are the biggest sports conglomerates in the country. And those people would be right.
Baseball is slow. There is no shot clock, or play clock, or anything keeping track of time whatsoever; no matter what, under normal circumstances. A baseball game is a nine-inning affair, 27 outs, no matter what. There’s something magical, or at the very least, comforting, about that. A team can’t lose because they run out of time. It’s almost like a Coliseum. The pitcher versus the hitter. That’s the matchup, the best man wins. I like that. There’s something special about hanging on every pitch in an important game. There’s nothing quite like it.
The problem with baseball in today’s generation is the pace of game. Kids and people today, in my opinion, don’t have the patience for baseball. What I find endearing, others find monotonous and boring.
People and commentators like to discuss what they can do to make baseball better, more suited to the modern era. I don’t think there’s a lot anyone can do. The game is what it is. And what it is works. It’s not baseball’s fault that some people don’t want to watch, and those people are missing out.
The one thing I would recommend is an automated strike zone. Leave the umpires back behind the plate, but let the computer make the calls. Why have something only be right nine out of every 10 times when it can be right 10 out of 10? I wasn’t always of this mind. But now, I’ve seen the impact, not only on the screen as a fan, but from behind the plate as an umpire.
It would make my job a lot easier if I could just be right every time. I wouldn’t have to get yelled at because the coach can’t see his player’s curve ball go around the plate.
Part of me is biased in this case. I remember a few years back, during a Minnesota Twins’ Wild Card game against the Yankees. On a 2-2 pitch, Ervin Santana missed inside, I believe. The catcher lined up outside, but his slider came back in. The pitch was a strike. But the ball didn’t go where Santana or the catcher had planned. So the umpire called the pitch a ball. It wasn’t. It was clearly in the strike zone. The next pitch was hammered for a three-run home run and the game was changed because of one pitch. One call that a computer got right. And every fan at home knew was called wrong by the umpire.
I can already hear baseball traditionalists arguing with me, “What makes baseball special is the human element.”
Well, my response is, the people playing the game are the human element. Not the umpires. I enjoy watching the umpires on the field making the calls. And neither I nor anyone else, is saying that we should take that element away. I, along with many, am simply suggesting we get as many calls as right as we can.