Why even bother with a game? Just do a video game on max speed with 2 out innings and a 5 inning game. I mean, faster is always better and players just get in the way of a night of drunken debauchery.
When they began stopping the game to get 3 1/2 minutes of commercials every half inning, the games got longer. But the players got the blame. They used to squeeze the commercials into the dead spots. That's when the broadcasters decided interviews during game play was a good idea. No respect for the game and they were the professionals. And even that many commercials weren't enough so they added commercials during the play by play.
No the game used to appeal largely to grandpa's looking to spend the day getting their weekly alotment of sun, as they fell asleep buying their 1 dollar hot dogs, reminiscing on 'ol 4 toed Jimmy Slater Who used to swing a mean club. The game is faster and the marathon games was an extreme turnoff for almost all watchers. It was like watching a soccer match in OT. It's why Hockey got rid of all the unnecessary OT and moved to a shootout.
Because at that point, they'd rather have a game that has an end in sight, not run out of pitchers, not have to have the next day's starter start to warm up, not run out of position players thanks to pinch runners/pinch-hitters, and you have pitchers playing the field or taking AB's, etc. I'm glad they didn't sign off on including these rules for the playoffs... but the union had the biggest say in this being more than just a covid-time rule to minimize players getting exposed to each other on the field.
I'm glad I'm not old enough to have witnessed it. But I'm sure there were plenty of college basketball purists who were furious the brilliance of the 4 corners offense had to go away. People just don't appreciate standing around any more. There was an art to pitchers shaking off a catcher and stepping off the rubber. Then they would get back on the mound and do it again...truly a shame we lost that. Hitters stepping out and and taking practice swings after every pitch was equally exhilarating. Kids now with their poor attention spans just can't appreciate it. All those dinosaurs from prior eras don't know what they missed out on.
April 15, 1968: Houston Astros 1, New York Mets 0 Length: 24 innings The Mets, it seems, have a penchant for playing in historically long games. Six years before they played 25 innings in Flushing, they played 24 against the Astros in Houston. Incredibly, the game was scoreless until the bottom of the 24th, the longest any Major League game has ever stayed scoreless. The six-hour, six-minute contest at the Astrodome began with Hall of Famer Tom Seaver on the mound for the Mets and Don Wilson for the Astros. Both starters were at the top of their game. Wilson went nine scoreless and allowed only five hits. Seaver, who was in his second MLB season and a year away from leading the Miracle Mets to the 1969 World Series title, threw 10 shutout innings and allowed just two hits. Tom Terrific retired 25 straight batters between the bottom of the second and the bottom of the 10th. As the teams marched on, they eventually set the record to that point for the longest night game in history, a note posted to the Astrodome scoreboard -- along with some lighthearted messages to the fans who stuck it out. In the 20th inning, the scoreboard read: "We hope you are enjoying tonight's third game as much as you enjoyed the first two." The game was finally decided when, with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 24th inning, Houston's Bob Aspromonte hit a routine ground ball to short. It could have been an inning-ending double play to send the game to the 25th. But it skidded off the Astroturf and through shortstop Al Weis' legs, allowing the game's lone, walk-off run to score. "I just plain blew it," Weis said after the game.
I cannot stress how much this is true. Pitch clock has about a 90% approval rating from actual people who watch a lot of games.
And now it will cost the Astros more to resign him. Had he vested, the Astros would have been on the hook for half that, with the Mets paying the other half. Despite his injuries, no doubt he can get a least a one-year deal for greater than 17.5.
Likely keeps starting. They'll space out to a 6-man rotation. They're gonna start bumping into career highs in innings pitched for Blanco, Hunter and Spaghetti. They will also prolly want to give JV more rest. Career highs: Brown: 155.2 ip in 2023, @ 127.1ip in 2024 Arrighetti: 124.2 ip in 2023, @ 113.1ip in 2024 Blanco: 125.1ip in 2023, @ 134.0ip in 2024 Unlikely Arrighetti would be a post-season starter but they need his innings in the rotation right now.
If you were, you old AF I remember hearing that the game went to extra innings, on the 10:00 news that night ... then my 8 year old ass was off to bed The next morning I read all about it ... in the Houston Post.
