the length of games

-get rid of the dh
-contract the new york yankees

Two-strike strikeouts, three-ball walks -- like Michigan High School Catholic League ball. Two two-strike foul ball limit -- a third foul-ball after the second strike = K. Five-run mercy rule after six innings. If a team plates a tenth run, regardless of inning, the game is over. A mechanical bunny to deliver balls to plate umps. No home run trots. No mound visits. No seventh inning stretch. If your bat breaks while you are up, tough shit, you're out. After the third out of an inning is recorded, the opposing pitcher has two minutes to deliver the first pitch -- if the buzzer goes off, the first hitter is awarded first base. 15-second "shot clock" for all pitchers. If you are hurt on the field, you have ten seconds to shake it off, rub some dirt on it, and resume play, or else you must be replaced by someone on the bench.

I forgot "raise the mound" and "any hittable pitch is a strike, as determined by computer."

Pitchers and hitters being forced to work faster may not speed the game up measurably, but it would give the appearance of movement and that's what people are really looking for. Give the ump some leeway for 'big moments' and punish guys who do it five times per at bat.

this is the biggest advantage of NL ball imo. each SAWX-YANX game is like 5 hours long, while about any given NL game seems to clock in at 2 to 2 and a half hours~~

It's all about the commercial breaks. Chop off one minute of delay between each half-inning and you've shortened the game by about 20 minutes. Maybe baseball broadcasts need to take pointers from soccer ones -- you don't see long commercial breaks during World Cup games. Maybe FOX and ESPN will figure that they can make more money by getting more fans to watch quicker games, as opposed to fewer fans watching longer games.

This isn't the 1910's, when you could pitch without thinking to 170-pound outfielders hitting .240 and only bear down when you needed to face the two or three truly dangerous hitters in the lineup.

Imagine if TLR was back in the AL. Juicy DH-abetted slugfests + his OCD bullpen usage = War & Peace.

I like Andy's list, especially since it's more likely that MLB will do all that instead of addressing the actual problem (COMMERCIALS).

Also: ban Steve Trachsel.

warm-ups's on pitching changes need to go (i.e. another excuse for commercials), you've been throwing in the bullpen for 10 minutes already dude.

Hire managers who won't overuse the bullpen.

start the games earlier

earlier than 7? Impossible; apparently I'm the only one in NYC who can leave work at 5 now. People arrived at Shea in the 5th inning last night.

<i>start the games earlier</i>

Does this involve some of that "new math," where a 3.5 hour-long game starting @ 7:15 PM is actually shorter than a 3.5 hour-long game starting @ 1:15 PM?

warm-ups's on pitching changes need to go

The bullpen mound and the actual pitcher's mound aren't neccessarily identical, so I'm fine with warmups. Players should be able to warm up on the real field of play.

They should limit the number of conversations at the pitchers mound ... managers can only visit once an inning, so why shouldn't it be the same for catchers, infielders, and pitching coaches?

BAN CROTCH-SCRATCHING

ban rain delays

let pitchers do all the hormones they want so's they can pitch fasterer.

Good call. If they throw 200mph, games will go by twice as fast.

The bullpen mound and the actual pitcher's mound aren't neccessarily identical

So make 'em identical. Or bring 'em back up to where they were pre-Bob Gibson, that'll squelch some of these big innings :P

Does this involve some of that "new math," where a 3.5 hour-long game starting @ 7:15 PM is actually shorter than a 3.5 hour-long game starting @ 1:15 PM?

no, I think long games are A-OK

andrew brackman is said to throw somehwhere around 180 when healthy, does this mean he has the support of this board?

I'll never watch another baseball game if they ever try to implement any timer crap.