Congratulations to Mayor Michael Duggan for being elected for a third term as mayor of Detroit. His landslide victory shows the citizens of Detroit are very pleased with what he has done for the city in the last eight years. A good candidate’s race is a non-issue for the citizens when choosing who is the best candidate for the city.
Last night the Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros in game six to win the World Series. I really enjoyed the playoffs this year with the crowds being back in the stadiums. I have had the games on in the background throughout each evening for the last month. However, I found that most evenings I could not stay up long enough to see the games to conclusion. Games with 8 PM start times were going on past midnight. Even a lifetime baseball fanatic has limits. Four hours for a baseball game is much too long. There is too little action and too much talking to sit in front of a TV for that long.
Baseball has a serious problem. In today’s day and age when waiting 10 seconds for your computer to boot up is too long, spending 4 hours watching baseball just doesn’t get it for me and most people. The leadership of Major League Baseball and the players union need to get serious about shortening games. High school and college all have rules that help speed up the game. MLB should consider some of the rules such as:
- Implement a pitch clock. Allow the pitcher only 20 seconds between pitches (high school).
- Only allow the batter to step out of the box if they swing, if they duck to get out of the way of a pitch, or if the pitcher makes a pick-off move to an occupied base (high school). As strike is added to the count for each violation.
- Shorten the time between innings to 2 minutes from the last out of the previous inning (high school is one minute).
- New pitcher only gets 5 warm up pitches not 8 (they were warming up in the bullpen).
- Give each team three one-minute time-outs during the game and eliminate mound visits.
- Have pitching changes made from the dugout (we don’t need the manager to walk slowly to the mound, have a brief conference with the pitcher, have another with the new pitcher prior to walking back to the dugout).
- Make all instant replay decisions within 30 seconds after looking at the replay (if you cannot overrule it in 30 seconds the call on the field stands).
- Stop removing the ball from play if it hits the dirt. (They play with dirty balls in high school, college and the minors)
- Limit the number of foul balls a batter can hit. The batter is out on the fourth foul ball of the at bat. (A 10-pitch at bat is not exciting in spite of what the announcers say)
Although we didn’t do a very good job with our exit plan from Afghanistan, I sure am glad the U.S is no longer there. It was never going to work. Today’s news out of Afghanistan just shows the insanity of the politics in the country. As reported earlier today in the New York Times, at least 25 people were killed and more than a dozen were wounded during an attack by the Islamic State on a military hospital in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Tuesday, according to local officials, with gunfire and explosions echoing throughout the city into the afternoon. The attack, which included armed gunmen and at least one suicide bomber, targeted the 400-bed Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan military hospital in one of Kabul’s more affluent neighborhoods, where both wounded soldiers who fought for the former government and Taliban fighters were being treated. I hope we have learned our lesson about nation building.
Stay safe. Wash your hands regularly. Schedule your vaccine and booster. Wear your mask. Social distance.
Orchid of the Day: New Tiger catcher Tucker Barnhart. The Tigers worked a trade with the Cincinnati Reds for the eight-year veteran and two-time Gold Glove winner.
Onion of the Day: ISIS/Islamic State-see above story
Quote of the Day: “It was and is and always will be (about) funding at the end of the day because the doctor can diagnose you, but when he gets you the prescription, you’ve got to pay for it. And if you don’t have the money … then you remain sick.” Benton Harbor Mayor Marcus Muhammad in response to the EPA’s 23-page order which directed the city of Benton Harbor to improve its corrosion control formula and more strictly monitor residual disinfectants in its water.
I agree with all your ideas about changing baseball (and nation building for that matter). The only way baseball changes the length of the game is if the networks finally say ‘enough is enough’. I probably watched 30 plus hours of the World Series and playoffs which meant I turned most games on in the seventh inning and if the game was close, I watched the remainder of the game. That is sad and does not bode well for the game.
Bruce,
Thanx for your comments. The length of the game is killing baseball. If they want to, they can shorten the game without changing the fundamentals of the game