From NOTICE News Daily for February 28, 2023
Some big changes are coming to Major League Baseball for the 2023 season. We break it all down. >> Full story
TRANSCRIPT
It’s a sport often called “America’s pastime,” but have you ever been watching a baseball game and thought it was…kinda slow?
If you have, it turns out, you’re not imagining it. In 2021, the average length of a Major League Baseball game reached a peak of 3 hours and 11 minutes. For comparison, the average time in 1976 was 2 hours and 29 minutes.
Games have gotten longer and longer through the years—but not only that, there’s also less action. Last season, the MLB batting average hit an all-time low of 243.
In an effort to offset this, the MLB and the players union created an 11-person committee to change the rules. What did they come up with?
A pitch clock, meaning that batters have 30 seconds to get to home plate, and pitchers have 15 to 20 seconds to start pitching once the batter is there.
They also agreed to ban defensive shifts, where players change position for tactical reasons, and agreed to increase the size of the base, all with the aim of more action on the field.
Baseball – like all professional sports – is big business.
In recent years, baseball has struggled to attract new, younger fans – who have been pulled more to action-packed games in the NFL and the NBA. The 2023 season doesn’t officially start until March 30th, but spring training games are using these rules, and it seems to be working.
The average game time for these exhibitions is already down to 2 hours and 38 minutes.
