Baseball Shouldn’t Be Snoreball

Baseball’s All-Star Game in July and the attendant celebrations were a poignant reminder that there’s no way the sport can occupy the overwhelming position it once had when it was truly America’s favorite pastime. Affluence and innovation have given people a number of exciting alternatives, including video games.

But much of baseball’s relative decline has been self-inflicted, primarily the length of time it takes to complete a Major League game. Decades ago, a contest rarely exceeded two and a half hours. Today, that would be considered warp speed. Owners’ and MLB officials’ efforts to hasten the pace have met with limited success. Games are still too damn long.

A faster-paced game would be a better-played game, and more people would be attracted to a sport that uniquely combines individualism and teamwork. Baseball biggies shouldn’t let players and coaches deter needed reforms. Fans will cheer.

Game-saving adjustments are straightforward.

• No more coaches or managers visiting the pitcher’s mound, unless it’s to yank and replace the hurler. Mound visits had become ridiculously frequent. Now teams are limited to five such summit meetings a game. That’s still five too many. This mound prohibition would apply to catchers as well.

• If a team wants to challenge an umpire’s field call, it should be required to do so instantly. No waiting for a report from its video expert on whether a challenge might work.

• Require pitchers to throw the ball 14 seconds after receiving it, 18 seconds when a runner is on base. That rule, when tested with minor league teams, has cut more than 20 minutes off the average game time.

• Bar hitters from leaving the batter’s box without just cause. Years ago, this was an ironclad custom.

Of course, these needed changes don’t deal with the game’s other big challenge: the decline in hitting. Batting averages are at levels not seen since the late 1960s.

One factor is the more analytical and strategic use of pitchers. Rare is the game today in which the hurler goes a full nine innings. Years back, a typical team might have eight or nine pitchers on its roster. Now a dozen or more is common.

One response might be to slightly lower the height of the pitcher’s mound, as baseball did after the 1968 season.

The quality of infield defense has improved enormously, especially in the use of the “shift,” where players bunch up at a particular area on the field. The once familiar ground-ball single is almost a thing of the past. One almost expects to see the catcher positioning himself at shortstop.

One new rule should restrict the shift by requiring two players on either side of second base and four players on the infield dirt.