Astros punishments: Hinch and Luhnow suspended and fired, team loses 1st and 2nd picks in 2020, 2021

Cas

Conversational Black Hole
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Jun 23, 2020
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Baseball had some of its best viewership and years during the highest points of corruption like the steroid years of late 90s - early 2000s.

What’s so bad with the on-field product though?

It's too damn slow. Watching games from the 80's or 90's is much more enjoyable, because the pitchers actually throw the damn ball within a reasonable period of time, instead of waiting for the next geological era to deliver the pitch. I can take a bathroom break with a full count and be certain that I won't miss the payoff pitch. It's just execrable.

I'd also like to see some more variety, preferably with more speed and fewer strikeouts. I grew up watching baseball in what was considered a high strikeout era, but the last few years have been ridiculous. A larger, heavier, maybe deader ball, combined with a strict pitch clock that forces the pitcher to deliver the pitch, might do the trick - a heavier ball, combined with less rest between pitches, reduces pitch velocity, but the ball won't travel as far, reducing the value of swinging for the fences. Maybe experiment with lowering the seams to reduce spin rates too, or even reducing the size of fielders' gloves. Basically tweak the game to make it harder to both strike batters out and hit home runs, which will force/encourage contact, by changing aspects of the game that aren't easily visible to the viewer (no spectator will notice a different ball, glove, or bat).

2020 was a weird season, but it's still the first season since 2001 that I entirely skipped - I didn't watch a single game. I watched games from a couple decades ago, instead.
 

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