Pace of Play in Baseball: Not the Problem

Transcription and video by Robert Schiff

SYRACUSE, N.Y.-- There’s no pace of play problem in baseball. The problem is that MLB continues to try to keep up with faster sports. Baseball is never gonna be football. It’s never gonna be basketball, and it’s never gonna be hockey, and that’s totally fine for baseball fans. The problem is that MLB always tries to cater to fans that don’t watch baseball. You know, people that don’t like baseball are not gonna just start watching it because the game goes from 3 hours and 15 minutes to 2hours and 55 minutes. If you don’t like it, you don’t like it. No one ever criticizes golf, you know, for having the players walk to their next hole. No one ever suggests that they drive to the next hole or next shot. They just let golf be golf. No one criticizes football for having too many timeouts, too many instant replays. They just let it be football. The problem is that MLB continues to try to please non-fans, and I think baseball should just continue to be the slow sport it’s always been. I’ve never heard someone who loved baseball say the game is too slow. You either love it or you hate it. And by trying to quicken the game by 15 or 16 minutes it’s not gonna make non-fans watch. Just let it continue to be the sport it’s always been.

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