No more 4 pitch intentional walk

[turnin' two]

What they should have done is an IBB equals two bases instead of one. If you really are afraid of someone then they deserve to get to second or just pitch to them. If you want to walk them the regular way you can still pitch around them but it wont be as easy as 4 simple toss outs.

 

 

Wouldn't this just result in the "unintentional" intentional walk instead?

[Bob Sacamano]

Wouldn't this just result in the "unintentional" intentional walk instead?

 

Yes.

[Lip Man 1]

I don't like this, but for a different reason.

 

There are very rare cases where a pitcher is attempting to intentionally walk a batter, but instead throws a wild pitch, or the hitter swings, or somebody (ex: Miguel Cabrera, 2006) gets an RBI knock off an attempted intentional walk. Sure, these cases happen very rarely, but they impact the games greatly when they do happen; eliminating the formality of throwing the four balls prevents them from ever happening, which, in my opinion, is wrong.

 

Examples: Johnny Bench 1972 World Series and Rod Carew.

 

Just a stupid idea.

 

Mark

[Lip Man 1]

Baseball has a serious problem with length of games.

 

Depends on who you talk to. I don't have a problem with it at all and yet again ask the question why is this a "problem" for baseball but no one, NO ONE complains when an NFL game (which has just as little action between plays) often runs 3:15 to 3:30...and in the post season it runs longer.

 

And if baseball has an issue with fan support (including kids) why do they keep setting attendance records every year?

 

Mark

Edited February 22, 2017 by Lip Man 1

[Quin]

Depends on who you talk to. I don't have a problem with it at all and yet again ask the question why is this a "problem" for baseball but no one, NO ONE complains when an NFL game (which has just as little action between plays) often runs 3:15 to 3:30...and in the post season it runs longer.

 

And if baseball has an issue with fan support (including kids) why do they keep setting attendance records every year?

 

Mark

 

Great point. I've stopped watching NFL games because there's so little actual game, but it demands constant energy for three hours.

 

As for attendance, it's easier for people to say alternative facts about attendance to make a point.

 

[southsider2k5]

Depends on who you talk to. I don't have a problem with it at all and yet again ask the question why is this a "problem" for baseball but no one, NO ONE complains when an NFL game (which has just as little action between plays) often runs 3:15 to 3:30...and in the post season it runs longer.

 

And if baseball has an issue with fan support (including kids) why do they keep setting attendance records every year?

 

Mark

 

I hate watching NFL football.

[OmarComing25]

I'm going to go to bat for this change.

 

The reality while a lot of IBBs happen ahead of pitchers, they also happen a lot in interesting innings where there are potential scoring runs.

 

When people are on edge of their seat, they then have to sit there and watch 4 practice pitches for a formality to get to the action. It's boring. It may not shave down time, but I think Manfreds larger goal is to reduce the "downtime" in the game.

 

I've watched Sox games for 30 years, never seen a hit on an IBB attempt. That we all can easily name a few shows how rare they were.

 

But every time I had to sit through an IBB was like waiting for a page to load.

 

Glad it's gone.

I agree, sure once every 1,000 intentional walks something interesting happens, but otherwise it's just boring. I'm willing to bet a year from now most people will wonder why this change wasn't made sooner.

[103 mph screwball]

How about if you intentionally walk someone, the next hitter automatically gets ball 1. People pay money to see the best hitters hit. Let them hit.

[southsider2k5]

I agree, sure once every 1,000 intentional walks something interesting happens, but otherwise it's just boring. I'm willing to bet a year from now most people will wonder why this change wasn't made sooner.

 

I get the idea that something could happen, but when we are talking about two examples in 45 years, that is pretty damning to be honest.

[BlackSox13]

Those are the changes that make a difference. Add this to making a pitcher stay on the mound, and a batter stay in the box, and we are in business.

Yeah, this.^

 

Sweaty Freddy drove me nuts with his circling of the mound like Odie getting ready to go to sleep. Same with Garciaparra always stepping out of the box adjusting his batting gloves.

[bmags]

People actually complain about the length of football games a lot, and especially the excessive commercial breaks. College football gets this even more, the recent NCAA championship ended after midnight east coast time.

[Dick Allen]

People actually complain about the length of football games a lot, and especially the excessive commercial breaks. College football gets this even more, the recent NCAA championship ended after midnight east coast time.

And they have tried things to speed it up a bit. Running out of bounds doesn't stop the clock until the next snap anymore. Besides the commitment to a 3 1/2 hour football game is at most once a week. Baseball, it could be every night.

 

If the pace of play is fine, long games are fine. If the pace of play is what is making the game long, it is troubling and it can be fixed. This is a small part of the solution. Once they limit mound visits and make hitters stay in the box and put a pitch clock in, it will be more noticeable.

 

They did a great job with broken bats a few years ago. That used to be a fiasco, now they have to have their #2 bat ready to go if they need a replacement. It has saved a lot of down time. That is what they are trying to eliminate. I suspect the union will be fine with some other changes. The guy on 2nd in extra innings, never. But the mound visits, staying in the box, staying on the mound, making a pitch in a certain amount of time will make the game even better in the long run, and players will adapt pretty quickly.

Edited February 22, 2017 by Dick Allen

[Jose Abreu]

I get the idea that something could happen, but when we are talking about two examples in 45 years, that is pretty damning to be honest.

There have been far more than 2 wild pitches on IBB attempts in the last 45 years. The swings on IBB attempts are rare (Gary Sanchez hit a sac fly on one this year, too), sure, but not wild pitches.

[blackmooncreeping]

I see this change as much ado about nothing. It really shouldn't rankle fans too much that they won't have the chance to see a hitter knock one in off an IBB (Miggy in 2006? Happens around once a decade?).

 

 

[Dick Allen]

There have been far more than 2 wild pitches on IBB attempts in the last 45 years. The swings on IBB attempts are rare (Gary Sanchez hit a sac fly on one this year, too), sure, but not wild pitches.

Not many though. What if the rule had always been put up 4 fingers and the batter goes to first base? I bet a lot of us would think it would be really dumb to change it to make the pitcher actually throw balls.

Edited February 22, 2017 by Dick Allen

[chitownsportsfan]

People actually complain about the length of football games a lot, and especially the excessive commercial breaks. College football gets this even more, the recent NCAA championship ended after midnight east coast time.

 

CFB is out of control. the title game was an absolute farce, all the way down to the ending where they put time back on the clock after a sustained delay.

 

The B1G seems especially awful, but maybe that's just because that's mostly what I watch.

[Soxbadger]

Not a fan. There should be some extra inherent risk with IBB, even if its rare.

 

As everyone else said, mound visits would be much more effective. I was thinking this morning an interesting rule would be that team gets 1 "talk" visit per inning, instead of per pitcher. That way they cant just kill time with mound visits for each pitcher.

[Jose Abreu]

Not many though. What if the rule had always been put up 4 fingers and the batter goes to first base? I bet a lot of us would think it would be really dumb to change it to make the pitcher actually throw balls.

Sure, but

[greg775]

CFB is out of control. the title game was an absolute farce, all the way down to the ending where they put time back on the clock after a sustained delay.

 

The B1G seems especially awful, but maybe that's just because that's mostly what I watch.

 

College football games that go past 3 hours, 40 minutes are a disgrace. The NFL pretty much has got it together to three hours, right? I would say if college football can't get its act together, just eliminate halftime. Or cut it to five minutes with your team in the endzone.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Walk-off Intentional Walk wild pitch.

 

 

Guy sounds a ton like Jason Benetti.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Or this one, which is just vicious and bad ass.

 

Edited February 23, 2017 by ChiliIrishHammock24

[soxforlife05]

This is the equivalent of giving NFL teams a free extra point. Like NFL Blitz. Not good for the game.

[SpringfieldFan]

I can see the case both for and against this change but I am a purist and prefer the IBB stay as it is. As boring as those 4 pitches might be, the game is still going on and things, even odd things, can happen. Baseball is great because for all the calculus, probabilities, and rules, it is also quirky. Lets not make it more formulaic than we have to.