Given how long these games have become, I could almost support four inning regulation games. However, I imagine they'd still be bloated by starters who would only go 2 1/3 innings, an endless series of ineffective ooh-so-scary chinbeards in between and a 10 million a year closer who would come in to get the last strike.

Beer sales would plummet.

Okay, so Strangler Lewis is not a baseball fan...

So; how did your local team do this year?

I am a fan of all major sports. However, developments in the game--or in the culture--can cause them to go to sh*t as pro basketball and heavyweight boxing have. You can't tell me that the rise of the closer, the set-up man, starters who only go five innings and the longer time between pitches have made baseball more watchable. Nor have the tough-guy chinbeards, mohawks and "cowboy up" nonsense made baseball players more worthy of being boyhood heroes in my book.

Totally missed out on the game last night. I was busy turning a friend's yard into a cemetery.
:D

Beer sales went through the roof. Apparently, depressed people are heavier drinkers.

As a fan of strategies, this isn't necessarily a bad thing in my book. While I don't necessarily like how it extends the game, the increase in specialization has not been a distraction for me.I'm not paying attention to what the players have on their face when I watch baseball.

Did they ever figure out a parking strategy?

Yes. The strategy is that fans are expected to use public transportation (aka the metro). It fits well with the drink more beer philosophy.

Attendance was way way way off projections for the new stadium (even allowing for the craptastic team).

Family attendance fell the most, and that's a bad group to lose. I blame the parking issue, the team is blind to that or at least won't admit it's a problem.

Joe Madden's having his right fielder play infield to maximize the chance of a force at home was an interesting strategy. Pinch-hitting for your catcher--or your starting pitcher--or taking a big bat out of the line-up for a late inning defensive replacement are interesting strategies. They are interesting to the viewer because they can backfire in dramatic ways. Lefty against lefty is not interesting because if it fails, so what, that happens, and it's not worth the ten minutes spent on the conference and the pitching change.

[quote=Kevy Baby;249796]I'm not paying attention to what the players have on their face when I watch baseball.[quote]

What do you look at when they show a close-up of the pitcher's face before every pitch?

90% of the my interaction with baseball is still on the radio or in the stands, rarely do I watch it on TV. So I rarely see the players clearly.

But when I do, I honestly don't care what their facial hair (or any other hair) situation is and at least to me has no bearing on their hero worthiness: which is, regardless of those things, zero. I don't think I've ever thought "that guy would be a great player if only he'd shave every once in a while."

Emotionally, I would love a return to the era of complete games and four man (or even three) rotations. But that ship has sailed.