Game Times

The Reds beat the Cardinals 3 - 2 in 10 innings today in a game that lasted 3:26.

I was talking with a friend of mine a week or two ago and he told me that he was listening to a radio baseball game from the early 1970's and the announcers started complaining because the game was taking longer than 2 hours and 30 minutes.

I realize that the game has changed in the past thirty years and there are many reasons for the length of games today.

Certainly television plays a big role in the length of games because of the commercial time between innings.

Also, I believe, the umpires could speed up the game by calling the strike zone the way it is meant to be called.

Pitching is the name of the game when it comes to the pace of the game. There are just too many pitchers who do not or cannot throw strikes.

"Specialty" pitchers also contribute to the length of the game time.

You have a 7th inning guy, an 8th inning "set-up" pitcher and a closer. Just look at the difference in the number of complete games in the 1970's compared to the complete games of today.

I know I am complaining about this wonderful game and the way it is played today, but I am complaining because I love the game of baseball and I don't like it when this beautiful game is disparaged because of it's pace.

A 3- 2 game in 3:26 shouldn't happen.