I'll answer both at once without quoting, I'd have to do some copying and pasting to quote both and frankly I'm feeling lazy.
SAllen-
My comment wasn't about how I view the game, rather about how far more casual fans or people new to the game view it. Or perhaps how the current commissioner and some others think those people view it. (Some of it may also be TV wanting to shorten the game part of the game allowing more commercial time.)
I also think that limiting the "posing" that happens in the game today would shorten the games far more than changing the intentional walk rule.
But the same people wanting the game shorter also want it more "entertaining" so we have walk up music for every batter, and other sort of silly stuff that is entertaining to a point, but really not baseball.
Totally agree, get up to bat and get on with it!
KMay -
I personally like the game just fine as it is.
There will always be changes, some small, some bigger. I started paying attention as a kid in late 73, so to me the DH in the AL but not NL is just how baseball is. And that was a really major change.
I don't like it, but changing the intentional walk isn't quite on the same scale as rule changes go.
I enjoy both Baseball and Football, for different reasons. Hockey and Basketball a bit less as they've both changed a lot since I was into them.
The younger friends and relatives I have that don't quite get baseball all have a standing offer to watch a game with me so I can explain all the subtle stuff going on away from what the TV focuses on. Like where the catcher sets up vs where the pitch really is. (Many good catchers will sometimes set up "wrong" and correct as the pitch is being released, something that surprised me when I learned of it.) And how that affects where the fielders play.
Only one taker so far, and even the bit I know changed his whole perception of the game from nine guys mostly standing around until there was some brief frantic activity to one with more appreciation for that "standing around" which is such a big part of the game.
Another was complaining about Manny Ramirez a few years ago, saying he was lazy and had to go because of it. When I told him to watch closely and notice how Manny would sort of meander over to a ball whether a popup or clean hit to the outfield (The laziness) then note how quickly he threw the ball once he got it. And how regularly that caught the baserunner a bit off guard. There's a reason he had a decent number of outfield assists. Again, something that totally changed how he saw the player. To this day I'm still not sure if it was actually Manny being a bit lazy or if it was truly just an act as I suspected.
Overall, I don't like the change, but I think it's something we'll eventually get used to.
Steve B
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