Last week, an MLB fan survey conducted by ESPN showed that fans today are overwhelmingly happy with the recent rule changes announced by the MLB. To get a pulse on how local baseball fans feel about the changes, the Newswire interviewed fans outside Great American Ballpark.
Roy Simmons, a 50-year-old Reds fans who describes himself as a baseball purist, said, “Disabled list? How stupid is that! The injured list is the best change that baseball has made in years.”
Simmons also said he was pleased with the addition of a pitch clock, which will be implemented within the next two years.
“Letting pitchers go through their whole routines before throwing a pitch is completely bonkers,” he said. “I don’t know how we just ignored it this long. The pitch clock is great for the game.”
Simmons concluded by stating, “Who needs things as silly as tradition? Let’s change everything. Give us a universal DH.”
A call for the universal DH was actually pretty common among fans, as they realized that maybe having a pitcher hit .087 on a season isn’t as interesting as having a legitimate hitter in that spot.
Fans were also excited with the rule that will force relievers to face three batters in an inning, eliminating the opportunity for players to be utilized as lefty or one-out specialists. Fans were excited about how it will improve pace of play.
Colin Townsend, an insurance broker from Cincinnati, was especially excited, telling the Newswire, “I could never fit a three-hour game into my schedule, but now that games will only be two hours and 52 minutes, I have time to watch all 162 this year!”
However, not all rule changes were well received. One rule change that seemed to be universally derided was shortening inning breaks and therefore truncating commercial breaks.
Troy Greene said he’ll miss seeing multiple Subway commercials each commercial break. “I’m pretty upset that the MLB is taking this simple joy away from me,” he said.
Despite the minor annoyance that fans won’t be able to enjoy their favorite ads, the general consensus was that baseball is moving in the right direction by changing the on-field product.
Fans were perplexed that it has taken this long for baseball to make any sort of significant changes.
By: Jim Lahey | Trailer Park Supervisor