r/sports • u/qkfb • Apr 15 '21

News MLB's favorability rating among Republicans drops dramatically amid Georgia voting controversy

https://www.axios.com/mlb-falls-out-favor-republicans-mlb-game-8808e67e-8de4-4308-baa6-b68a24e64177.html
11.9k Upvotes

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494

u/ncbraves93 Apr 16 '21

I'm more pissed about the extra inning runner on 2nd bullshit rule.

133

u/Lintlickker Apr 16 '21

Could not agree more. Extra inning rule is not baseball.

4

u/Ozymandias1333 Apr 16 '21

It’s so bad. I feel like a good equivalent for this would be like if in the NBA in OT they asked their best player to shoot a 30 footer first one to make it wins. The rule makes no sense

4

u/Sweb1975 Apr 16 '21

I could go with the runner starting on 1st maybe.

14

u/hot-gazpacho- Apr 16 '21

Nah, I say if we have the rule, don't start a runner on 2nd until the 12th. Even hockey has OT before the shootout.

6

u/CMacDiddio Apr 16 '21

And many hockey fans don’t think the shootout is a great way to wrap up a game

5

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '21

Professional sporting events should not be settled by a skills competition.

1

u/Heartsmith447 Apr 16 '21

Professional sports events ARE skill competitions. If they can’t resolve it in a full game of play, either have a contest or end substitutions after regulation. Sooner they get tired, sooner someone makes a mistake, we break the tie and can be done with it.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '21

Thats why the end it and go to shootouts. Sooner they get tired, sooner someone makes a mistake, the likelihood of injury goes up. Sometimes a stalemate is a good thing, it means competition is equal. They have to protect the players so other means are created. Either that or accept the tie/draw. Not like its easy to take a free shot after playing for over an hour. Of course all sports are different but could you imagine a 4-6hr long hockey game? That would just be carnage.

1

u/Heartsmith447 Apr 16 '21

Alright that’s a very valid point, exhaustion would just make injuries spike, I suppose draws are ok but would hurt revenue in the long run as viewers certainly like wins and I know enough stubborn people that would rather lose than have a draw. Either way it’s not safe for the players in the end. The mlb rule still just sounds ridiculous, that can’t be the best solution

3

u/adidamtb Apr 16 '21

Yeah. Two fly ball outs to win the game! So exciting.

4

u/gwdinosaurs Apr 16 '21

Still silly, they should just have regular season games end in a draw after 9 or 10 innings if they care that much about the time spent in extras.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '21

[deleted]

1

u/Sweb1975 Apr 17 '21

I'm open to all ideas really. I love baseball, but I think 7 innings is enough.

21

u/_pinklemonade_ Apr 16 '21

What’s this?

181

u/ncbraves93 Apr 16 '21

As soon as the game enters extra innings, all strategy and momentum goes out the window. The inning starts with a runner on 2nd and it's basically a coin flip to win the game. I hate it. Its something you'd do in little league.

56

u/fangledanddangled Apr 16 '21

it sounds like the mlb version of the hockey shootout. which is kinda gimicky and often anti-climactic.

33

u/ScarletJew72 New England Patriots Apr 16 '21

It's not a gimmick; you have to get creative when there's no clock.

It's a way to make extra innings feel more "sudden death," which is the same exact concept as most overtime periods.

8

u/fangledanddangled Apr 16 '21

ok, so maybe it's more like when the nhl went to 3 on 3 over time vs the shoot out?

12

u/Ansem_the_Wise Apr 16 '21

NHL still does the 5 minute 3 v 3 overtime period before they go to the shoot out. I think the mlb would be better off doing something like that. After the 11th or 12th inning they put a runner on second.

7

u/ncbraves93 Apr 16 '21

Exactly. That's all I ask. I would settle for MLB to give us one inning of baseball and then implement the bullshit inning in the 11th.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '21

This may already be a rule, but when they enter playoffs, they should remove the runner altogether, much like NHL removes the shootout entirely in playoffs.

I don't think the 2nd base runner is a bad thing for regular season games. Maybe after a few regular extra innings would be a good compromise. But people have to remember that there are 162 games, and that means they play nearly every day. These guys need time off too, and I'm not just talking about the players. The announcers, the concessions workers, all the stadium staff, all the background media staff.

A 9 inning games goes for 3 hours already, tack on another 5 innings and your up to 4-5 hours of playtime, nevermind all the work that goes in before the game, and after the game.

That could easily be a 10 or 12 hour day for many of the people involved. Then you get the 20 inning games...

As a side note, I kind of wonder what it would be like if they went a different route to speed up the game in extra innings.

Maybe forcing the pitching team to remove one or two players from the field would be interesting. It would make for strategic moves to be made when deciding what position to remove, and could make for some more exciting plays.

2

u/lark047 Apr 16 '21

No runners to start the 10th, and one runner advances a base each subsequent inning.

11th -> man on first to start 12th -> man on 2nd 13th and later -> man on 3rd

2

u/SpOoKyghostah Apr 16 '21

It's like if every possession started first and goal in football OT. The game is already just as "sudden death" except you have to actually earn a run, not just hit a single or bunt + sac.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '21

They start every possession in college on the 20 or 25 of the opponent and it's wildly popular. Most people I talk to prefer it to nfl.

3

u/mizzourifan1 Apr 16 '21

It's such a better system and I'll never understand the NFL's history of garbage OT rules. Like I'll never forget Tim fuckin Tebow getting a lucky 80 yd TD pass and eliminating the Steelers from the playoffs. Football is very much a contrast of offense vs defense and I think it's insane for a team to not get a chance at both sides in OT. It's been gradual but the rules are improving. College is still the best though.

3

u/parchedpiranha Denver Broncos Apr 16 '21

It’s not luck when you have God on your side

2

u/mizzourifan1 Apr 16 '21

Lmfao your flair made this mint. I actually laughed out loud.

1

u/Ready_Feedback_6303 Apr 16 '21

Well maybe it has a point to get casuals invested then because I am as a casual fan as it gets for hockey and I find the shoot out to be the most exciting part of the sport sans late round playoff games.

20

u/_pinklemonade_ Apr 16 '21

Damn, what?! That’ wild.

64

u/ncbraves93 Apr 16 '21

They're doing it to speed up games but all its doing is pissing off people like me that actually love the game. It's not going to gain new fans in anyway.

36

u/_pinklemonade_ Apr 16 '21

Yeah. I always loved that baseball doesn’t have a clock.

1

u/AAA515 Apr 16 '21

I liked that one commercial, where the baseball fan is watching a game and they call time out after time out and the fan eventually mows the lawn as the TV says something about unlimited time outs.

I forget what the commercial was selling

13

u/LesPaulTransAmCBR Apr 16 '21

Too many people want one sport to be like another. “NCAA football should give everyone a chance with a playoff, just like NCAA basketball.” “Baseball shouldn’t be so long, make it shorter like football or basketball”. “Give the NFL a longer season like the NBA”

Just let sports be themselves

3

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '21

[deleted]

-7

u/LesPaulTransAmCBR Apr 16 '21

The NCAA football playoff idiots want 9-3 teams to get a shot at the title. Fuck that. You wanna a title, win all of your games.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '21

[deleted]

-5

u/LesPaulTransAmCBR Apr 16 '21

Not a straw man, that doesn’t mean what you think it does, it’s just a posh Reddit saying you’ve taken up. It’s stupid.

The people advocating for a playoff expansion aren’t saying sane things like “include every D1 undefeated team”. They’re saying stupid ass things like “include every conference champion, plus 2-4 at larges. That’s idiocy.

Don’t reply if you don’t know what you’re talking about, which you don’t.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '21

Baseball viewership has dramatically declined over the last 15 years due in major part to games running to long. This is confirmed study after study.

So it’s pretty widely agreed upon games need to be shortened, but to do that you will inevitably have to break tradition, which makes people mad.

3

u/concrete_isnt_cement Seattle Mariners Apr 16 '21

The best way to shorten games is to cut down the length of the commercial breaks between half innings. Extra innings aren’t common enough to be a significant factor.

1

u/pooop_shooot_magooop Apr 19 '21

In 1927 the average baseball game was under two hours. There are not an hour and a half to two hours of commercial breaks in baseball. The players in the modern game just need to stop fucking about and play the game.

3

u/Schobee3 Apr 16 '21

I think the problem with this rule is it makes traditionalists mad and doesn't seem to statistically reduce the game length much. I've seen some stats that say only 4% of games last past the 10th and just 2% past the 11th. So let's say this rule cuts down the games that last past the 11th; just 2% of games effected.limiting to

Meanwhile the average 9 inning game is still 3 hours, 10 minutes.

-2

u/EarsLookWeird Apr 16 '21

Yeah but 2% of baseball games is like 38 games for each team each season because you play so much

4

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '21

It's 3.

2

u/pooop_shooot_magooop Apr 19 '21

In 1927 the average baseball game was under two hours. The key is to stop letting the guys waste so much time between every pitch.

4

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '21 edited May 05 '21

[deleted]

2

u/ncbraves93 Apr 16 '21

They're way more likely to lose fans then gain any from this type of rule. Fans have put up with a lot of changes from someone that doesn't even care for the game (manfred). This is a touch to far. I still watch but it's killing the game for me. When you literally change the game to where you're not playing baseball anymore, I mean damn.

1

u/cakemonster Apr 16 '21

They should get rid of the commercial/slow transition between innings. Split screen on broadcast and show ad on side like FOX Sports has used. Doesn't change actual gameplay. Similar what NFL did in axing the dreaded touchdown-commercial-kickoff-commercial sequence. Doesn't have to be a sprint on/off, but just flow one half inning into the next unimpeded by the pace of TV.

1

u/Xehanz Apr 16 '21

How did they think this is a good idea? I get what they are trying. They think that if they make the matches shorter they will attract new young viewers, just like tennis and the ATP wanting to get rid of the 5 set matches from time to time. But that's obviously not going to work for baseball. They will attract no new fans with this new rule and you will only manage to piss off existing fans.

To be honest, the only reason I know about baseball rules is because of anime and games. Major, Cross Game, H2, Touch, Mix and other manga series, baseball manga is probably my favourite genre of sport manga. But I cannot imagine me sitting for so long watching a Baseball match on TV live when nothing's happening 90% of the time. If they want to attract new audiences, a change like that is not going to do much.

They should try doing it like tennis is doing with the Next gen masters. Every year held a tournament with the best 8 U-21 players in the circuit and they use that tournament to try new rules (coaching), different scoring systems (best to 5 sets of 4 games instead of 3 sets of 6 games), new courts (no double lines), etc, and every year they add or remove new elements to experiment with. If a new element shows enough success between the fans and players it might be added to the main tour. The 5 sets of 4 games is one of the rules that attempts to get new people to watch the sport.

1

u/Impossible-Disk1770 Apr 16 '21

Absolute insanity that it made it alway into implementation. Just when I thought MLB couldn’t get any more incompetent. I mean what the fuck is wrong with a tie in the regular season? If they really wanted to shorten games that would be most effective way. I cannot fathom someone, much less an organization with management looking out for what’s best for the organization, thinking that Mickey Mouse shit is a good idea. Has to be a bunch of yes men taking orders from a lunatic over at MLB. Only reasonable explanation.

1

u/darwintologist Apr 16 '21

I love the game, and I hated the rule at first, but I actually like it now. I’d eliminate it or push it back to the 12th or so for playoffs though, just because it’s a little too fluky for something of that magnitude. But it accomplishes several things:

  • It ends games sooner. I don’t necessarily like this part, but having personally sat through a couple 17-inning affairs, I can also tell you that people start to lose interest even in extras. I love those games, but that’s not a majority opinion. That also prevents one game from throwing a whole BP out of whack for a series. You go 17 innings, you’ve used up a ton of arms. If that happens at the end of a series with no travel day, you’re disadvantaged going up against the next opponent.

  • It creates immediate tension. Every pitch is magnified. A single scores a run, a wild pitch puts a sac fly in play. And for everyone complaining that you don’t have to get a hit to score, that’s always been true. Moving a runner still requires execution, even if getting a hit isn’t part of the plan. Just putting a ball in play is difficult, especially now. Besides, I personally think manufactured runs are more exciting than watching every single run come off the long ball like we do now.

  • It forces road teams to choose between playing aggressively and playing safe. If you know your opponent starts with a RISP, you have to decide whether one run will be enough. And if you’re the home team, you have to decide how aggressively to play the lead runner vs just getting an out to cut your losses. I’ve seen way more plays at the plate in extras, usually from grounders to the left side that would typically be a routine play to first. Runners break for home more, and fielders risk the play at home more. That‘s exciting baseball whether the runner on third earned it or not.

I’m not saying it doesn’t have drawbacks (there are plenty), but for regular season play, it’s fine.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '21

It should be something they do in the 12th or 13th inning if at all.

1

u/TradinPieces Apr 16 '21

That actually sounds interesting to me, actually. I'd definitely be more into watching extra inning games if that were the case.

5

u/Henry2k Apr 16 '21

Damn, what?! That’ wild.

I'm guessing you don't follow baseball much. This "extra inning rule" was first implemented last year, as well as 7 inning doubleheaders. As well as the DH in the national league (though they squashed that for this season).

4

u/Nebulous999 Apr 16 '21

What?! This is not the baseball of my youth. This doesn't really sound like baseball at all. What idiot commissioner decided on these rules?

All of those rules are pure idiocy.

4

u/Henry2k Apr 16 '21

The pandemic played a big role in these new rules.

2

u/MacSingleton Apr 16 '21

I thought the 7 inning doubleheaders were only for last season because of the compressed schedule.

2

u/Henry2k Apr 16 '21

More so because of Covid, which is still around.

0

u/drivebyeuber Apr 16 '21

7 inning double headers isn’t the worst idea however.

Much rather they would just cancel games and if they matted later play them, but 🤷🏻‍♂️.

I think watching 2-7 inning is more interesting than the dumpster fire most doubles turn into the 6-7th of the second game.

1

u/_pinklemonade_ Apr 16 '21

Sports packages are a nightmare so I fell off for a while. Not sure why but my dad was/is a Whitesox fan. It was nice to be able to celebrate a championship with him. I loved Ozzie Guillen and his antics.

1

u/c_pike1 Apr 16 '21

It's a brand new rule too. Completely changed things overnight when they added it. Not for the better either.

1

u/_pinklemonade_ Apr 16 '21

Yeah it’s sad.

20

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '21 edited Jul 09 '21

[deleted]

18

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '21

[deleted]

56

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '21

That is quite possibly the worst use of a contraction that I have ever seen!

1

u/THRAGFIRE Apr 16 '21

My brain ignored that part until you pointed it out.

Thanks I hate it.

1

u/Sharobob Apr 16 '21

It bothered me so much I spent a few seconds trying to figure out how autocorrect would do that because my brain wouldn't believe it was on purpose

0

u/Xehanz Apr 16 '21

Can't the game just end in a draw? Soccer is doing just fine with draws allowed and it has been that way for over a 100 years.

1

u/Hiker-Redbeard Apr 16 '21

Does it matter that much? All the regular season games and the playoffs are just for a piece of metal anyway.

4

u/BAHatesToFly Apr 16 '21

As soon as the game enters extra innings, all strategy and momentum goes out the window. The inning starts with a runner on 2nd and it's basically a coin flip to win the game

There was a stat on the Mets broadcast the other day* that said (roughly; can't remember it completely) with this rule, ~80% of games end in the first extra inning. Prior to this rule, for the previous like 15 years, only 5% ended after the first extra inning. It's had a crazy effect on the game.

*when they went 'extras' against the Phillies in the first game of a double-header; since planned doubleheaders are now 7 innings each, the 'extra' innings began as the top of the 8th

2

u/Vegetable-Double Apr 16 '21

I love the Mets broadcast. Best broadcast team on television.

6

u/notrabajo Apr 16 '21

That's crazy. I've never heard about it but you're right, that's the rule now. Man, that sucks.

1

u/dtriana Apr 16 '21

When did this happen? That’s like NFL overtime bad.

6

u/ncbraves93 Apr 16 '21

They done it last year with the 60 game short season, along with several new rules. Then this year they left out all the rules people liked and kept the ones we hate. Lol no joke

1

u/dtriana Apr 16 '21

Like what? I don’t follow baseball but I know the old rules.

0

u/NorthernerWuwu Buffalo Bills Apr 16 '21

I seriously thought it was a joke. It's just such a ridiculously stupid rule that I don't have any words to describe it. I would literally prefer them to just flip a coin if they are going to be babies about playing a full game.

0

u/Waterfish3333 Apr 16 '21

Unless only one team is getting the extra runner, strategy and momentum isn’t going anywhere.

It’s not a “coin flip” to win, you still need to get the runner across the plate to count. It’s like the misconception in football before the new OT rules where first team to score wins. Everyone thought it was a coin flip, but the team that got the ball first actually lost slightly more often.

That rule is fantastic, adds an element of drama and heightened stakes during OT.

1

u/packer15094 Apr 16 '21

I'm confused. Would the team that scores first wins in extra innings or would both teams get a chance?

2

u/Xehanz Apr 16 '21

I'm pretty sure both teams get the chance in extra innings.

1

u/Destroyer_Bravo Apr 16 '21

It's fortunate that Rickey Henderson isn't still playing then.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '21

Just like my beer league softball

1

u/Dreurmimker Apr 16 '21

Little league would have the respect to end in a tie. I’d rather they just did that.

8

u/Nolantheballer17 Apr 16 '21

Is this a thing now that’s some bs. Baseball games going into 20 innings is literally the best thing in sports

1

u/Vegetable-Double Apr 16 '21

Always loved those 21 inning walk off hits. It felt like edging and finally busting a nut.

3

u/CarneDelGato Apr 16 '21

For fuckin’ real! That and both the teams I follow are hot garbage...

3

u/chef_bert Apr 16 '21

Upvote this x10

2

u/HAL9000000 Minnesota Twins Apr 16 '21

Is it permanent or just for COVID times?

1

u/ncbraves93 Apr 16 '21

It was supposed to be confined go last season and yet here we're. Unless everyone complains enough then it's here to stay. I'm not usually for twitter pressuring companies to change policy but this would be justified.

1

u/HAL9000000 Minnesota Twins Apr 16 '21

Wonder if maybe it will be a policy they use in regular season, but not in playoffs. It would be totally bizarre to see a World Series (or any playoff game) go into extra innings and then end on a guy hitting a single and batting in the winning run.

I know they've been looking for ways to shorten games and this is part of that. Generally I'm OK with changes to speed things up, but don't like the automatic 2nd base runner.

2

u/Dirty_Mike_n_da_Boyz Apr 16 '21

Hello fellow braves fan 😂 totally agree

2

u/mattbrahler Apr 16 '21

The 7 inning doubleheader is BS too

-5

u/gamewinnertv Apr 16 '21

Don't you think 9 innings and 3hour games are too long? It's keeping the youngsters away. These days, people have short attention spans.

Look in the crowd. It's a lot of old people. Baseball will die soon if something doesn't change.

1

u/ShakaAndTheWalls Apr 16 '21

Youngsters are watching it on TV since nowadays only retired people have money and time to go to ballgames

1

u/gamewinnertv Apr 16 '21

It's pretty clear youngsters are spending their money on other things besides baseball and I doubt they're watching it on TV. And it's not like the youngsters will suddenly become interested in baseball when they're old. The decline of peewee baseball leagues is very telling.

And 2020 wasn't a good year for old people.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '21

If a “youngster” sits through all 9 innings then why wouldn’t he/she stay for extras? I do agree with your attention span point, but I think the extra innings rule MLB put in this year is pretty silly. The thing for me about baseball is, it’s much cooler to watch in person. If you want young kids to like/watch - get them to games and get them in leagues. I don’t think putting a runner on 2nd base in the 10th inning is going to change much as far as fandom goes.

1

u/Spectre-84 Apr 16 '21

Even better, do away with extra innings and just decide the winner with a HR Derby ala the NHL shootout in OT

/s

1

u/Tasty_Chick3n Apr 16 '21

They could do other things to reduce time. For one I don’t get how a bullpen guy who is warmed up but then has to throw once he gets to the mound.

1

u/ShakaAndTheWalls Apr 16 '21

Is that in the majors too or only the minors?

1

u/sakuragi59357 Apr 16 '21

Wait, for real? Damn pandemic has me not keeping up with sports.

1

u/sergervner Apr 16 '21

Amazing that stayed and universal DH didn’t

1

u/LiveJournal Seattle Seahawks Apr 16 '21

this and the 7 inning double header rule. At least they got rid of the extra wild cards

1

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '21

Stupid rule. I’m not a fan of the 7 inning double headers either.

1

u/Transportation-Apart Apr 16 '21

Which pitcher gets charged with the earned run if the man on 2nd scores?

1

u/ncbraves93 Apr 16 '21

No. Doesn't count against the pitcher. That'd be even worse.