Letters to the Editor: Baseball is back — but please, only seven innings of it

An aerial view of fans in Dodger Stadium
Followers will return to Dodger Stadium every week later than initially deliberate after the MLB gamers’ union and staff homeowners agreed on a contract Thursday to start out the 2022 season.
(Mark J. Terrill / Related Press)

To the editor: Among the many points within the Main League Baseball participant lockout saga was rushing up video games. Baseball might save a while by calling each foul ball a strike, eliminating the supervisor’s stroll to the mound when changing a pitcher, and fining gamers who go away the dugout for each minor kerfuffle.

However, baseball might pace up the sport, decrease the price to the groups and make it extra thrilling for the followers with one rule change: Finish the sport after seven innings.

Each followers and administration would win. Not even probably the most ardent viewers enjoys a three- or four-hour recreation. However followers would concentrate for a seven-inning recreation. And, night time video games wouldn’t stretch into the midnight hour, so followers would be capable to carry their youngsters.

Scale back the sport to seven innings, and also you scale back the price to the groups. Most reduction pitchers are referred to as in from the seventh inning on. Reduction pitchers are the most costly line merchandise on an proprietor’s payroll. With out having to pay for therefore many relievers, groups might spend the cash on hitters — and with extra hitters come extra house runs, extra males on base and all of the components for a extra thrilling recreation.

It's previous time we saved our nationwide pastime.

Bert Berdis, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Baseball supposedly pulled itself again from the abyss final Thursday when the gamers’ union and MLB administration lastly got here to phrases. Previous to the settlement, writers all throughout the nation had been sounding the game’s dying knell whereas placing the ending touches on its obituary.

However let’s be clear: Baseball would most undoubtedly survive even when a strike grew to become inevitable. In spite of everything, the nice unravelling of the nationwide pastime within the 1994 strike was adopted by the golden age of house runs and steroids that bought tickets by the hundreds of thousands.

So long as youngsters fill their summertime hours on ballfields, there might be baseball. They merely don’t care if billionaires are squabbling over pennies on the greenback or gamers are extra concerned about maximizing their contracts than sharpening their athletic abilities.

Another factor: If this belated season finally ends up modernizing a recreation that has been stricken by sluggish play for many years now, then each minute of finger-pointing this previous winter was properly spent.

Bob Ory, Elgin, Unwell.

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