A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about the Three True Outcomes. Since then, I’ve realized that the Three True Outcomes doesn’t make baseball more interesting for the average consumer; it makes baseball more boring.
Theo Epstein has recently been hired by the MLB to make baseball more fast and exciting. It’s no secret that baseball has been slowing down over the years. I actually covered that in an article about a year ago, and I found out that baseball’s pace of play had added 30 minutes in 50 years. What can this be attributed to? The Three True Outcomes.
In case you haven’t read my article about the three true outcomes, here’s a brief description: the three true outcomes (3TO) is the amount of times that a player gets a strikeout, home run, and walk. 3TO percent is commonly used to judge a player. There have been players with very high 3TO%s, like Chris Davis and Adam Dunn.
Now let’s get into how we can reduce the three true outcomes, speed up time of game, and save baseball.
IDEA #1: CHANGE THE BASEBALL
Now I’m not very good with spheres and such, but I do know that there are many types of baseballs. Whatever they did in the dead ball era definitely worked in terms of putting the ball into play, because no one hit home runs before Babe Ruth. This might not work, but it’s worth a try.
IDEA #2: LOWER THE MOUND!
Remember 1968? The year of the pitcher? That was an excellent year for pitching. With today’s hitting, this could make for some GREAT match ups and weaker contact. This is my key idea for creating more balls in play. I recommend that the MLB lowers the mound.
IDEA #3: A PITCHING CLOCK
This has already been used in the minor leagues, so if you’ve seen a AAA or a AA game then you’ve already seen this in action. That pushes most people over the line to liking the pitching clock. This will speed up baseball by removing the down time between pitches. While this isn’t dealing with the 3TO, it may speed up the game.
Obviously this is no easy task, but of all people Theo Epstein should be suited for the job. Thanks for reading.