[Walt Longmire]

I bet that there are more people that agree with me on this topic than are willing to admit on this forum. I'd say the majority are fine with the running clock but there's probably a good percentage that would be fine with doing away with it.

You said that you lived in the past in regards to baseball.  I can go along with you on the ghost runner rule.  It doesn't bother me, but it I would be fine if they did away with it.  I don't understand what bothers you about the pitch clock.  It was a direct result of the game changing away from what it used to be.  You used to be able to watch a game in 2 1/2 hours.  It had gotten to the point where the pitchers and batters were either holding the ball or adjusting their batting gloves or body armor so long in between pitches that the game time had gotten close to 4 hours.  And it certainly isn't because there was more action--balls in play were at an all time low.  The players weren't policing it themselves, so the Commissioner's Office did.  And the game has been better for it.  Viewership, both in person and on television, is way up.  Stolen bases, hit and runs and bunts are back in the game.  And the ban on the shift has given value to players that can put the ball in play again.  It's making the game like it used to be back in the 70s and 80s.

Baseball games throughout the 70's(back when baseball was watchable and had no clocks) lasted an average of about two and a half hours. After Manfred's  pitcher and batter clocks were installed in 2023, the average time of a game was 2 hr, 42 minutes,  12 minutes longer than games in the 70's and down a whopping 9 minutes from the early 2000's . Even when the average time of games peaked in 2021, the average time was just a little over 20 minutes longer than this past season. What do you, or anyone, have to do that is so urgent that an extra 15 or 20 minutes is gonna cause such a hardship in your life. Is it such a infringement on one's life  that it calls for changing the timeless aspect of the game? Baseball was not meant to have clocks of any sort. Ask Peter Edward Rose what he thinks. Baseball is in a lot of trouble. It's no longer America's pastime---not even close. If there was a fiery hell to torment souls for an eternity, Rob Manfred would the perfect resident for hell.


There should NEVER be running clocks of ANY sort in baseball and clocks should never run in high school football when a ball is run or passed out of bounds. It makes a farce of this great game. It tells kids that they are so bad we are gonna need to make special accommodations  just for them to see that they get off the field and safely on the buses just as soon as possible, and before they get hurt. Kinda like special education rules for kids who are bad at football. Hurry, get on that "short bus" back home.

Corbin lost its first football game 100 years ago by a score of 142-0 to Pineville.  It wasn't too long after that initial embarrassment that the Hounds were laying some beatings of their own on other teams. You see, when you know you have to either get a lot better or keep getting a mudhole stomped in your ass, most kids will choose to work hard and get better and put an end to the mudhole stomping.  Had there been the running clock nonsense back 100 years ago, those young Hounds might not have been so motivated to get better. Only  four years after that 142-0 , no running clock tail-beating at the hands of Pineville, Corbin defeated the Mountain Lions 7-0.  Also, in that psyche-battering first season, Corbin suffered a 86-0 , no running clock beatdown at the hands of Williamsburg. Only two seasons later, the Hounds said, "Never again!," to the Jackets and thumped the Jackets  28-7.

A question to ponder: Does firing up the short bus at a 36 point margin really send the right kind of message?   "Corbin," what do you think?

Why would anyone care what Pete Rose says?  He's not been involved in baseball in 34 years.  The FACTS are that attendance was up by 6 million fans over 2022, a total of 9.3%.  That's the biggest single season increase since 1993 when attendance went up more than that because of expansion.  And game times are down right at 30 minutes from 2021.  In 2021 the average game time was 3:10, this year is was at 2:39.  That takes it back to right at the length of game in 1984.  There's still not a clock on the game, you still have to get 27 outs.  But there's much less standing around.  The time between pitches was getting ridiculous, and it sure wasn't because of strategy.  There were less bunts and stolen bases than ever before.  Now, they are back in the game, and the fans are coming back.