7 inning baseball games

[DarthRambo]

So this past Monday night I took the short road trip to Cincinnati to see the Reds and Brewers game. I was talking to an usher there randomly about baseball stuff and he said he believes one day we will see 7 inning games for all 162 games.

Just a short discussion before returning to my seat there. After the game I got to thinking about it more, and man I think he is right in his assumption for three reasons (probably more) that I can thought of immediately.

1.) The owners save money by not needing as many RP on the roster.
2.) Speeds up the game drastically which the MLB has been attempting to do so unsuccessfully for years now.
3.) Starting pitchers on average pitch 5-6 innings now anyway. A quality start would be 4ip and 5 innings you're only needing two solid RP to finish out the game. Similar to how baseball used to be just 15 years ago or even less.

I personally did like the 7 inning double header games they had, while the ghost runner is nonsense to me. I can certainly see maybe by the next one or two CBA renewals the 7 innings to at least be brought up as an idea.

The players could buy into it cause they may not be injured as often, especially pitchers. And sure, the baseball record books would never be broken but after a few decades of 7 innings they would probably keep new baseball records for the era of 7 inning games. And sure, the purist would hate it and you may lose a handful of fans. But as much as I hate to say it, I think they would gain more than they'd lose.

That Reds game Monday was 3 hours and 18 minutes long. Was it fun? Absolutely! But could I watch that on TV? Absolutely not! Could I bring my 4 year old to a almost 3 and a half hour game? Yeah, but I'd probably miss a hour of it by being away from my seat for various reasons.

Anyways, not really making an argument one way or the other. But it got me thinking about this video game we all play so much of. I don't think it is an option but I would enjoy playing out a somewhat fantasy season of 7 inning games only. Does anyone know a way this could possibly be done? I am pretty sure I can make my played games however many innings I want. But idk how I could do that for cpu vs cpu games.


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[Detroit Tigers]

If you and your friend think it’s just some dumb coincidence 9 innings and 27 outs was settled on you are mistaken. Any collection of bums can keep a game close for 6 innings, that’s why little league games are six innings. Those last three innings are what separate the men from the boys. Hard pass.

[PVarck31]

Nope. Stop making baseball not baseball.

[DarthRambo]

Quote: Originally Posted by Detroit Tigers

If you and your friend think it’s just some dumb coincidence 9 innings and 27 outs was settled on you are mistaken. Any collection of bums can keep a game close for 6 innings, that’s why little league games are six innings. Those last three innings are what separate the men from the boys. Hard pass.

Probably never in our lifetime. But as these generations become softer and softer I really do see it happening. In 50 years a whole generation could very well say 9 innings is too much on their bodies and mental health, yada yada. I'm just saying...anything can and probably will happen. The introduction of it for double headers last year showed that it is something they're willing to do.

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[mpklub]

Baseball as we knew it is dying. And not because the sport can't be popular in it's current form. But because of constant tweaks to the game instead of just letting baseball be baseball. It will be a sad day indeed if 7 inning games become the norm.

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[countryboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Detroit Tigers

If you and your friend think it’s just some dumb coincidence 9 innings and 27 outs was settled on you are mistaken. Any collection of bums can keep a game close for 6 innings, that’s why little league games are six innings. Those last three innings are what separate the men from the boys. Hard pass.

Little League games are 6 innings because of limited roster size (12/13) and lack of "quality" pitchers. There's a hard pitch count in Little League to protect young arms and typically there are time limits because a portion of their scheduled games are played during the school calendar year so you cannot have kids playing 3+ hour games.

Same as to why high school games are only 7 innings long.

Has nothing to do with them being "bums" or lack of ability to keep a game competitive past the duration of 6 innings.

As for baseball changing to 7 innings at the pro level, I don't foresee that happening as doing so would likely eliminate jobs. If starting pitchers can pitch 5/6 innings on a regular basis, you're need for bullpen arms becomes less. Moreso, all contracts would need to be re-written that contain incentives for plate appearances, innings pitched, etc....

Yeah, I don't see this ever coming to fruition.

[jcar0725]

Quote: Originally Posted by mpklub

Baseball as we knew it is dying. And not because the sport can't be popular in it's current form. But because of constant tweaks to the game instead of just letting baseball be baseball. It will be a sad day indeed if 7 inning games become the norm. Sent from my SM-N960U using Operation Sports mobile app

Baseball is not dying, its evolving. The game evolved many times since the 1800's. It's not the same game that it was in the 50's 60's 70. It's never stopped tweaking. The top 17 teams in the league are averaging over 23,000 fans per game this year. The top 13 teams are averaging over 30,0000 fans per game. And this is prior to the warmer weather kicking in. Attendance numbers almost identical to 2018 and 2019.

Players salaries are through the roof. All I keep hearing from a bunch of older dudes (I can say that, since I am over 50) is how the game is garbage now and fans are walking away. But that is not happening at all.

[mpklub]

Quote: Originally Posted by jcar0725

Baseball is not dying, its evolving. The game evolved many times since the 1800's. It's not the same game that it was in the 50's 60's 70. It's never stopped tweaking. The top 17 teams in the league are averaging over 23,000 fans per game this year. The top 13 teams are averaging over 30,0000 fans per game. And this is prior to the warmer weather kicking in. Attendance numbers almost identical to 2018 and 2019. Players salaries are through the roof. All I keep hearing from a bunch of older dudes (I can say that, since I am over 50) is how the game is garbage now and fans are walking away. But that is not happening at all.

My comment has nothing to do with attendance or the popularity of the sport. I honestly don't pay attention to that stuff all that much.

As someone who grew up with 90s and early 2000s baseball that is what I meant.

The game today is just so different. You refer to it as an evolution, and that's great if you are able to see it that way. I just struggle to with the focus on 3 true outcomes and starters going 4-5 innings as much as they do now.

I appreciate your point of view, but for me, baseball is just changing so much that at some point it ceases to be the game I grew up loving. Maybe my perspective will change. But with some of the changes coming in the sport it is just a struggle for me these days.

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