{"id":78798,"date":"2016-10-25T16:59:32","date_gmt":"2016-10-25T16:59:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sandbox.web.rcn.net\/rcntv\/?p=78798"},"modified":"2023-04-14T15:15:08","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T15:15:08","slug":"behind-mic-watching-baseball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/behind-mic-watching-baseball\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Mic: Watching Baseball"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Cubs<\/a> have me watching baseball again. \u00a0And I would suspect a larger number of people will tune in to see if the Cubs can win their first World Series since 1908, 108 years ago. Teddy Roosevelt was the president.\u00a0 They last played in the World Series in 1945.<\/p>\n

The Cleveland Indians<\/a> have not set the baseball world on fire either.\u00a0 Their last World Series victory was in 1948 during the Harry S. Truman administration.\u00a0 They did play in the 1997 Series and blew a ninth inning lead and lost in the eleventh to the Florida Marlins.<\/p>\n

It will be very interesting to see if this storyline catches on with ALL fans.\u00a0 World Series<\/a> ratings have declined steadily, with three of the last four years owning the lowest ratings in history.\u00a0 I, for one, became interested enough to watch the Cubs in their playoff games.\u00a0 I enjoyed the games and was also frustrated by the sport.\u00a0 There are things wrong with baseball.\u00a0 With that in mind, I, along with many others, have come to some conclusions:<\/p>\n

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  1. There are too many playoff spots. <\/strong>Ten teams make the playoffs: five American League teams and five National League teams.\u00a0 There are a possible 42 games that could be played to decide the overall champion.\u00a0 42 games!\u00a0 With the current set-up of three divisions, changing the format would be difficult.\u00a0 Eliminating one wild card berth only reduces the playoffs by two games.\u00a0 We are stuck with this system.<\/li>\n
  2. The games take too long.<\/strong> This is the biggest drawback to truly enjoying baseball.\u00a0 Pitchers take too long to pitch.\u00a0 Batters take too long to get ready to hit.\u00a0 Managers have too many options available that only slow down the game.\u00a0 So, what is there to do?\u00a0 Here are a few suggestions:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n