Five Innings

By David Marasco

I've been hearing a lot of grumbling from the old folks about how baseball was better in the past. The claim is that expansion has hurt the game and the product is just not as exciting. To be more specific, the following complaints have been levelled:

A) No more complete games - With the rise of the closer no pitcher ever goes the full nine innings any more. It is rare enough that this year's Brewers media guide gives the date for each of the Brewer's five complete games last year.

B) The five man rotation - Some time in the 1980s most teams went from four man rotations to five man rotations. The fifth starters are normally stiffs who are lucky to be in baseball. With expansion this has become even worse.

C) Games are too long - I'm not sure why this is a complaint, I feel happier with a 3 hour concert than a 2 hour concert, but some people don't like long baseball games.

D) Shoddy defense - Due to expansion there are a lot of players in baseball who just can't field. The feeling is that this is due to players not spending enough time in the minors learning the game.

E) Games are too expensive - While this is just supply and demand in action, the price of baseball is a common lament.

F) Ugly offense - Teams don't play "little ball" anymore, they just sit back and wait for the 3-run homer. The hit and run and bunting men along has become a lost art and now all we see are slow-footed sluggers who go for the long ball.

Mr. Selig, I have a radical plan that will address all of these complaints. Let's cut back on the number of innings. Baseball could simply go to five inning games. Any decent pitcher ought to be able to get through 15 outs. The number of complete games will skyrocket. The average length of a game will plummet to below two hours. We won't need five man rotations anymore because ptichers will be able to go on two or three days rest.

Right now teams carry about a dozen pitchers on their rosters. With fewer starters needed and no role for the long reliver, teams could probably cut back to six pitchers. Bingo, half the pitchers in baseball just got cut from the rosters. The overall pitching talent will be much higher than compared to the current system. It is sort of like expansion, only in reverse.

Well, if the pitching just got that much better then we are going to have to help the batters. If not we'll see a bunch of 0-0 extra-inning games (and who wants to watch 8 or 9 innings?). With a nine inning game each batter is allotted three outs. In a five inning game each manager should be allowed to pick his five best batters for his lineup. We have to do it this way, or else the Piazzas of the world will never see three at bats in a game. If we do this then we take the pitcher and three starting players out of the lineup. This means that a manager can pick a catcher, shortstop and second baseman purely on their defensive prowess. If you don't care about a person's bat then the only thing that matters is his glove. These players will be pure defensive specialists and the quality of defense will rise.

With a shorter game the owners will be forced to cut ticket prices. People will not be willing to pay as much for a five inning game as they did for a nine inning game (although this will be a temporary effect, baseball's popularity will soar, and along with it the demand for tickets and hence ticket prices). More importantly, if you are only at the ballpark for 90 minutes there is no reason to pay $15 for a bunch of hotdogs and beer. You can wait a while and eat cheaper later.

OK, I've also promised a return to the littleball style of play. Now a lot of people are shaking their heads saying "even if you get rid of the worst pitchers in baseball the remaining ones will still have to face really stacked lineups," It's true that there won't be any more easy outs in baseball. But teams will be more willing to give up outs for free. Why is this?

Most teams in today's game will bunt the runner along if the game is close in the late innings. This is because the team would rather go for the semi-sure run rather than the chance for a multi-run inning. In the new system the game situation needed for littleball will be far more common, as the end of the game will loom much closer than it does in today's game.

Under the new system we will have shorter games that will be completed by their starters. We will eliminate most of the bad pitchers and hitters, and at the same time raise the level of defense. We'll lower the ticket prices and return the exciting style of littleball to the game. And all we need to do is get rid of four innings. Mr. Selig, it isn't any stupider than a lot of your other ideas.