There are myriad things making lengthening games—adjusting batting gloves, calling time-outs, pitching changes etc.— but take them all away and you still get much the same result. To me the root cause is umpires not calling strikes, especially with two strikes on the batter. When I played, if you got two strikes on you, you better swing at everything close because the ump was guaranteed to give the pitcher the benefit of the doubt. Now it seems the pitcher has to throw it down the middle to get that third strike called. The batter now gets the benefi of the doubt and every close third strike call is automatically followed by an exasperated look from the hitter, like “how dare you ring me up!” The umpire’s tight strike zone—especially with two strikes—is the root of this whole mess.

Mike Hargrove had a nickname when he played- The Human Rain Delay, because he took so much time in the batter’s box. He wouldn’t even be noticed anymore what the the Nomars of the world readjusting their velcro between every pitch. I hate how time gets called all the time. I’d also like to see a limit placed on pickoff attempts. Nothing kills the excitement quite like two or three throws over to first in the middle of a late inning rally.

The pathetic thing about that article is he has a good theme, but a whiny point. Instead, he just laments how “the game has changed” and proceeds to whine about walks and on base percentage. In reality, the playoff games are too long because of extra long commercial breaks, more pitching changes, super long 7th inning stretch activities, etc. Blame Fox, not the poor umps.

Reusse’s stuff is consistently the best of anyone writing in the Twin Cities, and he did another great job here.

Not sure why baseball is more frequently the target of these complaints, though. Whether it’s salaries or length of season or slow play or steroids, the NFL, NHL and NBA are cited far less often than baseball. Maybe the expectations for the return on your dollar are so low that no one cares.

There is one way that anyone can tolerate attending a Minnesota Vikings game: be in the Samsung box. You can watch other sports on TV, including the Twins early in the football season, stroll around and get food, drinks, and enjoy the rare moments of on-field action in between a relentless onslaught of TV timeouts. The games take forever and if you are actually there, you rarely see any activity on the field. Pre-season games are even more intolerable. The NFL should be paying people to attend those nap sessions.

The NBA is similarly dull in person. Once again, the cake-eaters know how to live. The Cambria box at the Target Center is really the only place to watch the damned game. Free food – free drinks last year with the team so lame – and great bathrooms.

All pro sporting events are – in general – too slow, the seasons are too long, and the players are too attentive to the fact they are on TV. Interestingly, virtually every pro athlete today grew up with mommy and daddy videotaping them. It’s fine that their parents were so invested in the tykes’ antics, but Paul O’Neill wasn’t my kid and I got real sick of him bitching at each and every called strike he suffered during his entire career.

As for the Chuck Knoblauch Un-Velcro-Velcro delay, these guys don’t get to adjust their batting gloves after every batting practice pitch, so why the hell is it necessary to do it during the game?

Probably because the cameras aren’t rolling during BP.