Acting Commissioner Bud Selig insisted here Wednesday the owners and club executives will continue to address the problem of long games and that “The Unfinished Symphony had a better chance of finishing” before Tuesday night’s Game 3 marathon played in 4 hours and 12 minutes–two minutes short of the all-time World Series record.
“I agree with (Cleveland manager) Mike Hargrove who described it is an ugly game,” Selig said. “But I wasn’t offended. Baseball is still the greatest game man ever devised but that’s what happens when you have nine pitching changes, 17 walks and 25 runs. You have to expect that.”
Still, Selig insisted the game can and should be speeded up.
“It’s the rhythm of the game that’s important,” he said during an improvised press conference before Wednesday’s Game 4.
“The umpires and players are just going to have to be made aware they can’t lollygag around,” Selig said. “There is no question the pace has to be quickened. What drives me crazy is watching the pitchers circling the mound and the hitters stepping in and out of the batter’s box after every pitch. It’s nonsense.”
The umpires, Selig insisted, should tell the pitchers, “Bang! Throw the ball!” And the same thing for the hitters: “Bang! Get back in there!”
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“We had an old-timers’ game in Milwaukee this year. I love Bob Buhl. He pitched on our pennant-winning ’57 and ’58 clubs and when he pitched it was a 1:45 game. Bang! He got the ball and threw it. It was Bang! Bang!”
The long games, Selig observed, have become a critical issue: “We’re letting the games drag on longer than it needs to be.”
As for the possibility of a “wild-card” team–the Florida Marlins–winning the World Series, Selig said that doesn’t offend him, either.
“I remember sitting in the (Minneapolis) Metrodome in 1987,” he recalled. “The Minnesota Twins won 85 games that year. The Milwaukee Brewers won 91 games. And the Twins won the World Series.
“The same thing with the Florida Marlins. They finished with the second-best record in the National League and then they beat the team with the best record (Atlanta). These two teams, Cleveland and Florida, got here on merit.”
In his sixth season as baseball’s de-facto commissioner, Selig has conquered the press conference, bending all queries into a positive spin. For example, he indicated the likelihood of a shorter 154-game schedule and said it would be a topic of winter discussion, knowing fully well there is no chance it would fly. Rare is the owner willing to sacrifice eight games–four at home–for a shorter season.
Selig also mentioned there was a possibility the postseason games would have earlier starting times. Currently, almost all of the starting times are after 7 p.m. Chicago time–8 p.m. in the East, where both of this year’s Series teams reside.
“We were luckier in my generation,” Selig acknowledged. “We could see the games and still go to bed at a reasonable hour. The children in the Eastern time zone have to listen to their mother and when she says, `Johnny, I know the score is tied and it’s only the seventh inning, but you and your sister have to go to school tomorrow. Give your mommy and daddy a good-night kiss.’ “
Selig said he would discuss earlier starting times with the television executives and also said he spoke to Don Ohlmeyer, an NBC West Coast entertainment director who said he hoped the Series ended in four games so NBC could resume airing its prime-time lineup.
“I was disappointed in Ohlmeyer’s remarks,” Selig said. “They have all apologized. I want to repeat that NBC has been No. 1 in the nightly ratings for all of the first three games as a result of having the World Series.
“I know some of you are critical and said I should have done this or that. But, look, other than shooting them I don’t know what else I could have done.”