The trouble with baseball

The trouble with baseball is it’s just too slow. Compared with the fast pace of watching the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant charge the ball down the court or that amazing three-pointer from half court. Now that’s exciting!

I saw my first Padres game in eight years Sunday. My friends and I very much enjoyed the foot-long hotdogs (with the works) and the thrill of watching the first nine innings, which ended in a 7-7 tie. But by the time the game went into its 15th inning, we decided to head for Starbucks.

While waiting for our train, my friend Barbara and I discussed the best way baseball could become a faster, more exciting game. She said that her husband Joe’s senior baseball team had the rule of three balls and two strikes, only allowing two foul balls before being called out. That would greatly speed up the play. Additionally, I think if a tie goes into a 12th inning, the game should stand as a tie.

We were delighted to hear the Padres eventually won, with a three-run homer by Gonzales. As the train finally left the Santa Fe station, we ran our ideas past Joe, who said (with eyes at half mast), “Uh huh,” as his paper slipped to the floor.

With that nod of approval from the world’s greatest senior athlete, we wrote up our plans to make the game more interesting, because quite frankly, baseball is just too slow.

Christine L. Assad