Brogna On Baseball: Baseball Is Perfectly Timeless

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Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

By Rico Brogna
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We don’t need to look too far off into the distance to find the answer to this one: How come MLB makes such a big deal over the times (lengths) of games? There is simply only one reason and one reason alone why the powers that be attempt to brainwash the baseball public into thinking baseball games are too long and too slow … Big corporate television and their coin.

Similar to the NFL, the TV giants that try to run baseball want to make the games conclude within a manageable time frame and better yet, within a time frame where the end-game is right on the money where they advertised is will end. This is down right hilarious, manipulative and actually kinda foolish.

Theses technological dictators of our time don’t care about people or baseball fans one bit. They are attacking baseball’s uniqueness, its special lure and magnetic history. What is forgotten is that baseball is different than the rest of the major sports. The “tech powers” just want their cake and with lots of frosting, toss the cherry on top too. Baseball is one of the few sports that is played without a clock.

How cool is that? I think that’s pretty sweet that baseball has this distinctness to its sport. Television and internet powers operate more efficiently with a start time and an end time and the great sport of baseball screws that up for them. Cry me a river that they cannot control everything! Pleeeeeease! It’s almost like the 7-year old leaving and taking his ball home with him too. It’s all about power and control. I am entertained watching people shake and shiver when they are used to getting their way and finally they do not. Now that’s reality TV, pure entertainment.

By rule, the pitcher shot clock is 12-seconds. C’mon, man! If the pitcher had any sense of the fundamentals and what works best, he would actually follow these rules to keep a more efficient and effective rhythm or pace enabling his command and control to be more consistent. This however rarely (never) happens. Greg Maddux … oh where, oh where have you gone my friend? This is MLB’s version of the NBA shot clock or the NFL play clock. It’s a violation. It is in the rulebook. I dare say that some pitchers and possibly some big league pitching coaches don’t even know the rule exists?

It’s all about television people. I believe that the sport itself is always bigger than any one person or company. The sport always wins out and I am so glad that that is the case. Baseball seems to be the one sport that decides it will not give in to the modern day technological powers that be. It’s actually very refreshing that a sport remains outside the borders of being controlled by people. I find that pretty cool. At every turn, the sport baseball finds another road that exists to preserve its natural history and time-tested ways (nice little “time” reference there).

The next game the Red Sox and the Yankees play we’ll all hear the same thing by the analysts, baseball writers, baseball front office executives (believe you-me, baseball op’s people know and understand where their bread is buttered!) and many, many others, “This game is taking forever!” Dude, grab a diet Coke and a Fenway Frank. Enjoy the moment my man.

Until big corporate television came in and started paying the gigantic dollars to owners and clubs, we really never even had a clue or cared an inch about the length of games. Father and son just enjoyed their hot dog, cola and innings 1 through 9. It was never really even spoken about or referenced.

Put on your armor and do not get brainwashed by large corporate entities into making you think a baseball game is too long. C’mon, man! Cause what they are really trying to sell you on is that they have no freaking clue as to when the game might end … and that drives control freaks crazy (i.e., not having control over something). Hang loose, y’all.

Rico “Suave” Brogna

Former major-leaguer Rico Brogna will be writing for WFAN during the MLB season.

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