will we ever win?

Why I don't like baseball

Even though the Phillies are in the playoffs, I don't really care. And that's before they lost 2 straight. I just find the game to be boring and tedious. More on that later. But one of the reasons I turned off baseball when I was growing up can be found in the attitude of the Phillies' "ace", Cole Hamels.

"No," Hamels said yesterday after the team's 10-5 loss to the Rockies in Game 2. "It's too much of a risk. It's something where, I would rather pitch Game 5, because it's something about getting to that next level, that next stage. I don't know if it's selfish. Some people might take it that way, but I think it would be better for me to go on my normal days' rest because of the track record."

There's also his "waaah, my sleeves were long and I was sweaty," excuses from game 1.

Baseball players are lame and this is why. Season on the line and he's going to look out for #1. Compare that to TO playing on his busted leg in the Super Bowl, Willis Reed's torn thigh muscle in game 7 of the NBA Finals, or Dave Poulin playing with cracked ribs and broken feet in the Wales Conference and Stanely Cup Finals. And it's not like Manuel wouldn't be bringing in Mesa in the third inning anyway. So quit yer crying Hamels.

Back to addressing the boring aspects of baseball. Here are some of my suggestions for improvement:

• Shorten game to 7 innings unless tied of course.
• Only allow 3 pitchers per team per game. I despise the constant pitching changes. If the third pitcher gets injured, someone in the field has to pitch like in football when the third QB gets injured and the team has to play shorthanded like in soccer. This is mainly to stop fakery, like in soccer.
• Designated hitter is the rule for all. Why the NL persists in making fans watch a pitcher pathetically try and hit is beyond me. This is also necessary because of my new 3 pitcher rule.
• At bats last 3 outs or 6 runs, whichever comes first. You can score a max of 9 runs an inning, ie, 5 runs home, bases loaded and a guy hits a grand slam.
• Only 2 shout outs to dead or dying fans and their families per game by hometown broadcasters.
• Chris Wheeler banned from broadcasting.

And although this doesn't make the game boring, I really don't understand why umpires are allowed to yell back at players and managers and escalate things. It just seems so childish and bush league. Full Disclosure: I hate refs, umps, officials, etc.