MLB Solution # 3: Two for One Homers
If there’s one thing I can’t stand about Major League Baseball, it’s manufacturing runs. Watching guys move runners over or stretching singles into doubles. Bunting? Meh. Sacrifice flys? Gag me- it’s an out, and a slow, boring one at that.
All that is really worth watching in baseball is the home run.
Everyone digs the long ball. Statcast reports, obsession with barreled up balls and exit velocity, all serve as proof of this. So why not make the game’s most popular play the most valuable one?
To speed up the pace of play, home runs need to start counting for two points instead of one.
This solution checks all the boxes. For one, game scores would be higher across the board. That’s huge- the average sports fan of today hates defensive struggles, and that’s the target audience here. But it also helps to incentivize more aggressive swings. That means faster outs, and particularly, more strikeouts.
In conclusion, it translates to faster games. The odds of a game going to extra innings drop dramatically here. Batters are forced to swing for the fences more. The totals for home runs and strikeouts will go up across the league. Which means fans are seeing a lot more of the two most prominent reasons they tune in to baseball games, to begin with. All while spending less time watching.