With so much talk about how to speed up the game and make it more appealing to a younger generation, perhaps the solution to making baseball more fun lies within the players and not the rules.<\/p>\n
Sure,\u00a0limiting mound visits and setting a pitch clock help to move the game along for an ever-depleting\u00a0public attention span. But how about approaching things from a media\u00a0coverage perspective. In a game obsessed with numbers and\u00a0statistics, sometimes it is the personality or real-life input from a player that\u00a0appeals to the new and impressionable\u00a0fan.<\/p>\n
Red Sox fans\u2014and the rest of baseball\u2014were treated to a taste of what could be a\u00a0game changing\u00a0new way of\u00a0integrating\u00a0fans into the action.<\/p>\n
During the last\u00a0game of Spring Training, Red Sox\u00a0rightfielder\u00a0Mookie Betts was\u00a0mic’d\u00a0up for an inning in the field. For the most part, the interview was a\u00a0typical conversation between Betts and the ESPN crew on the game. The real fun came when Cubs’ hitter Kris Bryant lined a shot down the line in right field. Betts, mid-interview and mid-sprint, blurted out, “I\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0getting this one, boys.”<\/p>\n
https:\/\/twitter.com\/KentMurphy\/status\/978745006990221313<\/p>\n
That’s it. Short. Simple. But fun.<\/p>\n
Now\u00a0it’s\u00a0unrealistic\u00a0for teams to mic up players all the time in games that matter but the Betts’ interview was a step in the right direction.<\/p>\n
Perhaps a more realistic approach is what Clayton Kershaw provided\u00a0while in the dugout of one of the Dodgers’ first games of the year. Being that it wasn’t his\u00a0day\u00a0to pitch, Kershaw basically just shows up to\u00a0the park\u00a0and watches the game. Why not slap a mic on the guy and see what he has to say about the game as an in-the-clubhouse and on-the-field\u00a0analyst.<\/p>\n
\nClayton Kershaw on Rich Hill's competitiveness\/aggression, and learning from him. "Out-compete the Hitter" pic.twitter.com\/onBS6HIsKe<\/a><\/p>\n
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 2, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n