TuLong!

Clap clap, clap clap clap, clap clap clap clap, clap, clap. . . Tulo!

After Troy Tulowitzki struck out in the bottom of the ninth with men on base to end the Rockies' 2009 season, I was disappointed. I was disappointed that the season was over. But I was also relieved that I no longer had to invest my time in watching these marathon playoff baseball games. And trust me, I will waste little to no time watching the Yankees, Angels, Dodgers, and Phillies figure out who will win the 2009 World Series.

Sunday night's game in Denver started at 8:00. I quit watching shortly after 11:00 when the game was in the eighth inning. Although it was a tight game and I wanted to see who won, I had to go to class the next day and knew it would be a bad choice. And then last night's game - it started at 4:00 and ended around 7:45. So both games stretched well past the appropriate time limit for a sporting event - 3 hours.

Playoff baseball is completely ridiculous time-wise. If a runner gets on base, you are set for a 45-minute inning with the pitcher constantly stepping off the rubber, making throws over, the batter stepping out of the box, the catcher making a trip to the mound every other pitch. And then every batter works the count to 3 and 2 and fouls off 2 or 3 pitches. And then there are pitching changes, pinch hitters, and pitching changes in response to pinch hitters. And then to think, baseball is moving towards instant replay challenges! NOOOOOOO!

It's great theater, I suppose, IF YOU HAVE TIME TO WATCH ALL THAT CRAP! Which I don't know who does, unless you do sports for a living or are unemployed and single with no ambition.

This will never, ever, ever, in a million bajillion years happen, but I think baseball would benefit from some rule changes or else there might be no one left who wants to watch four-hour playoff baseball games in 20 years.

1) No batter gets to see more than eight pitches in an at bat. After eight pitches, if you haven't walked or struck out, YOU ARE OUT. No more of this endlessly fouling off pitches until you get one you like.

2) No more unlimited time-outs for hitters. Each batter can ask for time once per at-bat, or else he is charged with a strike. And that might be too generous.

3) No more unlimited mound visits for catchers. Currently, a manger/coach can only visit the mound once per pitcher per inning, or else the pitcher comes out, so there is some precedence for this. I was going to say one visit per hitter, but that's probably too generous. Three per inning might be more appropriate. The penalty would be that the pitcher would be charged with a ball.

4) I would also institute a "pitch clock" similar to a play clock or shot clock in football and basketball. They sort of have this in the rules, but I don't think it is too strictly enforced. I think they need an actual physical clock, which resets after the umpire's ball/strike count. I would think 15 seconds would be about right.

5) In conjunction with the previous suggestion, I think that the pitcher should only be allowed three pickoff moves per batter. The "pitch clock" would be reset after each pickoff throw. And after the three throws over, the advantage goes to the base stealer, who can no longer be held on base with endless throws over.

Again, none of this will ever happen, at least I don't forsee it. So why did I waste my time writing it? I guess to express my frustration with the length of these games.