Links of the Week: News Bloopers, Artificial Intelligence, and 4 Ideas to Speed Up Baseball Games

Links of the Week: News Bloopers, Artificial Intelligence, and 4 Ideas to Speed Up Baseball Games

Hooo boy, am I tired. Last night, the Chicago Cubs advanced to the National League Championship Series in a thrilling, 9-8 game that was exhilarating the entire time I watched. I tuned in during the sixth inning, roughly two hours after the game had begun, and more than two hours before the game was going to end.

In fact, last night’s game was the longest nine-inning postseason game ever, clocking in at an insane 4 hours and 37 minutes. Baseball games take too long. There is a myriad of reasons for these - double switches, pitching changes, icing pitchers/hitters - but it has to stop. I long for the days of Mark Buehrle, who would regularly complete entire games in under two hours. Last night’s game was twice that! How do we fix the issue? I have ideas!

  1. Shorten the game. How much more intense would games be if they were only 7 innings? That means fewer relief pitches, a lesser need for pinch hitters, pinch runners, less of a need for catchers and pitchers to sync up, and more.
  2. Pitchers can’t leave the mound, and hitters can’t leave the box. Last night, Jose Quintana and Wilson Contreras paused the game, met for 30 seconds, then got set up, and they had to meet again! Before a pitch was thrown! Two meetings! Exclamation!
  3. “Shot clock” for pitchers. You get 15 seconds from the time you release the ball to throw the next pitch. Let’s keep it movin’ folks.
  4. Make the season shorter. By the time the ridiculous 162 games are over, players are doggone exhausted. That means more injuries, starting pitchers can’t go as long, worse players, more substitutions, etc. Let’s shorten the season by… I don’t know… half? 162 is too many games.

Sure, there are a few issues with these suggestions, mostly issues I don’t care about. Playoff baseball is great, but 227 minutes in a single game is not.

Here are your Links of the Week:

Researchers at the California NanoSystems Institute are looking to build smarter artificial intelligence machines by mimicking the brain’s structure with a computing “mesh” versus the traditional structure of microprocessors. This could allow for 1 billion “synapses” per square centimeter, which is great, because the robot apocalypse couldn’t come at a better time! [Wired]

Speaking of robots, DID YOU KNOW THERE IS AN ACTUAL GIANT ROBOT FIGHT BETWEEN THE USA AND JAPAN HAPPENING NEXT WEEK?!?!? [YouTube]

Here’s a really cool use of an infinite scroll page that winnows down the potential NBA MVP candidates. They take the original pool of 500 players in the league, then apply criteria from all of the league’s previous MVPs to narrow the candidates to one - and the one I agree with! [ESPN]

Amazon may begin selling prescription drugs online. What could go wrong? [CNBC]

Something you didn’t read this week: Michael Jordan donated $7 million to open medical clinics in poor areas of Charlotte. [Charlotte Observer]

Some people read all online, some in print, some a lot at once, some bit by bit. Here is how the way you read affects your memory! [Fast Company]

A comprehensive, quick catch-up on all 30 teams around the NBA from The Great Zach Lowe. Also, watch the NBA this season. There have never been so many nationally televised games, and there is just so much going on in the league that basketball fans have to appreciate. Just don’t watch the Bulls. [ESPN]

Draymond Green is interesting. Draymond Green also swears a lot. [GQ]

Here are some Halloween News Bloopers, because you deserve them. Have a good weekend.