Merrill Dubrow: My name is Merrill Dubrow, CEO of M/A/R/C Research and a 35-plus year veteran of the insights community and the host of our podcast On the M/A/R/C. Welcome to another Merrill-ISM segment. Today's segment is congrats baseball, you got it right. As most of you know, I grew up basically at Fenway Park watching my Red Sox game after game. Special time that I spent with my dad. So I truly love baseball. I played a ton as a kid and then softball as an adult. I don't know, over the years I've talked to my buddies Kenny Woods and Ed Sugar about how many games I think I'd been to. And I'd put a mark, stake in the ground, about 1,200 baseball games. It's just an estimate, but I have a feeling I'm close. So I have very fond memories at baseball stadiums. I met George Steinbrenner one on one in 1973. I saw not one but two triple plays in the same game. Unfortunately, the Minnesota Twins did it to my beloved Red Sox. I saw my Red Sox hit back, to back, to back, to back Homers against the dreaded New York Yankees. And I have tons of other great memories. Over the years, the game has gotten way too long, like over three hours. Attendance wasn't great and the sport, frankly, I don't think it was attracting a lot of new customers. And a lot of young people were not interested in baseball, so something had to be done. And they did it. They now have a pitch clock. They have a certain amount of time that the batter needs to get set in the batter's box. The bases are a little bit bigger. And those changes resulted in an averages games this year of 2 hours and 38 minutes. Wow. Down 25 to 30 minutes from a year ago. I think it's great. I was curious if pitchers were throwing less total pitches. And funny, they aren't. In 2021, the average batter saw 3.91 pitches per at bat. Last year 3.89. And this year, I can't believe it 2023 smack in the middle, 3.90 pitches per at bat. I was curious where attendance is. The average game is over 28,000 per higher than last year. I must say the game to me is quicker, more offense, and yes, more enjoyable. What do you think? Do you go to baseball games? Do you like the new changes? Have you noticed differences? My name is Merrill Dubrow. Thanks for listening to today's podcast. Today's segment is congrats baseball, you got it right. Stay well, stay safe and please, please, stay in touch.