ESPNs Buster Olney is on vacation this week, but hes still compiling roundups. View Wednesdays roundup here.Baseball is the greatest game in the world. If you need proof, look no further than the fact that baseball, like no other sport, has an amazing capacity to spark genuine and even heated debate. Baseball fans and media like nothing more than to talk about what is good and bad about the game. The designated hitter rule has been with us since 1973. Forty-three years later, fans regularly and passionately weigh in on whether the rule is good: Should it be expanded or eliminated? I have stacks of fan mail on both sides of the issue, and I can always count on a DH question to energize a news conference.Buster Olney recently co-hosted Mike & Mike with Mike Greenberg, and they devoted the better part of two shows to a discussion of what should be changed in baseball. When they asked me to participate, I gladly accepted. Those of you who listened to the program know that I was not supportive of some of the suggestions put forward but was receptive to many others, such as rule adjustments regarding relievers and alterations to the All-Star Game. I hope I left the impression that I am open-minded to the possibility of making changes to the national pastime.I believe there is a clear distinction between giving thoughtful consideration to an idea and deciding to move forward with it. Its good to have a healthy conversation about baseball and the way it is played today. But that conversation should take place against the backdrop of three fundamental points.First, a major part of baseballs appeal is its history and tradition. While adjustments can be made to protect and improve the game, we must always give due respect to history and tradition. Each July, I go to Cooperstown for the Hall of Fame Induction Weekend. A visit to the great Hall of Fame Museum and the opportunity to spend time with the greatest living legends of our game serve as an annual reminder of the importance of the history and tradition of the game.Second, baseball is a healthy sport. Each year more than 73 million people attend major league games, and another 41 million go to minor league parks. Our in-park experience remains the best in professional sports. MLB.com is widely regarded as the best digital offering in sports. And while we are continuing our efforts to increase youth participation, more kids age 12 and under play baseball and softball than any other sport, and of the estimated 58.1 million children in the U.S. between the ages of 5 and 17, 45 million (78 percent) have played baseball/softball in some form at some point in their lives. While baseball can be improved, it certainly does not need to be fixed.Third, some traditionalists talk about changing the game as if the alternative is to maintain some static, pure form of play. The fact is that the game has changed and is continuing to change -- in my view, at an accelerating rate. Games have become longer. In 1975, the average game was 2 hours and 30 minutes. Now the average game is three hours. In 1988, 272 pitches were thrown in an average game. Today, the strategy of working counts and taking pitches means that it takes an additional 22 pitches to complete that same game. Back in 1988, the average major league club used 17 pitchers over the course of the season. In 2015, the average club used 27 pitchers. We are seeing less of our star starting pitchers, more delays for pitching changes, and less action at exciting points late in the game.Today, major league players are hitting home runs at a record pace, but the number of balls put in play is at a historic low. There have been more strikeouts this season than in any other season in baseball history since 1871. Offensive strategies like situational hitting and stealing bases, which often create exciting moments for fans, are less prevalent today than at any point since the Year of the Pitcher in 1968. These changes have occurred not due to new rules but almost exclusively because of decisions made by creative general managers and managers in an effort to win as many games as possible.So the question is not whether there should be change -- the game is going to change and evolve no matter what. The question is whether to let the change happen or, instead, to manage the change. For me, the answer is easy: Those of us charged with the enormous responsibility of protecting the great game of baseball have an obligation to manage change so that the beauty of our game is preserved in a way that future generations continue to embrace the sport. We will confront difficult choices in discharging this responsibility, and we will make the right choices because our guiding principle will always be the best interests of the fans. Thomas Muller Jersey . Pedro scored from a pass by Lionel Messi in the 33rd minute and added two more goals in the 47th and 72nd after Valdes saved his second penalty in four days following his stop in Wednesdays 4-0 over Ajax in the Champions League. Julian Brandt Jersey . The phone hearing is scheduled for 4:30pm et/1:30pm pt. 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CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs are on a roll, and even their depth players are going deep to keep them streaking.Matt Szczur hit two home runs and the Cubs won their 11th straight game, backing Jake Arrieta and battering Adam Wainwright to rout the St. Louis Cardinals 13-2 Friday.Willson Contreras launched a three-run shot to cap a five-run second inning, and Javier Baez and Jorge Soler also connected to make things easy for Arrieta (14-5).The Cubs winning streak is their longest since a 12-game run in 2001. They pulled 14 games ahead of scuffling St. Louis in the NL Central and improved the best record in the majors to 73-41.Manager Joe Maddon gave outfielders Dexter Fowler and Jason Heyward a day off following a 4-3, 11-inning win over the Cardinals on Thursday. From left to right, Contreras, Szczur and Soler started in the outfield instead and came through on a muggy afternoon.Maddon saluted all three, especially Szczur, who shuttled between the Cubs and the minors last season.He homers, runs the ball in the outfield, got things going, Maddon said. I knew hed be ready to play. He pretty much stirred it up for the entire group.The entire outfield hit four homers today. That not a bad thing, he said.Szczur, who recorded his first multihomer game, and Kris Bryant each had three hits.It was awesome to see my name in the lineup when I got to the ballpark today, Szczur said. Joe has tremendous faith in me and always expects me to produce and Ive been able to produce for him.The Cubs roughed up Wainwright (9-7) for seven runs and chased him after two innings, tying his shortest outing in 245 career starts.I was horrible, Wainwright said. My stuff was bad, my delivery was bad, everything was bad. The team deserves more than that.Arrieta pitched one-run ball into the sixth inning and gave up four hits overall.The story today was our offense was really good, Arrieta said. I think we know what were capable of.This 11 game winning streak is special, but we want to be playing our best baseball going into October.Stephen Piscotty and Jedd Gyorko homered for the Cardinals, who remain in a tight race for the second NL wild card despite dropping six of their laast nine.dddddddddddd.Arrieta delivered a second straight solid start in August after going 0-3 with two no-decisions and a 4.88 ERA in July. The 2015 NL Cy Young winner pitched eight shutout innings at Oakland last Saturday.Wainwright hasnt won since July 16 and is 0-2 in his last five starts. During that span, hes allowed 21 runs in 25 2/3 innings.Cardinals slugger Matt Holliday had his broken right thumb examined by the teams hand specialist in Chicago and kidded with teammates in the clubhouse before the game. Hes out indefinitely after being hit by a pitch from the Cubs Mike Montgomery in the 10th inning Thursday night.Holliday will be re-examined next week. He was replaced in left field by Brandon Moss.The Cubs jumped on Wainwright early. Line-drive doubles by Bryant and Addison Russell drove in runs in the first to make it 2-0.Bryant hit another RBI double in the second and Contreras sent his seventh halfway up into the left-center bleachers to make it 7-0.Szczur and Soler hit solo homers in the sixth off Jerome Williams. Szczur and Baez added two-run shots in the seventh before Gyorko connected in the eighth.TRAINERS ROOMCardinals: Holliday will decide next week on treatments including surgery or letting the injury heal on its own, according to GM John Mozeliak. Neither Mozeliak or manager Mike Matheny could offer a specific timetable for the sluggers return.Cubs: RHP Trevor Cahill arrived at the Cubs clubhouse on Friday, but has not been activated from the DL after making six starts at Triple-A Iowa in a rehab stint (right knee tendinitis).UP NEXTLuke Weaver, a 22-year-old righty and one of the Cardinals top pitching prospects, will make his major league debut on Saturday against Kyle Hendricks (11-7, 2.17), who is 7-1 with a 1.06 ERA in his last 10 outings. Weaver took Hollidays roster spot and was with the Cardinals on Friday following his recall from Triple-A Memphis, where he made his first start last Monday and threw six strong innings. Previously Weaver was at Double-A Springfield of the Texas League. Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Stitched Jerseys NFL Jerseys Wholesale Cheap Stitched Jerseys NFL Jerseys From China NFL Jerseys China ' ' '