[ghaff]

Around the beginning of Ken Burns' Baseball, Bob Costas made a similar point about distance. I suppose play could adapt to a certain degree but I have to believe that base paths that were 10%, much less 20%, longer or shorter would produce a radically different game.

As others have noted, there have been some adjustments. But I agree with your basic point.

(Not that I could ever get through that particular series. It was longer than the Civil War :-))

[InitialLastName]

The most glorious thing about that series is how clearly public domain the soundtrack is... nothing but jangly, often unrecognizably slow piano renditions of "The Star Spangled Banner", "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and "Dixie". PBS is the coolest.