They did something similar to what you said with cricket and had some successful results. A traditional test cricket match takes place over four innings which c

They did something similar to what you said with cricket and had some successful results. A traditional test cricket match takes place over four innings which can last up to 5 days at which point the game gets abandoned as a draw. In an effort to make the game more exciting and get more viewers they introduced Twenty20 (where each team has a single innings with a maximum of 20 overs each) and T10 (single innings of 10 overs each) which means games are dramatically shortened to less than 3 hours and 90 mins respectively. The result is a lot less tactical play, with batters frequently going for six (equivalent of home run) and a much more exciting match for viewers. I imagine some clever rule tweaks could do the same thing for baseball.