Will MLB ever institute a "pitch clock"? (1 Viewer)

[pollardsvision]

Bill Simmons new article, if you don't mind reading him blabber on about the Red Sox for the 1st 75% (or you just skip it), has some good thoughts on the speed of the game. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story...=simmons/100729

It's not news, of course, that baseball games take too long and the pitch clock is not a new idea.

Just curious if you guys think a pitch clock would be a good idea and/or if you think it could possibly ever happen?

He also mentions losing the DH as a way to speed up the game. I like the DH, but speeding up the game is a hell of an argument against it. Of course, there's no chance in hell of that happening. No way the Union would let MLB get rid of 14 well paid jobs.

 

[Snotbubbles]

Bill Simmons new article, if you don't mind reading him blabber on about the Red Sox for the 1st 75% (or you just skip it), has some good thoughts on the speed of the game. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story...=simmons/100729

It's not news, of course, that baseball games take too long and the pitch clock is not a new idea.

Just curious if you guys think a pitch clock would be a good idea and/or if you think it could possibly ever happen?

He also mentions losing the DH as a way to speed up the game. I like the DH, but speeding up the game is a hell of an argument against it. Of course, there's no chance in hell of that happening. No way the Union would let MLB get rid of 14 well paid jobs.

I thnk there already is one. The umpires just need to enforce it.

 

[dparker713]

Things that slow down the game

Timeouts granted to both hitters and pitchers - limit to max 1 per inning per team (this includes mound visits)

Mid inning pitching changes - eliminate or severely limit warmup pitches on the mound, bring back the bullpen car and make it fast

TV timeouts - they're too long, but fat chance getting them shorter

A pitch clock could change things some, but it's not really going to fix anything if batters are granted timeouts. And Im all for eliminating the DH, so whatever reason you want to use for that, go right ahead.

 

[pollardsvision]

Things that slow down the game Timeouts granted to both hitters and pitchers - limit to max 1 per inning per team (this includes mound visits)Mid inning pitching changes - eliminate or severely limit warmup pitches on the mound, bring back the bullpen car and make it fastTV timeouts - they're too long, but fat chance getting them shorterA pitch clock could change things some, but it's not really going to fix anything if batters are granted timeouts. And Im all for eliminating the DH, so whatever reason you want to use for that, go right ahead.

Good points. Baseball has all sorts of ways to slow things down. I forgot about the bullpen car. That would be great. Simmons mentions a 2-minute limit on commercial breaks, with the batter standing in the box at 2:01.He also suggested a 3-second limit for batters leaving the box between pitches, with a strike being called if they take longer.Many things would help. I guess what it really boils down to is whether or not MLB/Selig see the benefit in making any real changes. The commercial breaks are a good example. It would be a short-term hit in revenue, but there's no telling the long-term damage being done by having games drag out.

 

[pantagrapher]

Can't a pitcher then just circumvent the rule by throwing the ball over to first?

I understand the desire to speed up the game. Some games seem to last too long. But I don't think it's that prevalent that the game needs new rules.

 

[Timmay]

What would happen to them, if the pitch wasnt delivered on time? Anything? Doubt it. So no.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Can't a pitcher then just circumvent the rule by throwing the ball over to first?

Only if there was a baserunner there.

 

[Darth Cheney]

No need to.

 

[Wooderson]

I'm not sure there is a need to speed the game up. It's a slow game and that's OK.

I'm all for eliminating the DH. But I wonder how much this would speed up the game. Sure they will get out more then the DH but they also tend to take a lot of pitches. Also a DH himself gets out about 70% of the time. Then you have factor in pitching changes I could be wrong about this but there seems to be more late inning pitching changes in the NL because of not having a DH.

 

[pollardsvision]

What would happen to them, if the pitch wasnt delivered on time? Anything? Doubt it. So no.

I don't think it'll happen, but if you charged with a ball for being late, the pitches would certainly be delivered on time.

 

[Spartans Rule]

There is one, and I've seen it enforced on Rafael Betancourt when he was with the Indians. He got charged with a ball.

 

[Doctor Detroit]

There is one, and I've seen it enforced on Rafael Betancourt when he was with the Indians. He got charged with a ball.

 

[Dr. No]

Read the simmons article.

Completely agree. Time of games should be reduced. I've always though the DH was fine and a way to extend the careers of a lot of aging hitters.

I know I would've been bummed if the last 4-5 years of George Brett's career wouldn't have happened due to no DH.

But on the other hand I would take the faster games.

I did get lucky on Saturday at the royals game.. saw a 2 hour and 10 minute win. And heck.. that was almost too short. But I've been to far far more 3 hour games that I wished were more like 2.5.

The NFL game times are beginning to suffer as well... it's just that no one is talking about it because there's only 16 games per year.

But it's definitely gotten to the point where I want to DVR and then watch a football game because of how boring they can be when they drag for 3.5 hrs. And the fan experience AT the game just keeps getting worse.

 

[John Doe]

That is why baseball is the best, no time limit.

 

[Black Taco]

institute a pitch glock, pla plow!!

 

[Smack Tripper]

Simmons is not a baseball fan, he is a red sox fan, and perhaps a dubious one at that. Like so many sox fans, he gleaned identity in the suffering. To his credit he points out, suffering over, so too much of the fan passion. It was similar post 1994 with the rangers here.

So to move deck chairs on the titanic and shave seconds here and there to try to apeal that don't and never will like baseball is foolish to me. Baseball is drama, hoops is porn. Drama plays out, takes time to build and is delberate. Porn is a accelerated, loosely grounded, largely decontextualized "action". They appeal to different sensibilities.

Speeding up the game artifically only threatens that drama. Let moments buld.

But if we are determined to do something, there is a simple solution that would improve the game and accelerate it. Call something close to the true strike zone. This would allow pitchers to more effectvely attack the zone, and hopefully encourage batters to swing earlier and more often. It is the 3-2 counts constantly that lenghten games. Oba and a selective eye might be smart baseball but it's not exciting, hitting is. Or strikeouts.

We'd get better baseball without artifical tweaks.

 

[pollardsvision]

Read the simmons article.

Completely agree. Time of games should be reduced. I've always though the DH was fine and a way to extend the careers of a lot of aging hitters.

I know I would've been bummed if the last 4-5 years of George Brett's career wouldn't have happened due to no DH.

But on the other hand I would take the faster games.

I did get lucky on Saturday at the royals game.. saw a 2 hour and 10 minute win. And heck.. that was almost too short. But I've been to far far more 3 hour games that I wished were more like 2.5.

The NFL game times are beginning to suffer as well... it's just that no one is talking about it because there's only 16 games per year.

But it's definitely gotten to the point where I want to DVR and then watch a football game because of how boring they can be when they drag for 3.5 hrs. And the fan experience AT the game just keeps getting worse.

Watching a single un-DVR'd NFL game is a horrible experience. I have no interest in attending an NFL game.Funny that the NFL making a single game a mind-numbing experience leads to me to shell out $300 so I can just watch all of them. They keep making the product worse. They keep making more money.