Since this weekend's three game series against the A's was so horrendous thanks to the Red Sox offense, I thought I'd rant about the new rules that were brought up this week to speed up a baseball game.
Now I know plenty of people that don't like baseball because it takes too long. But that's the nature of the sport. I mean, it wouldn't be called America's National Pass-Time if it wasn't an easy-going game. So the games are a minute longer than they were last season. And a whopping 5.5 minutes longer than there were five years ago. So what? To quote Kevin Youkilis, "this game is not about time". It's about intensity. Fans go to games for a good pitching duel or to see their favorite slugger belt one out of the park. It's not a race to see if they can get in and out of the ballpark in record time. If it were, fans wouldn't set up shop in the parking lots to tailgate.
But evidently that doesn't matter. Commissioner Bud Selig decided it was time to speed things up. So, he made conference calls to all club managers on Wednesday letting them know that starting as soon as possible, some rules were going to start being enforced. Those rules are:
1) Umpires will ask batters to approach home plate from the on-deck circle and enter the
batter's box faster. And if the batter doesn't, he'll get an automatic strike.
2) In a bases-empty situation, the pitcher has to throw the ball within 12 seconds of receiving it
2) In a bases-empty situation, the pitcher has to throw the ball within 12 seconds of receiving it
from his catcher. They'll get a warning the first time, but for every violation thereafter, the
pitcher will be called for a ball.
3) Conferences on the pitcher's mound will be broken up more quickly, and teams will be asked
3) Conferences on the pitcher's mound will be broken up more quickly, and teams will be asked
to have a reserve player or coach ready to catch warm up pitches if a catcher isn't ready.
These rules are lame. A perfect example is rule #2. A pitcher's windup is his thing. While some pitchers can get the ball, get the sign from the catcher, and throw within 12 seconds, plenty don't. Take Hideki Okajima. After each throw, he walks off the mound to the third base side, rubs his hands together, takes a moment, decides how he's going to throw and finally throws the ball. It could take up to 30 seconds. But do we want him to rush the Okie dokie? Of course not. That's his signature pitch. And while it's usually a ball, he gets the batter to swing at it more often than not. Want a better example? Just imagine Papelbon without his death-stare that seems to make time stand still.
Now I know I'm only talking about the Sox relief staff, but I'm sure you could find plenty of pitchers throughout the league whose quirks make them take longer than 12 seconds to throw the ball. But it's those quirks that strike batters out and make them fan favorites.
While Sox fans have yet to see the 12-second rule enforced, if you saw the game Friday night against the A's, you unfortunately got to see the batter rule enforced. Hitting coach, Dave Magadan, was thrown out of the game for standing up for his batter. JD Drew broke his bat. He wanted to run back to the on-deck circle to fix it, but the umpire wouldn't allow it and Magadan got pissed off. He said something to the ump, and the umpire threw him out. Francona came to his hitting coach's defense, but the ump stood his ground and Magadan left the game.
If this is what baseball is to become, it's going to quit being fun. Sure the Sox happen to be one of the slowest teams in the league. But they're not alone. The Yankees are right up there with them. As a matter of fact, historically it's the teams with the best records that have the slowest games. So, I guess if you want the Sox to start losing (this past weekend not included), then have the umps start enforcing these rules. Otherwise, back off and let's play ball!
Comments
You're absolutely right. Baseball is such a beautiful game because there is no clock, and games can theoretically last forever. The fair and foul lines extend to infinity, too, and it's the limitless nature of the game that attracts fans. Sadly, the speeding up of the game may be inevitable, as baseball bows to the strictures of TV, which calls the shots.
I remember my uncle taking me to a Dallas Cowboys game when I was a kid, and pointing to a guy on the sidelines. "Know who that is?" he asked.
I looked and saw a guy with bright orange sleeves, looking rather unimportant. "Nope."
"He's the most powerful man in the game. When he raises his arms, everyone else has to stop so they can take a TV timeout. He can do it anytime, for any reason. Nobody else can stop the game like that."
The image still stuck with me. Looks like we've got that guy in our league now.