October 18th, 2014 at 6:00 am 
by Harold Uhlman On Thursday night I was surprised to learn that MLB.com was live streaming some of the games from the Arizona Fall League. With several young Dodger prospects playing for the Glendale Desert Dogs I naturally was pleased to be able to pick up that game. I did so just in time to see top prospect Corey Seager double on a sharply hit ball to center field driving in the only Desert Dog run of the game. Seager was inserted in the lineup as a designated hitter and turned out to be the only Dodger position player who played in the 5-1 loss to the Salt River Rafters.
Shortly into the game I noticed something very unusual for a baseball game. It was a time clock, a 20 second time clock. I have of course seen time clocks in basketball, football and hockey games. One of the aspects of baseball that I love is that it has, up until now, not been invaded by instant replay technology slowing down the game and making it somewhat like other professional team sports but that is slowly slipping away.
It will be interesting to see if the MLB Players Association will in favor of adopting the pitch clock in the major leagues. (Photo courtesy of MLB.com)
The announcers talked in some detail about the time clocks stationed around the field. The ultimate purpose of the clocks being to speed up the game. Speeding up the game I expect is more important to television viewers and sponsors than it is to the fan base attending the games. However, that is an assumption on my part as I live in an area – Lunenburg, Nova Scotia – in which I have no access to live major league baseball.
MLB is again using the Arizona Fall League as a testing ground for possible innovation in the game at the major league level. Last fall, MLB tried out instant replay in the Arizona Fall League. It worked so well that it was implemented into major league games in the 2014 season. This year a clock, a “pitch clock,” has been installed in Salt River Fields to test its effectiveness in speeding up the game and to assess if it affects the quality of play on the field. In fact, four pitch clocks have been installed – one displayed in both dugouts, one behind home plate and another in the outfield.
The rule changes being guided by the clock are quite revolutionary. The clock affects the hitter as much as the pitcher. The pitcher has 20 seconds in which to throw his pitch and the batter must be ready by then. If a pitcher does not throw a pitch within 20 seconds, a ball is called. The batter must keep one foot inside the batter’s box between pitches. If he steps out of the box during the 20 second time frame the pitcher can throw a pitch which will be a strike. There goes the Nomar Garciaparra fidgeting with the batting gloves that drove us crazy as well as pitchers taking walks around the mound and hitters strolling around the plate area, I must admit that would be an improvement. Players will simply have to adjust with new preparation routines.
Other rules designed to speed up the game include:
- When a manager signals an intentional walk the hitter goes directly to first base. The four balls are not thrown.
- Pitching change times are limited to two and one half minutes. If the time is exceeded, a ball is called.
- Teams have two minutes and five seconds between innings. If a batter does not have one foot in the batter’s box ready to go at the 1:45 mark, a strike is called. If a pitcher does not throw a pitch by the 2:05 mark, a ball is called.
- At Salt River home games only, a modified version of the rule, which requires a pitch to be thrown within 12 seconds after the pitcher receives the ball with the bases empty will be used.
- Each team will be permitted three “timeout” conferences covering any meeting involving pitchers and catchers, managers, coaches and batters.
Instant replay is also being expanded and it seems that balls and strikes will be about the only exemptions. This means that the “in the neighborhood” unwritten rule will be tested and enforced in the AZL over the next few weeks. It has serious implications for infielders making plays at second base while turning the double play. The shortstop and especially the second baseman will have to touch the base. While it seems reasonable that players should touch the base it greatly increases the risk of injury from collisions around the base.
It will be equally as interesting to see how a pitch clock, visible to the runner and pitcher, will affect the cat and mouse game at first base. The runner will undoubtedly learn at what point the pitcher has no option but to make his pitch.
These innovations were developed by MLB’s new Pace of Game Committee. The Arizona Fall League provides the venue to test them out. How great a difference will they make in the length of games? Unless the difference is significant, watching clocks as they do in other sports offers a needless major distraction from the game for participants and spectators alike.
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I appreciate what MLB is trying to do to speed up the pace of game but this pitch clock thing is not the answer.
The simplest way to speed up the game is to do away with the television timeouts between innings, but since TV runs baseball (see Time Warner Cable, Fox, Comcast, YES Network for details), this will never happen.
When we played Little League we ran out to our positions immediately after the last out of each inning, the pitcher took his eight warm-up tosses and it was time to play ball – period. The batter never walked away from the box (or the ump would chew him out), and get this – every game had to be finished in an hour and a half. (If the game was not finished by the time deadline, the last completed inning determined the final score – which sucked if you were rallying back).
The point is, there are better ways to speed up MLB games than a pitch clock – some of which the AFL is using; but it’s TV that is causing the longest delays.
I simply do not see the MLBPA going for this pitch clock thing.
BTW, Harold – Did you see Dan Coulombe allow all three inherited runners to score in that game? It was definitely not his best outing. Unfortunately, it was also the last Desert Dogs game that will be televised this season.
Do you suppose the pitch clock bothered Coulombe?
According to Dbacks top pitching prospect Archie Bradley, it’s just something else that they have to think about. The clocks are near the dugouts and, for the most part, out of the pitchers’ line of sight, but they know it’s there and it’s always in the back of their mind.
Arizona Fall League – MLB’s ‘Pace of Game’ testing grounds, by @IBWAA member Harold Uhlman @Think_BlueLA http://t.co/hfVlp2z7KX
I think I’d have to see an entire game played with the clock before I could get an idea of whether I liked it or not. It may help me get to bed earlier at night. I get up at 9:00AM every morning so I can get my newspaper at the corner stand before they sell out.
I don’t mind most of these changes. The game should be quicker. But the glaring element that they don’t seem to be tackling is the time it takes to actually challenge a call or not. It takes forever for the manager to slowly walk out and then umpire and manager chat a bit about the weather. Finally the bench coach gets off the phone with their video people to give them the thumbs up or down. To me, if you want to challenge a play you should be on the same level as the umpire — use only your eyes with no benefit of replay before challenging. There should be a time limit to make a challenge instead of this “show” of walking out and then wasting time until the video room makes a decision whether they want to contest. It keeps things fairer and quicker as well as adding a little drama as to whether the bench or the players saw the play correctly.
If I were to guess I would say that the slow walk for the thumbs up – thumbs down thing will change in the near future. I think they will go to a headset thing like the NFL – perhaps the bench coach will wear it (or put it on immediately after a questionable call).
Doing away with walk-up music would also be a way to speed up the game. Seems guys take a slower walk to the plate as “their” music is playing.