Thoughts on MLB's Pitch Clock

Photo by si.com

We're two months into the 2023 Major League Baseball Season and the "new" rules seem to be helping the game that used to be America's pastime.

MLB claims games are roughly a half hour shorter than they were last year. I did a quick check yesterday and of the 16 games played, four were over three hours, three more were within five minutes of three hours and the other nine were less than 2:55 in length.

As a fan I am happy the games are shorter.  No one liked watching pitchers step off of the rubber and batters step out of the box on what seemed like almost every pitch. The 15/20 second pitch clock has made a big difference but there are still some issues needing to be addressed.

Many MLB umpires, for whatever reason, are unwilling to call the strike zone as it is written.  Many pitches near the bottom of the zone are being called balls resulting in hitters taking what should legitimately be called strikes.  This results in more pitches and batters waiting out pitchers for walks.  Walks slow down the game and add to the time needed to play the game not to mention the lack of action on the field.  MLB needs to address this immediately and force the umpires to call the strike zone correctly.  This issue can be resolved with technology that's currently being tested in the minor leagues.  The robot umpire doesn't miss any pitches in the strike zone.

Both hitters and pitchers are lobbying to increase the length of the time clock. Currently hitters are allowed to call one time out per at bat as are pitchers.  But, both sides are wanting the play clock to be longer.  I have heard some inane arguments from both sides saying the games are too fast and fans don't have a chance to go to the concession stand without missing a chunk of the game.  I call baloney.  MLB must keep the existing play clock times in effect.  If anything they can probably be shortened a few seconds with runners on base.

Time will tell if the players end up getting their way or the fans can expect reasonably played games at a relatively snappy pace.  If the games go back to their old length of over three hours and 15 minutes fans will stay away in droves and both attendance and TV ratings will continue to fall.

Game Two = 3:12

Relatively speaking Game Two was a quick one; well for Major League Baseball.  Relatively is the key word here.  It took three hours and 12 minutes to play an eight and a half inning game in which Los Angeles had a total of three singles.  The Red Sox won 4-2 and used four pitchers.  Meanwhile, the Dodgers used six pitchers to go down two games to none in the series.

So, thus far it has taken a total of seven hours and four minutes to play 17 innings.  That's a lot of wasted time for the people at the game in Boston where the Wind Chill Index was 42 at the start of the game.  Way to go MLB!

Game One = 3:52

I estimated it would take about three hours and 45 minutes to play Game One of the 2018 World Series.  Well, I missed it.  But, by only seven minutes.  The time of the game was 3:52.  And keep in mind that was for an eight and a half inning game.  A boring almost four hour long baseball game that was never in doubt when it ended at 12:03 Boston time.  But, for some reasons the Dodgers and Red Sox used a total of 14 pitchers between them.

Let's see what tonight brings.  My guess is it will be around that 3:45 mark.

Just Another "Who Cares World Series"

In a little under an hour the 2018 World Series will begin in Boston.  I predicted Boston would win it all earlier this summer and missed when I incorrectly chose Milwaukee to beat the Dodgers in the NL Championship Series.

But, honestly I don't plan on watching much of what Major League Baseball (MLB) calls the "Fall Classic".  I am not invested in either of the teams and both clubs have an unfair advantage over their smaller market opponents.  But, the real reason I won't watch is I just don't have three and a half to four hours a night to devote to the games.  Thiis is why I call it a "Who Cares World Series".  This was the headline of an East Coast newspaper prior to the start of the 1985 World Series between the Kansas City Royals and the St. Louis Cardinals.

The average time of the National League Championship Series games was 3:33.  And if you add in the 13 inning game between the Brewers and Dodgers the average time becomes 3:53.  This is too long and much of the time there is no action.  (Unless you want to say batters stepping out of the box and adjusting their gloves is "action".)

And the American League is worse.  The average time of the AL Championship Series games was 3:57.  Three hours and 57 minutes on the average to watch a nine inning game.  And while MLB would tell you it was a classic, Game 4 lasted 4 hours and 33 minutes.  The final score was 8-6 and it was a nine inning game.  That amount of time for a baseball game is way, way, way too long.

And what makes this all worse is grade school kids won't be able to see the end of most games unless they live in the Pacific time zone.  Based on the average times of the NLCS and ALCS contests, games in this World Series games will take about 3:45 minutes to play.  For those living in the Eastern Time Zone the games probably won't end until several minutes before midnight.  For the Pacific Time Zone it is a little more manageable for children in that the games should end about 8:53.

MLB brags about record attendance figures every year but the bottom line is the people who will be paying for tickets in ten to 15 years will be shut out from seeing the World Series games to their conclusion.  MLB my advice to you is wake up! (No pun intended.)