I have to apologize in advance… It seems like pretty much all of you are totally good with the pitch clock but I wonder if SOME of that meh feeling we collectively share is related to the game speeding up. That we are not connecting with it like we used to.
The pace is off.
I freely admit that it is too soon do accurately judge.
I understand that it is still Spring Training and there is
no compelling reason to be that engaged with the games.
Aside from a few at bats, such as watching Volpe or the
Martian or, on the flip side, Hicks and
Donaldson there’s not much going on that is worth our attention.
I’ve now watched 8-10 games.
The clock definitely makes the games easier to watch and is
an improvement.
It didn't screw up John and Suzyn as badly as I thought.
The games move. I get it.
It's a net positive but...
It just doesn't feel like the same game. I keep saying it
feels like basketball.
For the record, I
like basketball. My Dad was a HS basketball coach in the Bronx for twenty years.
I dream basketball.
That said, there is more tension in one at bat then there is
in an entire game with the exception of the last two minutes of a close one.
That tension is gone. There’s not enough time for it to set
in.
I’ve been told I’ll adjust and perhaps I will. That my mind
will start to recognize the importance of the pitch without the time to
consider it, and G-d knows, nobody likes or wants 5-7 minute at bats.
I hope so.
Maybe I’m old. Check that. I know I’m old.
Maybe it had to be done for the sake of the game.
But, right now I still feel like I’m watching something go
past me.
Baseball needs a clock. Fine, I get it. Would it kill them to add few seconds to it?
How about twenty seconds with no on and twenty-five with a man
on base. It would slow the pace down just
enough to make it less like watching a guy hit balls at a batting cage and more
like… baseball.
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6 comments:
I confess that I have not watched a single baseball game yet this year, not even one inning. So aside from the highlights on the news, I haven't seen anything of the pitch clock. That said, I did see that incident with the game ending on a batter's pitch clock violation.
That something had to be done to get these guys to stop wasting time, yeah, I totally agree.
But I'm not sure that the pitch clock was the best answer.
I think a hefty financial penalty, a very hefty financial penalty, per violation would've been a better move. $100,000 penalty (or a percentage of the player's salary, depending on his salary) for each violation, plus a matching penalty to that player's team. All penalty proceeds to go to eliminating homelessness. I think that would get everyone's attention, including the ball clubs themselves. So that the ball clubs would start to enforce the rule on their own players and eliminate human rain delays and pitchers who take forever to deliver a pitch.
I have watched several spring training games and several WBC games. In comparison, the WBC games drag. Additionally, with a 7:00 start time, I only get to watch 3 or 4 innings before I need to go to bed. :(
Catasus -
Yes the game needs to go faster. Of that there is no doubt. I guess for me it is a question of how much faster. I'm OK with the clock on principle I just think they made it too quick. The current pace loses something. At least for me.
Actually, if you were “old” you’d recognize that the game used to move much much faster. For example, every 9 inning game in the 1975 World Series was under 3 hours, and a couple were in the vicinity of 2:25. (Fisk’s HR game (12 innings) was 4 hours)
yowlz,
That was when starters tried to finish, batters tried to put the ball in play, and there weren't 15+ strikeouts a game. Commercial breaks were shorter as well. And, the bullpen wasn't loaded with specialists and .... hey you kids get off my lawn!
That is true, yes! I do like the rules requiring relievers to pitch to a certain minimum number of batters, I think the rule limiting pickoff attempts will be interesting (more SBs?), and I definitely wish commercial breaks were shorter (not going to happen). OK, you can play on the lawn, just don’t trample the flowerbed
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