Long live the pitch clock

[The Kids Can Play]

On 2/26/2023 at 10:36 AM, ptatc said:

Let's hope. If the pitchers continue with max effort throwing with decreased recovery between pitchers it could make them worse. 

It's a state of mind for these pitchers and once they get used to it, they will make the necessary adjustments and be fine. Pitching quickly wasn't a problem for Mark Buehrle or Greg Maddux to name a few...and they were always very healthy.

[Dick Allen]

16 minutes ago, The Kids Can Play said:

It's a state of mind for these pitchers and once they get used to it, they will make the necessary adjustments and be fine. Pitching quickly wasn't a problem for Mark Buehrle or Greg Maddux to name a few...and they were always very healthy.

They didn't throw 100. Back when the game was played more rapidly, 92-94 was considered pretty quick. Now its mediocre. I do think the pitch clock is the best thing that has happened to the game in a long time.

[ptatc]

2 hours ago, The Kids Can Play said:

It's a state of mind for these pitchers and once they get used to it, they will make the necessary adjustments and be fine. Pitching quickly wasn't a problem for Mark Buehrle or Greg Maddux to name a few...and they were always very healthy.

They didn't throw with max effort on every pitch and paced themselves to pitch deep into games. That is not the mindset of today's pitcher. 

Besides comparing every pitcher to one of the best of all time is not generally a good comparison as even other pitchers of the time did not pitch as quickly as them. 

[Saufley]

They should have listened to Bill Veeck many years ago when he tried to introduce the pitch clock. 

[Tnetennba]

So far so good IMO.  Today was the first spring game I’ve watched, the first few innings felt rushed with the clock but by the end of the game I hardly even noticed.  

[DFAthewave69420]

Pitch clock is great for sitting on the couch.

Going to a game?  Parking lot got more expensive.  Beer is $5 more a pop.  $10 hot dog and chips are $17 now.

These front offices are going to stick it to fans for the 30+ minutes of concession revenue lost.  

Ticket prices not going any lower for less game duration too!!!

[Sleepy Harold]

8 hours ago, ptatc said:

As Dick said there were no statistical significant changes in the minors last year. Those are the younger ones. We need to monitor the older more susceptible pitchers. 

I was talking in regards to injuries. I'm curious what the difference YoY was in injuries for pre/post pitch clock implementation. Obviously it wouldn't guarantee any outcome one way or the other at the ML, just curious to see what the results are. 

[ptatc]

Just now, Sleepy Harold said:

I was talking in regards to injuries. I'm curious what the difference YoY was in injuries for pre/post pitch clock implementation. Obviously it wouldn't guarantee any outcome one way or the other at the ML, just curious to see what the results are. 

That's what I meant. There was no statisticallly significant difference in injury incidents last year. 

[greg775]

On 2/27/2023 at 10:00 AM, EloyJenkins said:

Are ticket prices gonna reduce? I am not paying 100+ a game for 2 hours. sorry

 

2:15 would be perfect. Alleged time for a college basketball game.

[greg775]

On 2/27/2023 at 12:39 AM, ron883 said:

I thought you hated the idea of banning the shift? Or maybe I'm thinking of your hate of "opener" pitchers. 

Gosh no. Greg observers certainly know I despise the shift. I do hate openers as well. Also I hate the two games within one. Starter goes five then the parade of relievers. And I hate the new hitting philosophy. HR or K for hitters, nothing else.

[Bob Sacamano]

I recorded the Cuba v Netherlands games to have as background noise while working today.

54 minutes into this recording and they just finished the 2nd inning. Long live the pitch clock indeed.

Edited March 8, 2023 by Bob Sacamano

[chw42]

19 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

I recorded the Cuba v Netherlands games to have as background noise while working today.

54 minutes into this recording and they just finished the 2nd inning. Long live the pitch clock indeed.

They should have had it at the WBC. 

[ChiSox59]

19 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

I recorded the Cuba v Netherlands games to have as background noise while working today.

54 minutes into this recording and they just finished the 2nd inning. Long live the pitch clock indeed.

I had to turn that game off in the second inning last night because my dog kept barking at that awful horn noise every 20 seconds. 

[Bob Sacamano]

12 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

I had to turn that game off in the second inning last night because my dog kept barking at that awful horn noise every 20 seconds. 

Yeah it’s been annoying for sure

[Sleepy Harold]

1 hour ago, Bob Sacamano said:

I recorded the Cuba v Netherlands games to have as background noise while working today.

54 minutes into this recording and they just finished the 2nd inning. Long live the pitch clock indeed.

The Panama game this morning was just over 4 hours as well, making me appreciate the pitch clock more and more.

[he gone.]

On 2/26/2023 at 8:48 AM, Middle Buffalo said:

It feels a little rushed to me, but it’s definitely an improvement. I wouldn’t be surprised if they agree to add a little more time. 

I’m also not crazy about a player getting an automatic strike if he takes a little while to collect himself in the 9th inning of a big game. We’ll see how that plays out.

Overall - big improvement. Stone and Benetti are going to have to squeeze the Nationwide jingle in at 45RPM.

I think much like you see in football or basketball when they make a rule change it will be a "point of emphasis" early in the season (And particularly ST) and then will be a bit more lax.

I also don't disagree that they should maybe tack on a few seconds. It'd give time for both the fans and players to adjust a bit more, but as others have alluded they did this in the minors as a test run and within a few months we'll forget how we even watched the old way. This is the best change MLB could make.

 

The next thing I'd do if I was the MLB is a road show. One series a year for each team in a smaller city playing in either a minor league park or college stadium basically. Grow the game. So for instance, Indianapolis, Grand Rapids, Green Bay, Des Moines, Omaha, Wichita, Nashville, Louisville, Memphis, Tulsa, Duluth, Ann Arbor, Columbus, Toledo, etc. etc. You get the point. You play 162 games a year and 81 total. No team wants to give up revenue for a series a year, but the sacrifice to grow the game in mid-sized cities in your region would go a long way in my opinion to making it "America's past time" again. 

Let the owners pick which games ... likely April .... they want to give away. Jerry can give away a 3 game set in April to Little Rock or Charlotte. Or maybe it's a closer location like Springfield or Urbana. 

[ewokpelts]

33 minutes ago, he gone. said:

I think much like you see in football or basketball when they make a rule change it will be a "point of emphasis" early in the season (And particularly ST) and then will be a bit more lax.

I also don't disagree that they should maybe tack on a few seconds. It'd give time for both the fans and players to adjust a bit more, but as others have alluded they did this in the minors as a test run and within a few months we'll forget how we even watched the old way. This is the best change MLB could make.

 

The next thing I'd do if I was the MLB is a road show. One series a year for each team in a smaller city playing in either a minor league park or college stadium basically. Grow the game. So for instance, Indianapolis, Grand Rapids, Green Bay, Des Moines, Omaha, Wichita, Nashville, Louisville, Memphis, Tulsa, Duluth, Ann Arbor, Columbus, Toledo, etc. etc. You get the point. You play 162 games a year and 81 total. No team wants to give up revenue for a series a year, but the sacrifice to grow the game in mid-sized cities in your region would go a long way in my opinion to making it "America's past time" again. 

Let the owners pick which games ... likely April .... they want to give away. Jerry can give away a 3 game set in April to Little Rock or Charlotte. Or maybe it's a closer location like Springfield or Urbana. 

i like the idea, but mlb seems to want only 2-3 games like this a season. 

[Lip Man 1]

I always find it interesting that some folks are upset over how long a baseball game goes but when NFL games regularly go 3:20, 3:30 or longer no one says a word about it. 

[gogosox1959]

39 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

I always find it interesting that some folks are upset over how long a baseball game goes but when NFL games regularly go 3:20, 3:30 or longer no one says a word about it. 

You're watching 1 or 2 NFL a week.  MLB might be 4 to 6 a week and if you're a season ticket holder going to 2.3 a week.  I think too much emphasis is being placed on total time.  It's the improved pace of play which enhances watching the game

[Tony]

45 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

I always find it interesting that some folks are upset over how long a baseball game goes but when NFL games regularly go 3:20, 3:30 or longer no one says a word about it. 

Really? You really can't figure that out? 

[Lip Man 1]

5 minutes ago, gogosox1959 said:

You're watching 1 or 2 NFL a week.  MLB might be 4 to 6 a week and if you're a season ticket holder going to 2.3 a week.  I think too much emphasis is being placed on total time.  It's the improved pace of play which enhances watching the game

The NFL plays games on Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Saturday (in December). One of the best things about baseball is there is no time limit, unlike the other sports. There is no zero on the clock. 

[flavum]

4 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

The NFL plays games on Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Saturday (in December). One of the best things about baseball is there is no time limit, unlike the other sports. There is no zero on the clock. 

Kind of hard to compare the two sports in this area. Most fans of baseball only watch their own team- and there are 162 of them. Then there’s the pace of play issue. The gambling aspect of football that you accept most of it is a Sunday sport. I love the new pitch timer, and I don’t even need to see it in the background or on the score bug. As long as they’re playing faster, it’s going to be a success for fans of MLB. 

[Tnetennba]

This might sound contradictory, but I like the pace of play with the pitch clock, but feel like games so far this spring are over way too fast.  

[Bob Sacamano]

16 minutes ago, Tnetennba said:

This might sound contradictory, but I like the pace of play with the pitch clock, but feel like games so far this spring are over way too fast.  

Yeah it kinda seems that way. Maybe they will end up adding a couple seconds eventually.

[Bob Sacamano]

28 minutes ago, flavum said:

Kind of hard to compare the two sports in this area. Most fans of baseball only watch their own team- and there are 162 of them. Then there’s the pace of play issue. The gambling aspect of football that you accept most of it is a Sunday sport. I love the new pitch timer, and I don’t even need to see it in the background or on the score bug. As long as they’re playing faster, it’s going to be a success for fans of MLB. 

Plus, I feel like watching NFL has more of a social aspect of it: having people over for the game, going out, etc only once a week as compared to in baseball, your team having 5-7 games a week.

You really can't compare the two.

Edit: this actually came up in the MLBTR chat yesterday: https://live.jotcast.com/chat/chat-with-mlbtrs-steve-adams-3-7-23-15237.html

Here was the response on it:

I don't agree with the idea comparing the NFL and MLB though. I don't think people care about long NFL games because most are watching football once, maybe twice a week. Getting together for football is sort of this occasional, social ritual where maybe you have friends/family over for the game, head to the bar to watch in a group setting, etc.

Baseball's season is 162 games, plus the postseason. The idea that MLB and NFL games are comparable in length in 2022 doesn't really matter, because there were like 10x as many MLB games; at that point, the extra length definitely matters, and I can see where burnout occurs.

Edited March 8, 2023 by Bob Sacamano