MLB to teams: Pick up the pace
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- May
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This is really inside baseball sort of stuff. But some of you may find this press release from Major League Baseball Interesting:
Following a discussion on pace of game at last week’s Owners Meetings in Milwaukee, Major League Baseball held a series of conference calls with each Club’s field manager, general manager and in-game entertainment staff and with all Major League umpire crew chiefs. The calls were organized by MLB’s Baseball Operations Department, headed by Executive Vice President Jimmie Lee Solomon.
During the calls, Major League Baseball advised all participants that umpires will be more vigilant in the enforcement of matters pertaining to the improvement of pace of game efforts, including, but not limited to, Official Baseball Rules 6.02(a), 6.02(b), 6.02(c) and 8.04.
“Improving pace of game is an important goal that will be emphasized,” said Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. “Clubs and fans share the common objective of seeing a game that is played as sharply and crisply as possible. We have reminded our staff and our umpires to enforce the rules in order to achieve the progress we need in this area.”
Regarding Rule 6.02, umpires have been asked to:
• Actively call the batter to approach home plate from the on-deck circle and enter the batter’s box.
• Not grant “time” to a batter who asks for time once the pitcher has begun his delivery. If the batter leaves the batter’s box without time and the pitcher delivers a pitch, the umpire will call the pitch as if the batter had not left the box.
• Warn a batter who is lingering outside the batter’s box to return to the box. If the batter refuses to enter the box, the umpire will issue an automatic strike to the batter without a pitch having to be delivered.
Regarding Rule 8.04, umpires have been asked to:
• Actively encourage the pitcher to take his position on the pitching rubber.
• Warn a pitcher for his first violation of the 12-second time limit.
• Issue the pitcher a “ball” for each subsequent violation of the 12-second time limit.
In addition to the reinforcement of the Official Baseball Rules, other measures that will be actively encouraged by the umpires include the following:
• Conferences on the pitcher’s mound will be broken up more quickly, especially when the visitor is not prompt to the mound.
• Pitchers coming from the dugout should arrive at the mound between half-innings so that they can complete their eight warm-up pitches in conjunction with the resumption of play promptly at the appropriate time after the half-inning breaks.
• Pitchers entering from the bullpen should leave the bullpen immediately after being signaled into the game and should arrive at the mound in time to complete their eight warm-up pitchers in conjunction with the resumption of play promptly at the appropriate time after the half-inning breaks.
• Each Club will be directed to have a reserve player or coach available between half-innings to warm up the pitcher when the active catcher is putting on his equipment.
• Batboys will be directed to have a second bat readily available in the event that a hitter’s bat breaks.
Umpires also will be charged with reporting all Clubs that fail to observe MLB regulations regarding in-game entertainment, public address announcements and the playing of music and video presentations.
Clubs will be subject to fines for repeated violations of these requirements.
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on Friday, May 23rd, 2008 at 1:22 pm by Peter Abraham.
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Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Josh Thomson
If that goes through, it sounds more like a basketball game. Are they going to have buzzers too?
I’m all for speeding up the game, where it counts.
How will this affect Nomar and others with their habits at the plate?
wow.. imagine if girardi got thrown out for arguing with an ump over one of these rules hah
How about they worry about the umpires making correct calls before they worry about pace of game.
I mean lets be serious, you pay a lot of money for games, you should get your money’s worth.
/me bets TV stations are crying that their schedules are screwed up and they’re losing ad revenue.
I can think of a few pitchers that are going to be Sped Up….that reliever we faced awhile back ( I forget his name ) that the announcers were saying that him taking his time ( WAY too long ) was just his “style” ?….and DICE-BB !!! This is going to be SO COOL watching him actually have to pitch without rubbing his neck 5 times, walking around the mound, shaking off 10 signals…He was living on borrowed time anyway….with all the run support he was getting even when he STUNK it up….Imagine the number of walks that bum is going to rack up when he is out of his “sloth” pace ! Nice going, MLB….good move !
geez. what next? going back to bringing in relievers in cars
btw, i’m still outraged by that ortiz/a.s.g. promotion
I agree with nemo. Before they make umpires take note of 1,000 tiny little things that have nothing to do with the actual outcome of the game, how about they give them instant replay for homeruns? And what a joke that MLB needs to “test” it first in the minors, WBC, etc. What in the world is there to test with instant replay on homeruns? If they actually had a sense of urgency they could have instant replay for homeruns implemented for tonight’s games no questions asked.
But yeah, now some of A-Rod’s homeruns might be called doubles but at least he won’t step out of the batters box too often.
THANK GOD! im my lifetime games have gone from about 2 1/2 hours on average to well over 3. its been ridiculous. bernie (one of my all-time fave’s) used to go for a stroll after every pitch! notice the japanese players barely ever leave the batters box during an at-bat, b/c they dont allow you to in japan.
none of this is going to change the game, just keep people from falling asleep between pitches.
they have threatened to do this before but it never lasted, lets hope this time it does.
yeh the Ortiz call your shot thing makes no sense WTF was the MLB thinking ?
worst part is, people are already entering it. no way they can nix it now.
has there ever been a promotion limited to one single player? ugh!
Could kill all Yankee/RedSox games. Love the rivalry, but those freakin’ games last forever, especially in Boston.
“geez. what next? going back to bringing in relievers in cars
”
Am I the only one who remembers when they used to use golf carts with a big baseball hatchback to bring relievers in? It was in the 1970’s I think?
saucY it literally is stupid, I mean on so many levels, first off why Ortiz ? he didn’t lead the league in HRs last season, wasn’t an MVP, didn’t win a playoff MVP, Manny I’d understand a bit because it’s his hometown even if he is in a Sox’s jersey, I mean what do I read into this pick, and they expect him not to hear it from the fans or something, I mean it’s gonna be a fan pointing somewhere in Yankees Stadium for Big Papi to hit a ball, WTF were they thinking seriously
What part of the Ortiz promotion do you object to? He is going to take part in the homerun derby anyway so what difference does it make.
the car thing was just to make money by having a car sponsorship, it always took longer to bring the guy in by car than to have the guy just walk to the mound. the mets had those golf carts with the helmets, i dont think the yankees ever had that, just convertable cars.
SaucY,
I think all Yankee fans need to organize and protest this Ortiz promotion. It is a DIRECT slap-in-the-face to Yankee fans at a showcase event in the last year of their Stadium. I thought it was bad enough that the Yankees are not playing at home on Father’s Day, but I can’t believe MLB was stupid enough to approve this (Ok. I can. Nobody ticks off their fans as well as MLB.). Their needs to be some sort of organized effort to either stop this or protest it at the park (a la loud booing, fans turning their backs), or MLB could maybe just get two wrongs to make a right by having Ortiz hit Ted Williams frozen head out of the park.
They should tell pitchers to throw strikes. That more than anything will speed the game up.
I feel ripped off though if a game is less than 2 1/2 hours- for 40 bucks a ticket I want to linger for 3 hours. Remember I had great seats one time in Atlanta when Maddux was pitching and the game was over in like 2 hours 10 minutes.
pat it’s the single promotion, why is it only him, there are going to be 8 hitters in the HR Derby why not all of them..IDK it does sound stupid, to think the called shot is a tribute to Babe Ruth yet Ortiz is the only one taking that swing oh BTW the Yankees didn’t know about the promotion until 2 days ago, they are not happy about this.
pat – Brandon pretty much summed it up for me.
Games keep getting longer and longer due to commercial breaks more than anything else. Sawks and Yanks games take forever when nationally televised because everyone wants to make their money. I’m going to start timing these things so I have some hard data.
now if we could only get mlb to sign a tv contract(espn?) that would allow for P.S. games to start at 7 (daytime on weekends) some kids might be able to watch, too. i have to say that my greatest early baseball memories were watching W.S games in the afternoon (mickey lolitch v. bob gibson!). i dont mind if they’re all at night but they should have to start by 7 so the kids can see the end.
” it always took longer to bring the guy in by car than to have the guy just walk to the mound.”
ok, bring them in on the back of ducati’s then!
who could care what they do during the hr derby? as long as bobby abreu doesnt take part in it, im happy!
“Games keep getting longer and longer due to commercial breaks more than anything else.”
I don’t know that the breaks are getting longer. I think that there are MORE of them because of all pitching changes with relief specialists and such.
“or MLB could maybe just get two wrongs to make a right by having Ortiz hit Ted Williams frozen head out of the park.”
i was gonna suggest having multiple players/contestents.
but i like this much better
“ok, bring them in on the back of ducati’s then!”
Nah. Launch them in by catapult.
Why cause all this b.s. and anxiety – what kind of time are we talking about saving here? Seriously. Assuming a game with a dozen broken bats, ten mound conferences and three relievers all limping in on crutches from the bullpen, are we talking about saving more than 5 minutes per game?
Selig is a boob. He knows he needs to crack down on games running a few minutes too long but had no idea about performance enhancers almost ruining the game. That’s keeping your eye on the big picture, Bud. Spare me. I really don’t see how it’s in the best interests of the game to have umpires act like freakin’ hall monitors rushing players along to save a second here and there.
Nothing wrong at all with the Ortiz promotion.
Just like nothing wrong with having a contest to see which Yankee fan gets to detonate the stupid Green Monster (the one behind Manny in LF, not the one in front of him in the lineup).
Brandon
I hear what you’re saying but I can’t get riled about 1 pitch and 1 swing.
Do people get to vote where he has to hit it? Get everyone to vote for somewhere is left center. If he can do that on 1 pitch, 1 swing applaud him and move on. If he can’t do it, buy the license on the saying “David Ortiz is no Babe Ruth” and make some money off the T-shirt sales.
“Nah. Launch them in by catapult.”
or the human javelin, Edwar Ramirez!
LMAO about edwar!
pat,
“Bebe Woof” shirts?
“BTW the Yankees didn’t know about the promotion until 2 days ago, they are not happy about this.”
1)Why’d they need to know about it?
2)Aren’t there a lot bigger issues on the table than a HR Derby promotion.
Eye on the ball, folks.
Fredo, you’re my brother. And I love you.
But, don’t ever take sides against the family, again.
Fredo, you’re my brother. And I love you.
But, don’t ever take sides against the family, again.
if they’re gonna really speed up the pitchers, steve trachsell might as well just retire now. they used to call mike hargrove the ‘human rain delay’ but he had nothing on trachsel. watching grass grow is alot more action packed than watching him pitch.
LOL. Very good, CM.
aren’t games simply longer now because there are more pitching changes?
i am sure there is more to it, but to me, that is the one thing that stands out.
i like the pace of the game. 3 hours is perfect, given how much you pay for a ticket these days. the league shouldn’t complain – i remember when games were 4 hours and boring. I remember in the early 90s, the avg time between pitches were TWO MINUTES! If a game is more than 3 hours, its usually a good game – the Bosox/Yanks games are well over 3 hours but totally worth it. So I don’t understand what the complaint is.
How about to save some time we do away with those ridiculous Giuseppe Franco commercials.
Games are too long because managers use five relievers in low scoring games. Getting rid of the DH so that managers have to work around the pitcher’s spot in the batting order would be a good first step. Just because something’s been around for 35 years doesn’t mean it wasn’t a bad idea in the first place.
Fredo,
I think the only problem here is that the HR Derby is being held in Yankee Stadium and it is a bit of a slap in the face for them not to know about a promotion involving an archrival until it’s too late to do anything about it, of course it doesn’t bother the players because they get along and what not, but the fans don’t like the Red Sox and, oh boy, what’s Hank going to say, he hate’s the Red Sox, especially since they dug up the foundation to retrieve the jersey of this very player, and besides don’t we have our own homerun king candidate that could be promoted and has two healthy knees to stand on?
i listened to keven kennedy the other day and he had just talked to some ppl in the mlb office about this. its not so much that they expect games to finish that much faster, but they feel the pace is too slow, that in an age where ppl’s attention span has shrunk to nothing, the game just developes too slowly, there is too much ‘down time’ during the innings, people are changing the channel because they just dont have the patience to keep watching pitchers ask for the signs over and over, then the batter steps out and then you end up going like a minute or more between pitches.
i say amen to that!
“Just because something’s been around for 35 years doesn’t mean it wasn’t a bad idea in the first place.”
Don Fehr would sooner move his own appendix with a shrimp fork than give up the DH.
what exactly is the Ortiz promotion?
“How about to save some time we do away with those ridiculous Giuseppe Franco commercials.”
but those have been more entertaining than some of the actual games so far
bobby abreu in 2005 had 18 HR’s at the break, and was batting .307. he won the contest, hit something like 35 homers in the 3 rounds combined. after the asb, he hit 6 hr’s and batted .260 the rest of the season.
that pretty much turned philly fans against him and the following year he was traded to the yankees at the trading deadline.
These should have been enforced as soon as they were added to the book. I agree with those who say that 3 hrs is a good average game time, but until baseball actually achieves that goal, steps to spped things up need to be enacted nad enforced.
This is going to be like the high strike – sure they called it for a week (maybe) but these players are going to do what they want and what they think makes them the best they can be.
I’m sure most of you read Ensburg’s post over on Phil Franchise’s blog, he mentioned that a lot of times between innings the players are standing around waiting for the commercials to end. Some of it is definitely the players yes, but a lot is also the TV/Radio broadcasts.
i believe fox gets an extra 20 or 30 seconds between inning halves for thier commercials.
Jimmy “what exactly is the Ortiz promotion?”
here
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05.....ref=slogin
i did notice this on the entry form, however:
*Actual athlete to participate in “Call Your Shot” event to be designated by Sponsor and may not be athlete mentioned
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/sweepst.....ref=S00505
Mel:
Do the Yanks have anyone participating in the Derby??? Certainly Arod would have been a suitable candidate, but I don’t believe he’s in it.
Other thing to recognize is that it’s not the Yankees’ game and it’s certianly not the Yankees’ HR Derby. The game is being played in the Stadium, as it should be. The organization will undoubtedly be able to put their own touch on the event, in much the way the Red Sox did with Ted Williams when the game was at Fenway, only on a grander scale given the history of the Stadium. But they aren’t going to have a say in how MLB markets the ASG or the Derby, nor should they.
Fredo,
I know and realize all that. It just tweaks us a little and it certainly not something to storm the Bastille about.
Just imagine the chaos that would occur in Beantown if Alex was doing a promotion with the Green Monster? They’d be dumping beer into the harbor.
“In the home run derby, I think a lot of team passion melts a little bit,†Gibson said.
Yeah that’s true….. for that 3 day all-star break Yankee fans just LOVE to watch David Ortiz highlight video’s.. what a dumb comment
personally i couldnt care it they played the red sox old-timers game at yankee stadium on hr derby day. i dont watch the derby, hell, i barely watch the all-star game. im pretty intensly into watching real games all year and i look forward to a 3-day break from baseball at that point.
saucy
I’m sure that was added in case Ortiz is physically unable to participate so they can substitute another player without being sued by the winner.
Hmph. If Ortiz is the “best choice” for this, then why isn’t he ever considered someone who has a shot at matching Ruth’s record?
At least this will ensure that Yankee fans will not be supporters of State Farm.
This is a stupid promotion that was cooked up by some ad agency who has no care about the game. If they did they would realize the insult this brings to Yankee Stadium.
Probably right, Mel.
Though up there, they’d probably drink all the beer and piss in the harbor.
I doubt the owners are too happy about shorter games. Longer innings mean more beer sales.
Be Ge,
State Farm lost me a long time ago when they didn’t drop their rates. They really lost me with those Torre commercials. Ugh. I mean, really, who surfs with a baseball cap? (although the wheatgrass references are kind of funny).
“Hmph. If Ortiz is the “best choice†for this, then why isn’t he ever considered someone who has a shot at matching Ruth’s record?”
Of what record do you speak????
thanks sauce
It all publicity BS BS BS BS
How did Ortiz make the All star team already????????? BS
“THE FIRE WILLIE WATCH 08″
have you ever seen a manager take so much sh… for being out of 1st place by 3 games
Brandon:
You don’t think there’s just a little bit of carryover sh-t from last September????
All this HR talk got me thinking. For all the talk last year about Alex having a hard time hitting HR #500 because of the pressure of the achievement, Manny has been stalled on #498 for 10 days now.
“How did Ortiz make the All star team already?”
He didn’t. This is for the derby. There’s usually a couple of guys in the derby who didn’t make the AS game.
Is Ortiz going to match The Babe’s Home Run record? Is he even getting close to it? I don’t think so.
Fredo it’s 3 motherfloodpucking games out of 1st place, the sh— that is being talked about is ridiculous, when he gets fired I hope Willy successes Cox in Atlanta, that sure would be payback…
I swear Micheal Kay w/ his words refering to Willie
“Either bang him or keep him”
pat, you’re probably right about that being to cover themselves for a possible Ortiz injury at the time of the derby. it also covers themselves if a torch weilding mob shows up at statefarm headquarters…
so what time should we meet up?
The HR derby is a joke anyway. Celebrates one part of a multi-faceted sport. Baseball dumbed down for the non-fan.
The real Ortiz commercial ??? Yep ….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti7-CKx_W6U
Brandon, Torre took a lot of grief last year and we know how all that played out. This stuff with Randolph is also a carry over from last years complete meltdown. It might not be fair, but this is NY, no easy go in the big apple.
“The HR derby is a joke anyway. Celebrates one part of a multi-faceted sport.”
any different than the slam dunk competition? or whatever they’re doing in hockey nowadays?
Be Ge Burrs:
We talking about Bonds’ records (or Aaron’s and Maris’ if you prefer)?
Brandon, I agree. But you know how this stuff plays. If the team craps out, the manager will take the hit. Willie was Gene Mauch last September and he and the team are doing a lousy job this year.
As much as I like Randolph, he hasn’t handled things well this season. To me, a lot of this is on Minaya. That is not a great roster he put together and he has a lot of commitments to guys who aren’t producing.
But when it all comes down, it’s usually the manager who gets the gas.
i disagree about willie (who i love) he has lost the team. they are squabling at each other in the locker room and have not developed any leaders. at least half of the blame belongs to minaya, but the manager almost always goes first. after what happened last september, something has to change and you cant fire 25 players so you fire the manager. willie knew that was the deal when he signed the contract to manage them.
Be Ge Burrs I’d understand if they were out 12 games but 3 !, they a winning streak away from 1st in the NL as bad as the East is…I mean hey matbe it’s just me, if it’s the comments that he made then that’s another thing, but record wise I don’t get it.
they’re* maybe*
Games need to be played, not enjoyed by fans like some sort of hourly massage. The value is in the game itself, not how long its played. I don’t get this “I wanna sit at the stadium for three hours to get my money’s worth” idea at all! It’s not a shiatsu massage!
Second, faster games may reduce beer sales, but the quicker pace will also likely increase/maintain television viewership, which is almost certainly more profitable than beer sales.
Finally, remember Pete’s post about requiring batters to stay in the box a few months back? I believe he said that rule is being started in the minors to someday be effected in the majors. This may be the first step in that direction.
I’m just going to keep voting for the Yankees in the all-star game – usually I like to vote for the most deserving players regardless of team – but it’s the last year at the stadium, and our players need to be in there – write in votes: Rasner lol
joe t, you dont vote for pitchers, not even as write-ins.
How about a stolen base competition? That might be more interesting. Or a bunting contest? There’s no telling where this exhibition stuff might lead. I agree it’s not much different than the slam-dunk competition, though I don’t watch basketball. The NHL now has regular-season games DECIDED by shoot-outs, which is a travesty. Like calling a game after the 12th inning (to save pitchers’ precious arms) and having a home-run contest decide the outcome. It’s a slippery slope here, folks.
I think Ortiz is the guy chosen to replicate the Babe because he is fat and left-handed…
I agree with Keith. A well-played game is an entity unto itself, a thing of beauty to be cherished. The duration of the experience is beside the point.
Joba will make an appearance on Saturday in a long relief role for 3 innings.
Mussina will have a so-so start and be gone after 4 innings with a high pitch count but with the Yankees holding a 4 run lead.
Farnsworth or Veras will work the 8th inning and Mo will close out the win.
ham fighter – I know – but it’s fun to do anyway. I didn’t think it would let me but it is. Rasner will “narrowly” miss making the AS game with a total of 25 votes (when u need a few million usually right? lol)
kook joe, and i think its great to give raz his props. must be a very ggod time to be Mr. Rasner right about now, eh?
“John
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:32 pm
I think Ortiz is the guy chosen to replicate the Babe because he is fat and left-handed…”
I think it is more to do with the Boston bias going on right now. Think about it though, a man who hasn’t even hit 300 HR’s, and he “replicates” the Babe? Why not Barry Bonds? That wouldn’t bug me as much as a Weiner like Ortiz. How about NO ONE do it. Let the legend be what it is instead of overshadowing the Babe with a much lesser player.
It is also suspicious that Ortiz had his numbers jump so much higher than when he was with the Twinkies. I don’t buy that it was because the Twins wouldn’t let him, do you?
Be Ge Burrs
There isnt a baseball person out there that doesnt at least question Ortiz and PED’s.
IMO the game should be allowed to proceed at it’s own pace. Who wants to see a bunch of umpires running around with stopwatches ? They have their plate full as it is, no need to burdern them with this nonsense. Will Terry Francona be allowed to wear his fleece in the dugout ?
“Not grant “time†to a batter who asks for time once the pitcher has begun his delivery. If the batter leaves the batter’s box without time and the pitcher delivers a pitch, the umpire will call the pitch as if the batter had not left the box.”
I’d like to see if they enforce this rule against Derek Jeter. He steps out more than anyone I’ve ever watched in the batter’s box.
murphydog and Frank Discussion: exactly right. I think about the guys playing in the summer in the hot sun — who wants to rush around in the hot sun? Screw the advertisers. Man I hate people trying to screw with the essence of the game. It’s not football! It cant be confined to a stopwatch!
There are 4 pitchers I quickly think about it that will be affected by this. Dice-K, Mike Mussina, Jamie Moyer and Steve Traschel. I’m all for this!!! i’ve been screaming for years enforce the 12-second rule.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND… what about the postseason? What about the tension of a tough at-bat during the postseason? Are we supposed to just give up that aspect of the game because some advertisers want to get the game in under 2 hours? The more I think about it, the more I hate this!