Play ball - more quickly! New rules aim to speed MLB games
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[March 30, 2023]
By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Larger bases, a pitch clock and the elimination
of the infield shift await fans as Major League Baseball (MLB) kicks
off its regular season on Thursday with new rules designed to speed
up games and put more balls in play.
It marks the biggest collection of changes to America's "national
pasttime" since Alexander Cartwright pioneered the sport in the
1800s and established a basic rubric that governs the game in
ballparks across the country decades later.
"It's the best game in the world - now, it's even better," declares
"Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston in a new MLB ad campaign, part of
the league's charm offensive to get baseball purists to embrace
change.
"This is the game we all want to see," he says. "Get the ball, pitch
the ball."
For some players, it hasn't been quite so simple.
Atlanta Braves shortstop Cal Conley was left in disbelief after a
umpire called strike three on him for a clock violation last month,
ending a spring training game against the Boston Red Sox in the
bottom of the ninth inning with bases loaded.
The new rule gives the pitcher 15 seconds in between pitches with
the bases empty and 20 seconds with runners on base. Hitters must be
in the batters box with no less than eight seconds left on the
timer, and there is a 30-second limit between batters - all changes
designed to quicken play.
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Others have taken to the new rules that were extensively tested in
the minor leagues with ease.
"We've been game-planning this for basically a year now. We knew
it's coming," New York Mets' eight-time All-Star ace Max Scherzer
said during a televised interview. "The pitcher has complete control
of the situation and dictates the pace now."
Another major change - outlawing the shift - will allow for more
hits, making games more exciting for fans. With two infielders
required on either side of second base, left-handed batters in
particular may no longer see their best attempts absorbed by a wall
of defenders, likely inflating batting averages.
The larger bases are intended to promote more base stealing, an
exciting aspect of the game that has grown increasingly rare.
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![](../images/033023PIX/sports32.jpg)
Glendale, AZ, USA; Baseball commissioner
Robert D. Manfred, Jr. answers questions from the media during
spring training media day at the Glendale Civic Center. Jayne
Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
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'BIG DIFFERENCE'
The changes reflect a years-long campaign by MLB Commissioner Rob
Manfred to speed things up amid concerns that fans - particularly
the younger generation - have grown bored of the bloated length of
game.
In 2003, the average time of a nine-inning game was two hours and 46
minutes, according to Elias Sports Bureau. By 2022, fans could
expect an average time of three hours and three minutes across nine
innings.
"If you're a spectator, the game will not go four hours," said
baseball historian Peter Golenbock. "It makes a big difference to
all the people who are leaving to buck the traffic in the seventh
inning because it's midnight."
The author of "Whispers of the Gods: Tales from Baseball’s Golden
Age, Told by the Men Who Played It" told Reuters that the rule
changes would bring the sport closer to its heyday, when the pace
was quicker.
An MLB memo obtained by Reuters last week showed the pitch clock was
already having its intended effect.
After slightly less than a month of spring training games, the
average game time had dropped 25 minutes from the previous year,
according to a document from Senior Vice President of On-Field
Operations Michael Hill.
The average number of violations per game also dropped from 2.03 in
the first week to 1.03 by mid-March.
"You don't want to be playing with your gloves and adjusting your
hat and have the umpire scream strike one because you didn't get in
the box. You'll do that once," said Golenbock.
"I guarantee you, you're not gonna do it twice."
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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