And here’s the pitch, now the catcher throws the ball back to the pitcher and the countdown begins.

Major League Baseball is unleashing the pitch clock in 2023 with the hopes of speeding up the pace and duration of the game. I for one, am ok with this move, while baseball purists hate this, but those same purists seem to hate everything new, and probably would be fine with the game dying along with them.

What are the new clock rules? Pitchers have 15 seconds with bases empty, and 20 seconds with a runner on base, to deliver the baseball. The hitters must be in the batter’s box and facing the pitcher with no less than eight seconds remaining on the clock. The minor leagues have been using the pitch clock rules for years, and so many young players have adapted to these constraints.

So far this spring, the games seem to be around 10-12% faster, while the pace of play is increased averaging around 2 1/2 hours per contest.

I don’t see why anyone would object to a baseball game ending before three to four hours? NFL football games last around three hours but they are only played once a week. As long as fans are getting the full 9 innings, I fully support the game being sped up. After all, they play 162 games a season for goodness sake!

Baseball was once America’s past time but the NFL has most likely claimed that due to the obsession fans have with that league, even world wide now. Major League Baseball will never be able to provide the continuous action that other sports provide but, speeding up the game can’t hurt. It still takes 27 outs to win a game so let’s play ball!

-Ed In Columbus

@Ed_In_Columbus

*Photo courtesy of The Wall Street Journal*