“Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer.” - Ted Williams
What a game.
My wife and I started watching the Ken Burns documentary “Baseball”. We’re only in the first inning (the documentary is divided up into ten), but are already captivated. It talks about the early beginnings, how it changed over the years, and slowly became the game we know today.
"Baseball is a leisurely game that demands blinding speed, and the only one in which the defense has the ball. It follows the seasons, beginning each year with the fond expectancy of springtime and ending with the hard facts of autumn… ...It is a haunted game in which every player is measured against the ghosts of all who have gone before. Most of all, it is about time and timelessness, speed and grace, failure and loss, imperishable hope--and coming home." - quote from “Baseball”
One of the big complaints I’ve heard over the years is that baseball is a slow game. It takes too long. Nothing happens for long periods of time. My friends, that is the beauty of baseball.
I read an article by Emma Baccellieri (@emmabaccellieri on Twitter) entitled: “MLB Plans to Implement Pace-Of-Play Changes Against Players’ Wishes” that really fired me up. The first sentence says it all: “Over the objections of players, MLB hopes to implement a pitch clock and tighter restrictions on mound visits this season…”
I know what you’re thinking. “Don’t other sports have clocks?” Sure they do. Football has a clock that determines delay of game, about 25 seconds once a referee signals the ball is ready for play. Basketball has a shot clock. Both sports are divided into quarters (football - 15 minutes, basketball - 12 minutes), with a break after the second quarter.
So, wouldn’t a pitch clock speed up baseball like the ones in football and basketball? Not necessarily. As a matter of fact, the clocks in football and basketball really don’t speed up the game either.
As I’ve stated, both football and basketball work off of quarters. So, football and basketball games are only an hour long, right? Hell no.
An average NFL game lasts THREE HOURS AND TWELVE MINUTES. An average NBA game lasts TWO HOURS AND THIRTY MINUTES. You know, short games.
Baseball does not have such time constraints. It is a game where you have as much time as needed in order for one team to win (nine innings standard, with extra innings in case of a tie after the first nine). It is a game of strategy. And it is the longest running sport in our nation’s history.
“But J.P., there is so much time standing around with nothing happening. A pitch clock would speed that up.”
This may come as a surprise to all of you football fans (this is being written during the playoff games), but for a game that runs over three hours, there is only about eleven MINUTES of actual play. So, the next time you are standing out in the cold, wearing face paint and your favorite player’s jersey, just remember that.
Furthermore, a pitch clock would only add a level of pressure that could lead to injuries. There are enough rules that a pitcher has to follow (ever hear of a balk?) that adding a pitch clock would only pressure poorer performance - which can lead to injuries to both the pitcher and the batter. Unless you think the game could use more “wild pitches” . . .
Emma Baccellieri's article points out that the pitch clock has been in use in the minor leagues for awhile. I've seen it. And the clock ALONE is not that bad of an idea. It can help keep the focus of the game for the pitcher. But the big difference between the minor and major league versions is that for the minors there are no penalties if not observed. It's the PENALTIES proposed that, if implemented, will be to the detriment of the players and the game.
I’m with the players on this. Baseball has never been a game of the clock. Don’t change that. Baseball is the only sport where players can’t run out the clock or take a knee. It’s not until that last out that the game ends.
And that is the way it should be.
© Emittravel 2018
