MLB to announce pace of play rules for 2015

[MentalDisabldLst]

The doom-and-gloom attitude about the decline of baseball is just plain bunk, and there are lots of good articles around the internet showing that baseball's following, and its prognosis, have never been better. It suffers only when compared to the NFL - but so does everything else. There's no shame in being 2nd to that Juggernaut.

these changes are being made, I would assume, without regard for what would theoretically spark otherwise-disinterested people to start following baseball. If I were Manfred and were asking the question of how to improve my on-field product to make it more enjoyable to watch, these are exactly the kinds of changes I would be making. Reduce the time during which nothing is happening, and concentrate the action chronologically. Do so without changing how the game is played when the ball is live - and ideally without reducing the time available for commercials.

viewed through that lens, these changes - to stop coddling players' OCD natures and get them playing ball rather than performing mindless rituals - meets all the criteria. It speeds up the game, which is a good thing *all else being equal*, and it pretty much leaves all else equal except for neurotic and annoying behavior. How "purists" could oppose this Is beyond my understanding, and I imagine it's mostly fueled by overactive nostalgia rather than a rational evaluation of what's being changed.

 

[charlieoscar]

I remember back in the early '70s, sports fans in the DC area saying that they didn't like baseball because the games took too long. Of course, the Senators left town in 1972 so it may have been sour grapes.

 

[RingoOSU]

To clarify, I wasn't even saying baseball is declining. I am just saying there's always attempts to bring in outsiders to anything, and a desire for a bigger audience than you have. And I just feel this is an attempt at that.

 

[8slim]

To clarify, I wasn't even saying baseball is declining. I am just saying there's always attempts to bring in outsiders to anything, and a desire for a bigger audience than you have. And I just feel this is an attempt at that.

 
Agreed, although I'm not sure that THIS is the attempt, per se, but rather a component of a broader initiative.
 
Manfred is on the record as wanting to broaden baseball's appeal to younger demographics and Hispanics/African-Americans, many of whom have gravitated to the NBA in the past two decades.  This is smart.  The age of MLB's fan base is getting dangerously old.
 
I think quickening pace of play is done to (a) improve the on-field product for current fans, and entice them to watch a little more baseball than they already do.  Wring more out of the current fan base, so to speak.  And (b) to create a better on-field product for those that MLB is trying to introduce to the game (the aforementioned younger demos and Hispanics/African-Americans).  Investing a lot of time and money into getting those folks to sample MLB isn't worthwhile if you think the game isn't as good as it can be.  Clearly Manfred thinks improvements need to be made, and IMHO pace of play is an improvement that should appeal to everyone.

 

[8slim]

The doom-and-gloom attitude about the decline of baseball is just plain bunk, and there are lots of good articles around the internet showing that baseball's following, and its prognosis, have never been better. It suffers only when compared to the NFL - but so does everything else. There's no shame in being 2nd to that Juggernaut.

these changes are being made, I would assume, without regard for what would theoretically spark otherwise-disinterested people to start following baseball. If I were Manfred and were asking the question of how to improve my on-field product to make it more enjoyable to watch, these are exactly the kinds of changes I would be making. Reduce the time during which nothing is happening, and concentrate the action chronologically. Do so without changing how the game is played when the ball is live - and ideally without reducing the time available for commercials.

viewed through that lens, these changes - to stop coddling players' OCD natures and get them playing ball rather than performing mindless rituals - meets all the criteria. It speeds up the game, which is a good thing *all else being equal*, and it pretty much leaves all else equal except for neurotic and annoying behavior. How "purists" could oppose this Is beyond my understanding, and I imagine it's mostly fueled by overactive nostalgia rather than a rational evaluation of what's being changed.

 
Kinda.  There are a lot of positive indicators for MLB, but there are three very important challenges it needs to address: 1-an aging fan base, 2-the lack of nationally recognizable stars, and 3-the increasing localization of the game.  I've seen many of the pieces you reference, and I think saying the prognosis has never been better is underestimating the harm those three issues are causing, and could amplify to an even greater degree in the future.

 

[charlieoscar]

 
Kinda.  There are a lot of positive indicators for MLB, but there are three very important challenges it needs to address: 1-an aging fan base, 2-the lack of nationally recognizable stars, and 3-the increasing localization of the game.  I've seen many of the pieces you reference, and I think saying the prognosis has never been better is underestimating the harm those three issues are causing, and could amplify to an even greater degree in the future.

 
When I was growing up in the '50s, basbeall was the game. You played ball. In New Hampshire you started when the snow cleared off the field, usually towards the end of March, and you continued until the snow covered the field, usually some time in October.
 
The NBA wasn't much of a factor until the Bill Russell-Wilt Chamberlain era...late '50s. Until then, the Harlem Globetrotters were probably better known. The 1957-58 NBA season ran from October 22 through March 12 with play-offs taking it to April 12. The 2013-14 season began a week later but ran through April 16 with play-offs continuing through June 12. Network TV coverage was a bit better than that for the NHL. (1953-)
 
The NHL was a 6-team league starting its 70-game schedule from October 6-11 and running through April 10-20 during the 1950's decade. The 2013-14 season ran from October 1 through April 13 with play=offs taking it to Jun 13. Its fandom was pretty much limited to people around the areas of the league's teams. Network TV coverage was limited (1956-).
 
The NFL basically opened their season between September 26 to September 30 and held the championship game between December 23 to December 30. The 2014-15 season ran from September 4 through December 28 and play-offs took the season to February 1.
 
As can be seen, what were once considered secondary or even minor sports back in the '50s are now major sports that overlap baseball's season. Where once you had a game of the week on network TV for basketball and hockey, you now have extensive coverage; where Sunday was NFL game day, it now has games on Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights, Saturdays. Where once kids played catch or had pick-up games; played stick ball or stoop ball, they just might play Little league or more probably get on their computers or watch other sports. Where once this country had home-town heroes playing baseball, it's about an equal chance that the hero comes from another country today. And when the blacks finally got the chance to show they belonged on the field, they soon discovered that it was easier to become famous and rich playing basketball and football.

 

[8slim]

FWIW, MLB is so healthy that apparently the NBA has no fear in potentially stretching its season deeper into summer.

Per Mark Cuban: "Used to be, we had to be concerned about baseball. Now we don't. Baseball, particularly from a media perspective, has become regional, so it doesn't negatively impact us from a national TV perspective to go late."

Ouch.

 

[cromulence]

Mark Cuban says things sometimes. Yawn. Only NBA diehards pay attention to all of the ridiculous marathon that is the playoffs.

 

[JimD]

Is that the same Mark Cuban who has tried several times to become an MLB owner himself?

 

[LesterFan]

Tim Britton @TimBritton

Ortiz didn't hold back on pace of play: "It doesn't matter what they do, the game is not going to speed up." Ortiz called keeping a foot in the box BS. "I'm not going to change my game. I'm going to keep it that way."

 

[nattysez]

 
Tim Britton @TimBritton

Ortiz didn't hold back on pace of play: "It doesn't matter what they do, the game is not going to speed up." Ortiz called keeping a foot in the box BS. "I'm not going to change my game. I'm going to keep it that way."

 

 
In the perfect world, Papi will just get fined $500 per AB for stepping out of the box after a few warnings and he'll eventually get tired of losing $2000 per game.  My concern is that umps will ignore the fact that he's not in the box and give pitchers a chance to quick-pitch him routinely.  That would not end well.   

 

[MentalDisabldLst]

Ortiz's fuller comments are nicely presented by Edes in this article.  Snippet:
 

"When you come out of the box, they don't understand you're thinking about what the [pitcher] is trying to do. This is not like, you go to the plate with an empty mind. No, no, no. When you see a guy, after a pitch, coming out of the box, he's not just doing it. Our minds are speeding up.
 
"I saw one pitch, I come out, I'm thinking, 'What is this guy going to try to do to me next?' I'm not walking around just because there are cameras all over the place and I want my buddies back home to see me and this and that. It doesn't go that way.
 
"When you force a hitter to do that, 70 percent you're out, because you don't have time to think. And the only time you have to think about things is that time. So, I don't know how this baseball game is going to end up.''
 
[asked about $500 fine]
 
"Well, I might run out of money,'' he said. "I'm serious. I'm not going to change my game. I don't care what they say. My game, it's not like I go around and do all kinds of stupid s---. But I have to take my time and think about what that [pitcher] is going to do next. I'm pretty sure every single hitter at this level is on the same page.
 
"They put their rules together, but they don't talk to us, as hitters, how do you feel about this? You know what I'm saying? Why don't you come and ask questions first. And then we can get in an agreement. But then you got to do this just because you say so. Oh buddy, it doesn't work that way. Trust me.''
 
"How about all the pitchers who go around the mound and do all that bulls---,'' Ortiz said. "What about that? Why don't they tell the pitcher, 'Throw the pitch and stay on the mound. Don't move.'
 
"If they're going to do it on us, they should do it on the pitchers, too. We're not the only ones in the game, you know what I'm saying?
 
"How about the guy on the mound who does this, for three hours,'' said Ortiz, launching into an exaggerated parody of a pitcher shaking off multiple signs from a catcher. "I say, 'C'mon man, make a f---ing pitch.' That count? Nobody talks about that, right?
 
"I don't think that's fair. That's the bottom line.''

 
I don't agree with him, but I understand where he's coming from.  I certainly hope they plan to implement the corresponding changes to enforcing pitchers' delivery rates, because otherwise he's right that it's currently not fair to hitters (and offense is down enough as it is).  Once they do, I hope the new arrivals to MLB rosters will become accustomed to this way of play and it will be phased in over the course of time.  And maybe, once they do, he'll come to see it as fair to everyone - both sides now have less time to think between pitches.
 
People who are used to doing things one way rarely want to change for somebody else's reasons (changing for their own reasons, of course, is all fair game).  "that's the way we should do it because we've always done it that way" is a common argument made every day throughout the world.  And it's always dumb and self-defeating and irrational.  I have little hope that Ortiz, a revered veteran, will change his point of view - but after a few years, the number of people with standing among the players who criticize this will diminish as people go off and retire, and new people come up who are used to it.  That's the way of the world.

 

[dynomite]

I would be interested to time Papi's time between pitches from '04 (when average games were 25 mins shorter than they are now) and from '14 and see if there's any difference, and compare it to the rest of the team in both seasons.

Is there a way to do that?

 

[charlieoscar]

I would be interested to time Papi's time between pitches from '04 (when average games were 25 mins shorter than they are now) and from '14 and see if there's any difference, and compare it to the rest of the team in both seasons.

Is there a way to do that?

 
Pitchf/x would have the information but it doesn't go back to 2004. His pitches per plate appearance were almost identical for those two years. 

 

[nattysez]

From Ken Rosenthal's Twitter feed:
 

David Ortiz said today he “might run out of money” due to fines for stepping out of the box. Fines, however, are not only possible penalty..
According to sources, a player can be suspended for just cause on his sixth offense if he displays “willful disregard” of the rule…
First violation results in a warning, next four triggers a series of progressive fines. Length of possible suspension is not specified.
 

 

[geoduck no quahog]

"How about all the pitchers who go around the mound and do all that bulls---,'' Ortiz said. "What about that? Why don't they tell the pitcher, 'Throw the pitch and stay on the mound. Don't move.'
 
"If they're going to do it on us, they should do it on the pitchers, too. We're not the only ones in the game, you know what I'm saying?
 
"How about the guy on the mound who does this, for three hours,'' said Ortiz, launching into an exaggerated parody of a pitcher shaking off multiple signs from a catcher. "I say, 'C'mon man, make a f---ing pitch.' That count? Nobody talks about that, right?
 

 
Bingo.
 
It's the fucking pitchers, not the hitters.
 
It's not only the pitchers who take a 3 mile walk around the mound after every throwback, but also the ones who try to make the batter uncomfortable by holding the ball long enough for the hitter's routine to be blown. 
 
As I said earlier in the thread, this is completely misdirected. It's the batter who has a 90 mph pea being thrown at him and it's the pitcher who has complete control of the situation. Fucking with the hitters is backwards.

 

[geoduck no quahog]

Is this rule still valid for the major leagues? (I found it on another site)
 

8.04
When the bases are unoccupied, the pitcher shall deliver the ball to the batter within 12 seconds after he receives the ball. Each time the pitcher delays the game by violating this rule, the umpire shall call Ball. The 12-second timing starts when the pitcher is in possession of the ball and the batter is in the box, alert to the pitcher. The timing stops when the pitcher releases the ball.
 
The intent of this rule is to avoid unnecessary delays. The umpire shall insist that the catcher return the ball promptly to the pitcher, and that the pitcher take his position on the rubber promptly. Obvious delay by the pitcher should instantly be penalized by the umpire.
 

 

Also - how about this for pace of play:
 
"If a runner reaches a base before the ball leaves the hand of a pitcher who throws to that base, a ball shall be called against that pitcher" , because that's another delay of game schtick - needlessly throwing over to first base.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

 

 
Bingo.
 
It's the fucking pitchers, not the hitters.
 
It's not only the pitchers who take a 3 mile walk around the mound after every throwback, but also the ones who try to make the batter uncomfortable by holding the ball long enough for the hitter's routine to be blown. 
 
As I said earlier in the thread, this is completely misdirected. It's the batter who has a 90 mph pea being thrown at him and it's the pitcher who has complete control of the situation. Fucking with the hitters is backwards.

 

 
Actually, it's both.

 

[8slim]

 
Actually, it's both.

 
Exactly.  There's plenty of blame to go around.
 
And of course there's more than just pitchers and hitter taking a long time.  There's the incessant pitching changes that grind the game to a halt, and the umps simply not moving the game along.
 
Lots of areas from which to nibble a minute here and a minute there

 

[Darnell's Son]

Ortiz's fuller comments are nicely presented by Edes in this article.  Snippet:
 
 
 
 
I don't agree with him, but I understand where he's coming from.  I certainly hope they plan to implement the corresponding changes to enforcing pitchers' delivery rates, because otherwise he's right that it's currently not fair to hitters (and offense is down enough as it is).  Once they do, I hope the new arrivals to MLB rosters will become accustomed to this way of play and it will be phased in over the course of time.  And maybe, once they do, he'll come to see it as fair to everyone - both sides now have less time to think between pitches.
 
People who are used to doing things one way rarely want to change for somebody else's reasons (changing for their own reasons, of course, is all fair game).  "that's the way we should do it because we've always done it that way" is a common argument made every day throughout the world.  And it's always dumb and self-defeating and irrational.  I have little hope that Ortiz, a revered veteran, will change his point of view - but after a few years, the number of people with standing among the players who criticize this will diminish as people go off and retire, and new people come up who are used to it.  That's the way of the world.

 
In an interview with Dan Roche today, Papi said that it's going to be the "beginning of a war". I'm wondering if the players are against this and he's using his soapbox to fight against it, not just for himself, but for everyone else. I'm not defending him at all, I kind of think he sounds like a baby, but it makes sense to me.

 

[MentalDisabldLst]

What don't you agree with him on, exactly?

 
He's undervaluing the positives of having a shorter game overall, with less idle downtime during innings, because his contract is a fixed dollar amount and he has no understanding of, or interest in, the business side or the long-term trends for the sport.
 
He's overvaluing the idea that having 20 seconds and a light stroll between pitches dramatically improves his ability to anticipate a pitcher's approach (relative to having, say, 10 seconds and a foot in the box).
 
He's ignoring that the changes they tried in the AFL involved both hitters and pitchers, and that once done, there would be a level playing field.
 
He's ignoring that there are already rules in the books (that now they're actually going to enforce), his union has agreed to this, and while MLB consulting him would be nice, it's not really necessary.
 
But I do agree that it's a little unfair to start with the hitters and do the pitchers later.  And I get that all people - and especially pro athletes - are creatures of habit and resistant to change.  So I have no problem with the frustrated tone and sarcastic jabs.  I just think he's wrong when looking at the broader picture.  This will be a good thing for baseball once everyone gets with the program.

 

[Matt Young's Control]

An article in today's Globe talks about moves the Red Sox are making to appeal to young fans. This is not specifically about pace of game, but it contains a little bit of data regarding the ongoing concerns of MLB:
 
http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/style/2015/03/11/you-build-will-they-come-with-youth-interest-baseball-waning-red-sox-are-giving-kids-free-tickets/tc8EgGqaJIus3OTAV5hrKL/story.html
 

 
The Sox’ newly expanded “Calling All Kids” promotion comes at an unsettling time for the sport. A recent list of the Top 30 most-admired athletes doesn’t include an active Major League Baseball player. The game is facing competition not just from other sports, but from PlayStation, Xbox, and apps. And the television audience for the World Series skews about a 12 years older than the Super Bowl crowd, according to Brad Adgate, director of research for Horizon Media, a New York-based research firm.

 

 

[charlieoscar]

Pimping home runs? They're going to have a pitch clock so why not use it to time home run trots? A player gets X seconds to circle the bases. The time expires, the player gets the last base he reached. According to Tater Trots tracker, the average time is about 22 seconds. Ortiz has five of the top 10 slowest times (over 30 seconds) from 2010, on (excluding two times that included injuries). I only mention this because Ortiz has said he has the right to pimp his home runs.

 

[CarolinaBeerGuy]

I'm okay with that. Tater Tots Tracker starts the clock at the moment the bat contacts the ball. They could give them 20 seconds to round the bases from the time the umpire signals that it's a home run. If they can't finish their trot by then, they go back to third. You have time to pimp your home run and then start jogging once the signal is given. 

 

[OfTheCarmen]

Not to derail the thread too much but I've always been annoyed by the double standard pitchers seem to have about batters "showing them up" after a big hit, but thinking nothing of huge fist pumps, shooting arrows into the sky, screaming as they come of the mound after a big inning.
 
Granted that takes up a lot less time in the game (to bring it back to topic), but it just always irked me.

 

[tims4wins]

Not to derail the thread too much but I've always been annoyed by the double standard pitchers seem to have about batters "showing them up" after a big hit, but thinking nothing of huge fist pumps, shooting arrows into the sky, screaming as they come of the mound after a big inning.
 
Granted that takes up a lot less time in the game (to bring it back to topic), but it just always irked me.

 
Yes. And because fuck this guy
 

 

[geoduck no quahog]

A pitcher who throws to a base: if the runner is touching the base at the time the pitcher releases the ball, the runner shall be granted the next base.
 
This would be designed against the somewhat rare instances where the stall is on for a relief warm-up. A runner would have the option to eliminate his lead knowing that the pitcher had a maximum amount of time to throw a pitch to the plate. Might add a little strategy to the game, with a big slow guy standing on first solely to force the pitcher to throw to the next batter before a preferred matchup could be brought in. 

 

[OfTheCarmen]

While listening to the game yesterday, the announcers mentioned "bluff throws" to various bases a few times. 
 
I thought I remembered some new rule about if the runner is back to his base before the pitcher throws the ball, that the runner would then get the next base.  Not sure if I'm misremembering or if it doesnt apply if no throw is made.  Am I crazy, or are they already ignoring rules like the 12 second pitch rule that was completely ignored since it was written?
 
I'll happily be wrong, it just kind of stuck out to me while listening.
 
Edit - This also assumes the runners went fully back to their bases on said "bluffs".

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

That sounds familiar but I can't find it.
 
They did do away with the "fake to 3rd, throw to 1st" move that never worked, before last year

 

[Plympton91]

Eliminate the pitches thrown when the manager orders an intentional walk; that always takes way longer than it is supposed to take. When the manager holds up 4 fingers, the batter takes first base.

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

And take away the chances of something like this happening?  No way.
 

 

[cromulence]

I take something like this as a sign that things are headed in the right direction. Eventually the players will get used to it and we'll be free from leisurely strolls around the plate between every pitch. I love it.

 

[soxhop411]

10 warning letters so far
 

Major League Baseball has started sending written warnings to players who have violated the new pace of game rules. MLB spokesman Michael Teeven said Wednesday about 10 letters had been sent since the start of the season last weekend.
 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/mlb-has-already-issued-about-10-pace-of-play-warnings-185155600.html

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

Nice.  I wonder if his coach motioned him back in or if the ump said something

 

[charlieoscar]

10 warning letters so far
 
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/mlb-has-already-issued-about-10-pace-of-play-warnings-185155600.html

 
Game against Detroit near the end of spring training and Jose Iglesias left the box completely after every pitch.

 

[HriniakPosterChild]

10 warning letters so far
 
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/mlb-has-already-issued-about-10-pace-of-play-warnings-185155600.html

 
But were the letters sternly worded?

 

[kobayashis bail bonds]

DJ Gallo overreacts to the length of the 19 inning game the other day in a column for the Guardian.
 

It’s time to end extra innings.
On Friday night, six nights into the first season under new baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, the man who has vowed to speed up the pace of the national pastime, the Red Sox and Yankees played a 6-hour, 49-minute baseball game that ended at 2.13am.
It was not fun. It was not amusing. It was not entertaining. I am a baseball fan and I hate extra innings. I know I’m not the only one.
 

 
Among the biggest issues in baseball in 2015 are: pace of play, making sure the game is entertaining for a younger generation and pitcher injuries. Extra inning games are long, boring and force pitchers to throw far more innings than they should. That’s three strikes. Baseball is supposedly the three-strikes-and-you’re-out sport, no?
So let’s get rid of extra innings. If MLB wants to play one extra inning, or even two extra innings, fine. Go for it. Do your 10th and 11th innings and if the game is still tied after that, it’s a tie. Or settle it NHL shootout-style with a quick home run derby. Just please put these miserably long baseball games out of their misery. We don’t want to watch them and players probably don’t want to play in them.
 

 
I'm no retrosheet expert, but if I'm reading this right, of the 2430 regular season games played last year, 88 went more than 11 innings. 46 went more than 12.  2 games went above 16 innings. Hopefully no one else is banging the "end extra innings" drum, because it strikes me as a solution to a problem that doesn't really exist.  But given sheer amount of strange thinking about the game these days (like Cafardo and the "ban shifts" brigade), I thought it was just worth mentioning that this sort of thinking is out there (in every sense of the term). 
 
Edit: Not sure if this was the right place for this.  Apologies if it is covered elsewhere.

 

[MentalDisabldLst]

I agree with you, KBB, that changes to extra innings are probably unnecessary (though I agree with Nate Silver that the NHL ought to revisit its overtime/loser-point rules).  Likewise for banning shifts.
 
But the pace-of-play rules are a solution to a definite, measurable problem, and one where the solution improves rather than harms the entertainment factor for the paying audience.

 

[HriniakPosterChild]

Effort to Speed Up Games Makes Progress Quickly
 

If the early returns are any indication, the much-debated solution to baseball’s ever-increasing game lengths may have come in the form of a digital clock in the outfield counting down until the start of the next inning. It is a solution that is simple in concept and execution, and so far, it is working.
 
***
 

As for the clocks that count down the time between innings — probably the biggest visual change for fans — players seemed to view them in a positive light.
 
“It’s actually really nice to know when I need to be ready,” Mark Teixeira of the Yankees said. “In that regard, I really like the clock.”
 
McCann said the clock had the largest influence on him of any of the changes because letting it run down too much could limit the number of warm-ups for his pitcher.
 
“I try to get out there quicker,” McCann said. “I want my pitchers to get all their pitches. That part of it I have sped up, putting my gear on and running out there.”
 
***
 
Justin Smoak, a first baseman for Toronto, said the clock had not affected him because he would not know where to find it.
 
“No, never,” Smoak responded when asked if he had noticed the clock. “I couldn’t even tell you where it was last night. I have no clue.”

 

 

 

[kobayashis bail bonds]

Agreed, MentalDisabldList, especially on this point: "But the pace-of-play rules are a solution to a definite, measurable problem, and one where the solution improves rather than harms the entertainment factor for the paying audience." 
 
I don't intend to suggest that all pace-of-play rules are loopy.  Rather I only intend to point out Gallo's "ban extra innings!" solution addresses a different kind of problem, and *that's* problem that may barely exist.

 

[Merkle's Boner]

I went to my first game Wednesday afternoon. I was watching how the pitchers handled the between innings clock. They were done every time with between 10 and 20 seconds to spare and were simply waiting for the umpire to tell them they could start pitching once the clock struck zero. Much ado about nothing it would seem to me.

 

[Plympton91]

DJ Gallo overreactsto the length of the 19 inning game the other day in a column for the Guardian.
 

To me, that seems like a parody article mocking the new pace of play rules.

 

[cromulence]

I went to my first game Wednesday afternoon. I was watching how the pitchers handled the between innings clock. They were done every time with between 10 and 20 seconds to spare and were simply waiting for the umpire to tell them they could start pitching once the clock struck zero. Much ado about nothing it would seem to me.

 
How can you say that with such certainty? Did you sit there and time the break between innings before this season and compare it to how long it is now? The fact that the pitchers are ready to throw the first pitch with time to spare indicates to me that they're moving more quickly and the innings are starting when they should, not that the clock isn't doing anything.

 

[glennhoffmania]

Have commercial breaks been shortened? How often do they return from a commercial break and pitchers are still throwing warm up pitches?  The delay between innings has always been and always will be dictated by commercials, not pitchers taking too long to throw their eight warm up pitches.

 

[NortheasternPJ]

If MLB would just suspend Buchholz for the season they cut 3 minutes off the average game league wide.

 

[cromulence]

Have commercial breaks been shortened? How often do they return from a commercial break and pitchers are still throwing warm up pitches?  The delay between innings has always been and always will be dictated by commercials, not pitchers taking too long to throw their eight warm up pitches.

 
They used to do it all the time, because pitchers knew that they had their eight pitches and it didn't matter if they hustled or not. Now, if they move their ass they can throw some extra warm-ups, so they're getting out there more quickly.

 

[OfTheCarmen]

They can get more than their 8 pitches as long as they get them done before the break is over?

 

[glennhoffmania]

No.  That's why it's total nonsense.  It's all based on the commercial break.

 

[cromulence]

They can get more than their 8 pitches as long as they get them done before the break is over?

 
I don't have a definite source but I heard it being discussed the other night when Tanaka was pitching and had to sit for a long time between innings. They were saying that if he hustled out there immediately, he could get some extra warmups in with the new rule. There's also this quote from McCann, which doesn't exactly say that this is case, but it seems like the clock is what's important now and not the number of warmups:
 

McCann said the clock had the largest influence on him of any of the changes because letting it run down too much could limit the number of warm-ups for his pitcher.
“I try to get out there quicker,” McCann said. “I want my pitchers to get all their pitches. That part of it I have sped up, putting my gear on and running out there.”
 

 

[glennhoffmania]

Rule 8.03: Pitcher Warm-Up

 

When a pitcher takes his position at the beginning of each inning, or when he relieves another pitcher, he shall be permitted to pitch not to exceed eight preparatory pitches to his catcher during which play shall be suspended. A league by its own action may limit the number of preparatory pitches to less than eight preparatory pitches. Such preparatory pitches shall not consume more than one minute of time. If a sudden emergency causes a pitcher to be summoned into the game without any opportunity to warm up, the umpire-in-chief shall allow him as many pitches as the umpire deems necessary.