Said Jim Palmer, the Hall-of-Fame pitcher, commenting on a strikeout that was called on a batter who simply failed to be looking at the pitcher when the pitch clock hit the 8th second.
April 2, 2023
"It kind of left an empty feeling, and I’m not even for the Red Sox. I mean, you’re in the stands, you paid all that money..."
"... and your best hitter is called out because he’s looking at the pitcher a second or two too late. I understand why we’re doing it, but boy, it was disappointing."
Said Jim Palmer, the Hall-of-Fame pitcher, commenting on a strikeout that was called on a batter who simply failed to be looking at the pitcher when the pitch clock hit the 8th second.
Said Jim Palmer, the Hall-of-Fame pitcher, commenting on a strikeout that was called on a batter who simply failed to be looking at the pitcher when the pitch clock hit the 8th second.
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It’s been great.
2 hour and 30 minute games.
This is how baseball was until relatively recently.
I've noted that various sports hit their apogee the moment they felt the need to change long standing rules "for the fans". Although, I watched three games this year, and so far, I haven't noticed anything other than a slightly faster game. However, a player called out on strikes or walked on balls because of these rules will probably ruin some games.
The players had a month of spring games to get ready for this.
Several years ago, some energetic people looked at two remarkably similar games, one contemporary and one from the early 80s. Same number of pitches, runs, hits, etc. The newer game was more than half an hour longer. They found that commercials and pitching changes were minor factors in the increase. Fully two-thirds of the increase came from just wasting time.
Players have been quoted that they have to maximize whatever dead time they're allowed, because there is so much more pressure now that they have to prime themselves for each pitch. If left unchecked, eventually the downtime will trend toward eternity. A clock has been tested in the minors, it's worked, and is now being implemented. What's being heard now are the yelps of slow adapters.
Situational awareness is crucial for all of life. In baseball, if you are at the plate, the pitcher may throw the ball at any time. Such as when he gets it back from the catcher, winds up, and whips it back in.
Meanwhile, people ar fine with 3 1/2 hour NFL games. TIME isn't their problem. Few of us can afford to buy 10-game packs, let alone season tickets. Baseball is all about connecting with a team and its players. MLB has totally ruined that with their idiotic media contracts, the result of which is that people have to BUY an expensive media package to watch their team. Anywhere -- home or away. No fan connection with the team, so they don't come out, partly on a whim, to half a dozen home games. Multiplied by 10s of thousands of fans.
All NFL games, by contrast, are available to fans, for free, over the air, so the fans drop 100 bucks a seat to come out to the stadium for the experience.
MLB has alienated all but its most ardent fans. That is not the result of too many pick-off attempts, or a batter stepping out of the box to adjust his nut-cup. Remarkably stupid.
Rafael Devers fouled off a pitch. Then he did all of the following:
1) Turned around and took a little stroll away from the batters box.
2) Adjusted both of his batting gloves.
3) Slowly re-entered the batters box and dug up some dirt.
That's called a human rain delay. The best players don't do things that hurt the team.
No sympathy. Get in the box and get ready. Look at the pitcher. Play the game. It's not hard.
I don't know why they need the 8 second rule for hitters. Just make it that pitchers must deliver after 8 seconds and before 20. If the batter isn't ready, too bad.
That said, no sympathy for him.
I lost contact with major league baseball 30 years ago, and am not coming back. I played baseball until I was almost 45. Would play again if I had a local league of men my age, but I don't.
Batters got into the habit of adjusting their gloves, strolling around the battery's box, digging into the ground or wiping out the chalk lines. The time rules puts an end to this nonsense. Last night's Mariners-Guardians game was 2:04! I haven't seen that quick a game in decades.
The players will get used to the new time clock. No sympathy for that player.
The pitcher can get flustered after taking too long. The fans can try to unnerved him by counting down the clock.
Oh that's so sad, Jim.
rules have to be obeyed. or you don't have rules.
Is the time hidden from the batter?
Not surprised it happened to a Red Sox player; they were reliably one of the most dilatory teams last year.
I have exactly zero sympathy for so-called professionals who are having trouble adapting to what was well-tested at the minor league level, announced before the beginning of the off-season, and in place throughout spring training.
(I still think it's silly they banned the shift but did not swap to the automatic ball/strike system. The shift was a perfectly legitimate tactic against batters who couldn't figure out how to hit the ball the other way, while having umpires continue to miscall the strike zone is just idiotic.)
Clocks have no business in baseball. But go back to day games and the game ends when the street lights come on. And everyone has to be home for dinner.
NFL is a good point. When I was a kid the games were at 1 and 4 on Sunday. Now they are at 1 and 4:30. And no one thinks there is a problem.
Is is a big change, but the players can adapt.
I am old enough I played basketball with no shot clock and no three point line.
Those would have been hard changes for me.
Do they still play base ball? I haven't watched since they quit having fans, back in 2020
So maybe they don't use the clock with two strikes or three balls, so the batter is not called out or walked strictly by the clock, at least for the first year.
Does the strikeout count in the pitcher's stats? or the walk?
It's easier for the umps to call it tight at the beginnings of this new time rule, while players are testing its limits. Much like a schoolteacher imposing strict classroom rules at the start of a new school year, knowing that he/she can relax them later as situations may warrant.
One can always loosen enforcement after "training" to a strict level, but it's really hard to be effective in the reverse order.
"In baseball, if you are at the plate, the pitcher may throw the ball at any time."
Not true. An ump can call a "no pitch" if he feels the batter was not ready for the ball to be thrown. That may happen less often with the new rules but it's still a possibility on every pitch.
No Boston Red Sox player is above the law. To the bottom of the stats with him for 33 counts of Obstruction of Baseball and fraud in score card keeping.
The whole pitching/batting dynamic has changed in the past 30 years. So much more gamesmanship about making the other guy less comfortable than you are. The pitchers have so much better control that most of them can waste three pitches if they get ahead on the count, 0-2. All the attention now given to the pitch count makes complete games a rarity, and assures that the batter is almost always facing a fresh arm. The skills level and athleticism is higher. Let's see if it can stay just as high for a full season with the pitch clock.
The rules of baseball are not written on a stone tablet brought down from Sinai. Personally, I'd like the game more if a walk was 3 balls, and two strikes was a strikeout. I know, I know, sacrilege.
People--the players and the fans--will get used to it, sooner rather than later. The changes that MLB has made will make for a tighter and more entertaining game. It won't be long until fans and players will not view a time violation strike (or ball) as weird and causing "an empty feeling."
There are still folks who bemoan the advent of the designated hitter. Get over it.
Ya' know........some of the charm of the game is the scratchin, the spittin', and the hard stares at the man on first!!
Palmer started 39 games for the 1970 Orioles. Median time of the team's games that year was 2:29.
I am a lifetime Red Sox fan. I love Rafi Devers. He's a great hitter and fun to watch.
I didn't see the game. I can't afford to go to too many games.
The Red Sox are paying Devers $300 Million. Every other player in the game understood the rule, and apparently was able to follow it. Maybe he should have paid more attention.
I do think that the pitch clock will save the game. I might even watch more than an inning or two before switching the channel to something with more action, like...golf.
Sometimes I wonder why the reason that starting pitchers no longer get past the 6th inning is not the number of pitches they throw, but the amount of time they have been throwing. Maybe your arm or your brain or your ability to focus deteriorates after two hours. In the old days a complete game was just over 2 hours. Now it closer to 3 or more.
That "empty feeling" was the wallet of anybody who paid to go to opening day at Fenway (38 degrees and windy, to boot--maybe the umps were just trying to get out of there and into a hot shower).
Sports psychologists have made this necessary. They convinced everyone that they needed a ritual before doing something. So we got Nomar and his wrist nonsense, big papi and his clapping, etc. And the pitchers could be even worse. The result is that it killed the pace of the game and made it boring. The length of the game is not as big deal as the pace. I doubt any fan had an issue watching a 12 inning exciting game.
The pace of baseball is already slow so making it even slower may seem harmless but everyone knows boring when they see it.
Football has not ruined its pacing and is very tuned into maintaining it. When video reviews threatened to slow the game down, they curtailed their use or sped up the review.
It's too bad baseball had to do this but the players don't care about entertainment but rather wins and stats. Hopefully we can all admit that this is a needed improvement.
I remember games in the 1950s that were over in under two hours—routinely.
"All NFL games, by contrast, are available to fans, for free, over the air, so the fans drop 100 bucks a seat to come out to the stadium for the experience."
Not even close to being true. Thursday night games are on Amazon or the NFL Network, and Monday night is on ESPN.
I like the new rules. Clock speeds things up. I also love the no shift rule.
"... and your best hitter is called out because he’s looking at the pitcher a second or two too late. I understand why we’re doing it, but boy, it was disappointing."
That could happen just as easily with no clock involved. I call BS.
And don't compare baseball to football. NFL teams play 17 games over 18 weeks, only half at home. The vast majority of the revenue comes not from attendance but TV. They cater to the networks. Long games mean more revenue to the networks, more advertising revenue. 3+ hours is a feature, not a bug. Fans will even watch games their team is not part of.
Baseball gets much more of their income from attendance...81 home games a year. Ticket sales, food/beverage, parking, all are big part of the revenue. TV and radio isn't much, except for maybe a few large markets like the Yankees and Dodgers. Most fans will only watch or listen to their favorite team. Long boring games don't get people excited enough to go to the park.
may be loud tik-tok effect can help concentrate attention
unforced error
noun
... a missed shot or lost point (as in tennis) that is entirely a result of the player's own blunder and not because of the opponent's skill or effort.
"Not my fault! They changed the rule."
It's too fast.
Baseball has changed so much that the records aren't apples-to-apples anymore.
The big shifts of the past were integration, the DH, and lowering the mound. Other than that, it's been pretty much the same game for the last hundred years.
Basketball and football change every year and you can no longer compare players or teams from past eras.
Baseball has been slowly losing market share to basketball and football in particular. This won't help.
"It’s been great.
2 hour and 30 minute games.
This is how baseball was until relatively recently."
If you love something, don't you want it to last a bit longer?
Sex used to be a quickie in the bushes too, to avoid getting eaten by the sabre tooth tigers.
Was that better?
'That's called a human rain delay. The best players don't do things that hurt the team.'
Under the old rules this wouldn't hurt the team at all.
If he's a better hitter on his own pace that helps the team.
It also helps if the pitcher likes to go fast and this puts him off his game...
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