Three thoughts on the pitch clock

[jabba72]

Im fine with it.

I struggle to get through 9 inning games watching on tv, so this should help me quite a bit. 30 seconds between every pitch isnt good for the game IMO. 

[interloper]

16 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

It’s wonderful. 

If you want it to be 20 instead of 15, that’s fine. It won’t really hurt the length of the game imo.

But it’s awesome overall. Taking away 30 min of nothing is fantastic.

Yeah I think 20 is where I'd like to see it eventually. Like I said in the OP, I do think I like it, it's just feels a tad too rushed to me. But I also think check back with me in June and my brain will probably have adjusted. 

[emmett16]

17 hours ago, Sanfran327 said:

Good points. Personally, I am annoyed that MLB is more concerned about making baseball more attractive to non-fans than hardcore fans. Your #1 is an absolutely valid non-competitive, cultural concern. The occasional stare-down, request for a timeout, or stepping off the rubber by the pitcher, all of those little games that go on between the pitcher and the batter during an AB are potentially out the window now. This is a bigger deal than simply making sure guys hustle.

What happens when the hardcore fans all die and then there are no fans left?  I like the pace of play rules.  Long overdo.   Look - I like baseball more than most people, but it’s a damn boring game if not played with pace.  

[jamalshw]

I'm definitely going to need time to adjust. If only MASN would broadcast more spring games to help in that process....but that's a different point for a different thread. 

Will I still watch? Of course. So these changes aren't for me. I was watching and will still watch. They're trying to get people that weren't watching (or were just checking in here and there) and that makes sense. For the game to grow and continue to thrive that's needed. I get it. 

All that said, it will at the very least change how I consume baseball. I enjoyed being able to get up and get the kids to bed or get something from the kitchen and not miss too much. That's not happening anymore. When I attended games in person, I enjoyed being able to explore the stadium and see the atmosphere (particularly when I was in a new stadium) throughout the park. That exploring will be relegated to pregame and not during the game as rather than missing an inning and a half walking around the concourse, I'm now going to be missing 2-3 innings. Obviously, the impact is less for stadiums with an open concourse, but still...

Overall, I get the changes and I get that the results are good for the game and I'm an anomaly that enjoys spending as much time as possible at the stadium. I have no problem with 3:30+ games and no problem with 18 inning games before the runner at 2B rule. But, again, it's not about me. 

[vab]

I think the changes are fine overall but I'll be very interested to see how it effects the back-end relievers. A lot of those guys are max-effort types who take a long time between pitches. I think we may see some of that nasty stuff tick down when they're forced to adhere to the clock - more blown saves.  

[btdart20]

Definitely pros/cons with the pitch clock.  In general, I like it.  But at the nuanced level, it's definitely a change.  

Aberdeen had the pitch clock last year.  I went to a game and we sat on the 1B line on the rail.  With young kids, I made sure to pay attention for line drive foul balls.  It was engaging from a game play perspective but left less down time to relax between pitches.  But in person, I didn't feel like it was that different.  I didn't even know about it until a few innings into the game when I started realizing it wasn't my kids I was feeling but the quickened pace.

I remember in the 90's watching Randy Myers close out games.  The absolute worst experience on God's green earth!  No early work/class schedule was sacred just wanting to see if the O's could hold on!  A half inning of baseball could take 30-45+ minutes!  Walking around the mound after each pitch, rosin bags, always deep counts...  I'll take a pitch clock over any iteration of that slo-mo nonsense.

I can see the specifics to the pitch clock rules being tweaked over the next few years.  Shorter, longer, cat/mouse between hitter/pitcher, etc.  

[Moose Milligan]

13 hours ago, Jagwar said:

Could you imagine the complete chaos that would ensue if Aaron Judge gets called out on strikes to end the World Series because he couldn't get ready for a pitch in time? Or Devers? I'd pop pocorn and read the meltdown on SoSH with glee. 

(of course, I'd hate it if it were an Oriole)

My God that would be awesome.  I'd love that.  

[deward]

17 minutes ago, jamalshw said:

I'm definitely going to need time to adjust. If only MASN would broadcast more spring games to help in that process....but that's a different point for a different thread. 

Will I still watch? Of course. So these changes aren't for me. I was watching and will still watch. They're trying to get people that weren't watching (or were just checking in here and there) and that makes sense. For the game to grow and continue to thrive that's needed. I get it. 

All that said, it will at the very least change how I consume baseball. I enjoyed being able to get up and get the kids to bed or get something from the kitchen and not miss too much. That's not happening anymore. When I attended games in person, I enjoyed being able to explore the stadium and see the atmosphere (particularly when I was in a new stadium) throughout the park. That exploring will be relegated to pregame and not during the game as rather than missing an inning and a half walking around the concourse, I'm now going to be missing 2-3 innings. Obviously, the impact is less for stadiums with an open concourse, but still...

Overall, I get the changes and I get that the results are good for the game and I'm an anomaly that enjoys spending as much time as possible at the stadium. I have no problem with 3:30+ games and no problem with 18 inning games before the runner at 2B rule. But, again, it's not about me. 

I get it too, but that doesn't mean I won't miss some aspects of how things were. I think those of us who came of age in our fandom in the 80s and 90s are definitely losing something that we're accustomed to. Change may be inevitable, and sometimes necessary, but it always comes at a cost. 

[RVAOsFan]

35 minutes ago, jamalshw said:

I'm definitely going to need time to adjust. If only MASN would broadcast more spring games to help in that process....but that's a different point for a different thread. 

Will I still watch? Of course. So these changes aren't for me. I was watching and will still watch. They're trying to get people that weren't watching (or were just checking in here and there) and that makes sense. For the game to grow and continue to thrive that's needed. I get it. 

All that said, it will at the very least change how I consume baseball. I enjoyed being able to get up and get the kids to bed or get something from the kitchen and not miss too much. That's not happening anymore. When I attended games in person, I enjoyed being able to explore the stadium and see the atmosphere (particularly when I was in a new stadium) throughout the park. That exploring will be relegated to pregame and not during the game as rather than missing an inning and a half walking around the concourse, I'm now going to be missing 2-3 innings. Obviously, the impact is less for stadiums with an open concourse, but still...

Overall, I get the changes and I get that the results are good for the game and I'm an anomaly that enjoys spending as much time as possible at the stadium. I have no problem with 3:30+ games and no problem with 18 inning games before the runner at 2B rule. But, again, it's not about me. 

Someone else posted in this thread about how great this would be for young families.  I read that and immediately thought, this person does not have a young family.  I am going to miss half the game every night for my kids bedtime routine haha. 

[deward]

13 hours ago, Frobby said:

I don’t like to admit that the late 70’s weren’t 30 years ago.  This is a thing that happens when you get older.   You always underestimate how long ago things happened.  

I figured it was something like that. In my head, the 90s are permanently fixed as "ten years ago".

[Just Regular]

On the passage of time, I'd watch more Orioles Classics if MASN would show say all 162 games from 1983 to mark the 40th anniversary of our last champs.

That would hold a little more interest for me nostalgically than any random Matt Wieters walk off against the Phillies, which seems to be about every 4th one.

Here's Game 1 - George Brett kicking Dennis Martinez and Storm Davis's butts, as 1982's lead dog got his very bad 5+ ERA season under way.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL198304040.shtml

The clock will help the product, but it does change baseball's special place as "the sport without a clock".

[Gofannon]

Here is Game 5 of the '83 World Series, 40 years ago.  Watch McGregor pitch.  Truth be told, watch Charlie Hudson pitch.  Nothing wrong with this pace of play as far as I'm concerned.

I mean, they used to be able to start game times at 7:35 back then because you could still end it by 10:00.
 

 

[orioles119]

I hate it and it's stupid to put a clock on a game that doesn't have one.

#getoffmylawn

[orioles119]

14 hours ago, rm5678 said:

They're already doing that with the extra-innings "ghost" runner.

The ghost-runner needs to go too.  It was warranted during the pandemic season, but now?  It needs to go.

[Tony-OH]

17 hours ago, Jagwar said:

Personally I can't wait until the World Series ends on a called strike three because a batter didn't get ready in time. 

As terrible as that sounds, if a batter was not used to the clock by that point, then he's probably not smart enough to be in that moment anyways. 

Saying that, I do think they should have two manager called "clock resets" per game. That way if the clock is about to expire and the pitcher loses his concentration for a second, a manager has a chance to call it before it runs out and the pitcher gets charged with ball or balk.