what happened to...major league baseball

03/25/2023

Pitch clock is set to radically change the game of baseball, for the better.

Baseball is not known for being a speedy sport. It’s long play-times hardly make the sport entertaining as it usually drags on past the three hour mark and can even labour onto four hours. Even for a baseball fan, someone who can tolerate the grinding pace of the game, it can often be hard to make it through an entire MLB game without avoiding the urge to make a grilled cheese sandwich between pitches, or simply leave. For those that aren’t familiar with the game of baseball, pitchers can usually take an unusually long amount of time between pitches, as they often mosy around the mound, stretch their arms, maybe even sing the tune to their favourite song. Batteries aren’t speedy out there either nor do they help the cause of speeding up the game, as their ritual includes taking batting gloves on and off, slamming their bat into the ground, and interpreting signs from the dugout. MLB’s introduction of the pitch clock, a new rule that sets the time in between pitches at 15 seconds when men aren’t on base and 20 with a man on.

Pitch clock is not only set to change these sacred rituals of our beloved MLB players, but speed up game speed which would make the game more accessible to casual sports fans. Whenever I mention I’m a baseball fan to any of my friends, they meet me with a snarky look and a “how could you even watch that,” it’s the slowest, most boring game on this earth. Many would rather look at paint dry or do any activity other than watch this game that drags on and on, for over 3 hours. There’s a reason why movies are usually produced between an hour and a half and two because anything longer would not fly with our attention spans nowadays. Pitch clock could finally be the difference. Game time in MLB’s spring training has dwindled from an average of just over three hours to 2 hours and 39 minutes, a 12% decrease which was left fans and MLB executives ecstatic for the potential of the game, obtaining new viewership, and ultimately, inevitably, higher revenue deals from huge TV deals. Among players, however, the pitch clock has been anything but welcome.

Padre Third Baseman, Manny Machado, committed the league’s first pitch clock violation in a spring training game against the Seattle Mariners, which resulted in an automatic strike being called against him. Machado didn’t have his foot in the box when the clock dwindled down, and claimed it messed up his flow as a major league veteran. There’s even an endurance aspect for pitchers, who in the past could spend as long as they want between pitches, usually enough time to go for a quick jog around your kitchen or complete a set of reps of your favourite exercise, who will quickly tire from the increased pace. A new strategy, certainly, has been brought into the game for years to come.

GAME WINNER? OR GAME ENDER?

Another funny moment occurred when the pitch clock ended the first Major League game. A batter was given an automatic strike 4 for not being set by the eight second mark on the clock, which ended the game — with the bases loaded — between the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves. Players, be ready, or the pitch clock, rather than strike three, can end your season.

Overall, the pitch clock is a long overdue and necessary addition to Major League Baseball for them to compete with the faster paced and certainly more entertaining NBA, NHL and NFL leagues. NBA and NHL games typically last around 2 and a half hours, with the NFL being an outlier at well over three hours most games. However, there’s only one sunday every week compared to seven Blue Jays baseball games in the average week, which was far too many at the usual game time, for fans to swallow. The change opens up wide avenues for new, younger fans to get involved in the game, root their favourite team on, and even bond with their older uncles and grandparents who could most definitely be found enjoying the sport here or there. For Torontonians, there's no better time to get involved with the sport and become a fan as the Blue Jays made some huge offseason acquisitions, bolstering their defense in the outfield and pitching staff, to become a widely accepted contender going into this season.

Nonetheless, the biggest change from last year was not the additions of Bassitt and Swanson, Varshao and Kiermaier, or the departures of Hernandez and Gurriel, Moreno and Tapia, but the pitch clock, ever so slightly visible on your scoreboard, whose regulations will be more impactful on the game than any of these players skill sets.

Curling, you’re on deck. What do you have in store?

PS — Sponsored Content

Want to see Shohei Ohtani smack bombs for his hometown teams against sub par pitching? Enjoy the MLB all-star game and want to see the MLB’s best suit up for the United States of America? Look no further than the World Baseball Classic, where you can see the Canadians score eighteen runs against the British before getting pounded by a score of 12-1 against our neighbors down south. Some of MLB fans favorites, including Trout, Acuna, Ohtani, and Rodrigues were in action in the World Baseball Classic, this March.

By the time you’re reading this, the United “All-Star” States Team might have already taken home the crown.

Never thought you’d see these two playing on the same team…

Mike Trout (right) and Mookie Betts (left) pictured high fiving each other at the World baseball Classic.

Cedric Mullins, pictured behind.

WRITTEN BY: JON ROSENHEK