So I'm just going to throw something out there, and maybe we can run some sort of comprehensive study and maybe we can't. But we can hope, anyway.
Wednesday, Major League Baseball announced that "experimental pace of game initiatives will be game-tested during play at the Arizona Fall League." Among the initiatives: the hitter must keep at least one foot in the batter's box; intentional walks can be called automatically from the dugout, no pitches necessary; and the time limits for breaks between half-innings and during pitching changes will be strictly enforced.
All perfectly reasonable ideas, although we'll certainly miss the (very) occasional wild pitches in the course of intentional walks. And we'll see if what works in the Arizona Fall League is acceptable to the television networks and the players' union.
But that's not why I'm writing. I'm writing because of these initiatives:
20-Second Rule [at 17 Salt River Fields home games only]: A modified version of Rule 8.04, which discourages unnecessary delays by the pitcher, shall apply. Rule 8.04 requires the pitcher to deliver the ball to the batter within 12 seconds after he receives the ball with the bases unoccupied. The penalty prescribed by Rule 8.04 for a pitcher’s violation of the Rule is that the umpire shall call “Ball.”
Three “Time Out” Limit: Each team shall be permitted only three “Time Out” conferences per game (including extra innings). Such conferences shall include player conferences with the pitcher (including the catcher), manager or coach conferences with the pitcher, and coach conferences with a batter. Conferences during pitching changes, and time outs called as a result of an injury or other emergency, shall not be counted towards this limit. A manager, coach or player will not be permitted to call a fourth time out in violation of this Rule. In such cases, the game will continue uninterrupted, and offenders may be subject to discipline.
Next, a seemingly unrelated note from The New York Times:
Teams this season averaged 0.86 home runs per game, the lowest rate since 1992. They averaged 4.07 runs per game this season, the lowest since the strike-shortened season of 1981. The overall batting average (.251) and on-base percentage (.314) were the lowest since 1972, the year before the designated hitter was introduced. And teams struck out an average of 7.7 times per game, the highest rate in the game’s history.
Is this a problem? If unchecked, yes. Earlier this week, MLB trumped this season's attendance ... seventh-best in history! Except seventh-best isn't all that impressive, and was actually a small tick lower than last season's. Now, this isn't a big problem because revenues were undoubtedly way up again this season (thanks, television). But as the population rises and the number of playoff teams increases, you're supposed to get more fannies in the seats. Which hasn't really been happening. And helps explain why MLB wants to quicken the pace of the games, however slightly.
Oddly, we've not heard a single peep from Major League Baseball about the decrease in scoring and the associated Strikeout Scourge. Maybe because any suggestions about helping the hitters would upset roughly half the members of the Players Association. Which brings me to the thing I want to throw out there ... speeding up the games might be a back-door way of helping the hitters, however slightly.
Think about it: Who benefits from a slow pace? It's often been said that pitchers should work fast. I'm not so sure. Wouldn't pitchers generally benefit from rest between pitches? Doesn't a 30-second break -- or a much longer break, if the catcher or the pitching coach visit the mound -- give him extra time to recuperate from his last maximum-effort pitch?
What I think is that pitchers generally won't be able to throw quite as hard if they don't have quite so much rest between pitches. Which will help the hitters, if only a little. And maybe a few little things is more palatable than one big thing, like lowering the mound or shrinking the strike zone or planting computer chips inside the umpires' brains or whatever.
But I also think there's some data that bears upon my theory. Anybody have some?
