Five Better Ways to Speed Up MLB Games

               One of the biggest disappointments heading into the 2017 baseball season will be the rule change that permits managers to signal from the dugout their desire to intentionally walk a batter, thereby saving the pitcher from lofting four balls out of the strike zone. MLB commissioner Robert Manfred is trying to fool us into thinking that this will shorten ball games, but in reality he is just grasping at straws.

                First of all, not having to throw those four pitches will deprive us of seeing some rather unique plays during games. All you have to do is Google or YouTube “Roberto Alomar steals third base on intentional walk,” or “Miguel Cabrera gets hit on intentional walk” to see some of the things that won’t be seen again. Hall-of-Famer Cal Ripken once threw his bat at an intentional ball outside and doubled down the right field line. Not to mention the wild pitches that could occur if the pitcher isn’t focused on what he’s doing. Granted, those plays are few and far between but when they did happen, they were something to behold and were worthy of being talked about and re-hashed for days on end.

                But let’s focus on the supposed reason why Manfred has instituted this rather stupid rule: he thinks it’s going to speed up games. Seriously? By what, 30 seconds? I mean exactly how many intentional walks, on average, are in a full nine-inning game? Two at the most. Which means a game that might take three hours and 15 minutes will now be three hours and 14 minutes. Yah, way to shorten the game, Rob. Try again.

                But I digress. Let’s be less critical and more helpful to the commissioner, shall we? (Who, by the way, is really starting to make Bud Selig look better and better—wow, can’t believe I said that!) Below are my five suggestions to help speed up the game.

#1.          Minimize player strolls around the batter’s box—this idea has been talked about for years but it seems MLB is unwilling to introduce and enforce it. But how much time is wasted when a batter has a ten-second routine that he has to perform before every single pitch? Do they really need to undo and redo the Velcro straps on their batting gloves six times per at bat? Did they not strap them down properly while they were in the on-deck circle? And then there are the wanderers, who need to walk away from the plate after every pitch. The best idea to stop this would be to have the umpire count to five and then signal the pitcher to throw the ball. If the hitter’s not in the box, too bad.

#2.          Limit trips to the mound by the catcher—another routine that needs to be reigned in. It slows a game down considerably when a catcher and pitcher seem to repeatedly get their signals crossed and they have to discuss it, at length. Perhaps limiting the catcher to one (or two) trips to the mound per inning. I mean, c’mon, they’re professionals. Even Little Leaguers have signals for what pitch they want thrown.

#3.          No warm up pitches for relievers—they have plenty of time to warm up in the bullpen. Why do they need another eight pitches to get ready? The only reason I can think of is to give the TV networks more time for commercials. But time can be shaved from a game, even if they drop the warm up pitches to four.

#4.          Less time in between innings—one minute in between innings is plenty for the teams to change sides. But again, this would cut down on TV advertising. But all broadcasters have virtual ads all over the ballpark (outfield walls, behind home plate, etc…) nowadays. They could add a few more to make up for the lost 30 seconds.

#5.          No extra time to allow managers to challenge a play—perhaps the most annoying thing since instant replay was introduced to settle disputed umpire calls, is the manager standing at the top of the dugout out step, waiting for the signal from someone watching the play on TV, to see if they should or should not challenge the play. Either challenge the play or sit down. Again, this could be enforced easily by the umpires. After the play is over, count to ten, then hold up a hand to indicate the challenge window is shut. If the manager comes out to complain, an ejection and a fine should be instituted.

                Now, none of these suggestions are perfect and could have a few holes poked in them. But I would argue that all of them would shorten games by a greater extent than eliminating the intentional walk. As always, I welcome your comments.

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