the first new MLB rules since '96

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Well, the suspended game stuff is long overdue... I can't wait for Carl Everett's first strike for standing outta the box.

Several rule changes in effect for 2007

02/16/2007
By Tom Singer / MLB.com

Taking a red pencil to the game's rules for the first time in more than a decade, MLB's Playing Rules Committee has enacted several changes for the 2007 season.

Relax: It's still the game you know and love. Committeemen haven't messed with the game's guts. In fact, although some of the changes are substantial, the most significant aspect of Friday's announcement is that it introduced the first alterations to the Official Baseball Rules since 1996.

Potentially most consequential is the manner in which games that end in a tie, due to weather or other uncontrollable elements, will be resolved. While previously such games were considered official and replayed in their entirety from the beginning, hence they will be "suspended" and resumed at the point of stoppage.

Addressing issues relating to the pacing of games, fair play -- and even the fairer sex -- other rule changes highlight:

• Time between pitches: The allotment for delivering the ball with no one on base has been reduced, from 20 seconds to 12. The price for each violation is a ball.

• Batter's box presence: Conversely, an automatic strike will be assessed each time a batter violates the rule requiring they keep one foot in the batter's box throughout his at-bat, except for certain game-play conditions -- during which he is still not allowed to leave the dirt area surrounding the plate.

• Ball scuffing: Rule 3.02 now calls for an automatic 10-game suspension for any player who intentionally defaces the ball. (Previously, a first offense led to the pitch being called a ball, a warning to the pitcher and an announcement of violation.)

• No reason for rosin: The same Rule 3.02 now specifically prohibits placing "soil, rosin, paraffin, licorice, sandpaper, emery paper or other foreign substance" on the ball. The rule's penalty phase dictates, "The umpire shall demand the ball and remove the offender from the game. In addition, the offender shall be suspended automatically for 10 games."

• Gender objectivity: The rulebook now includes the disclaimer that references "to 'he,' 'him' or 'his' shall be deemed to be a reference to 'she,' 'her' or 'hers'" where applicable.

In addition, in a significant sidebar, the guidelines by which official scorers perform their duties have been dramatically clarified and specified, at the behest of Phyllis Merhige, MLB vice president of club relations.

The pace-of-game regulations had been in effect on a trial basis during the 2005-06 seasons in the Minor Leagues, where they gained acceptance.

The revisions reflect the collective input of people in the game during the Playing Rules Committee's long layoff from actively voting on possible changes.

These are the first amendments to the rules since interpretation of the strike zone was changed in 1996.

"It's been a number of years since they've taken stock, so they rolled up their sleeves and attacked a number of issues on which they'd been taking notes," said Ed Burns, vice president of MLB's Baseball Operations Administration.

"New members joined the committee in the interim," Burns added, "and the first thing they did in 2005 was institute the experimental pace-of-game rules for the Minor Leagues, with a degree of success."

The treatment of tie games could be quite consequential. Not because tie games have been so prevalent in the past; occasionally, players have logged 163-game seasons due to an official tie, and there have been three ties in pre-1930 World Series games halted by darkness.

But the revised rule will perhaps permit umpires to react more decisively to adverse conditions, knowing that halting a tie game will not force managers to invent pitching for an unexpected extra game.

"The general managers questioned whether it was good policy to replay games," Burns said, "and asked, 'Why not just pick up where they stopped?' This will keep managers from having to use their entire bullpen to cover for an additional game."

Tie games will resume prior to the next scheduled game between the teams, in the visitors' park if no more games are scheduled at the same site. If no more games are scheduled between the teams, the tie would stand unless an outcome would decide a playoff spot -- in which case the game would be replayed in its entirety.

At the very least, the revisions and clarifying examples included in the rule book will enable umpires at all levels to conduct games according to a uniform set of rules.

Said Sandy Alderson, the chief executive officer of the Padres, who doubles as chairman of the Rules Committee: "A number of issues about the playing rules, some more technical in nature than others, had accumulated among umpires, clubs, players and Major League Baseball for some time. The Playing Rules Committee hopes that these amendments will serve to clarify these issues and, by doing so, benefit all who play and umpire the game at all levels."

The changes to Rule 10, governing official scoring, may have the most direct bearing on fans' perception of the coming season by affecting the game's lifeblood: statistics.

For instance, the guidewords for deciding whether to credit a batter with a sacrifice bunt have changed from him being possibly retired on a "perfect play" to "ordinary effort" by the defense.

And fans weary of hearing "defensive indifference" on stolen-base attempts will be heartened to learn that the scorer must now base that call on all game circumstances, not merely on whether someone covered the base or the catcher got off a throw.

Merhige, who oversees all official scorers at big-league parks, had noted several areas that needed to be improved and standardized. The work of the committee she assembled "came up with a substantial rewrite of Rule 10," Burns said.

― Dr Morbius, Thursday, 22 February 2007 14:25 (eleven years ago) Permalink

I always liked the rule in which pitchers have to deliver the ball within 20 seconds with no runners on, but it's never been enforced. I can't see a 12-second rule being realistically workable ... why not leave the rule unchanged and simply enforce it?

― NoTimeBeforeTime, Sunday, 25 February 2007 14:34 (eleven years ago) Permalink

Maybe with the 12 second limit, they'll actually keep the pitchers under 20?

― David R., Monday, 26 February 2007 02:25 (eleven years ago) Permalink

two years pass...

anyone thrilled with Bud's "improve the on-field issues" committee? O BOY, GEORGE WILL

― Rage, Resentment, Spleen (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 29 December 2009 21:39 (nine years ago) Permalink

i wish they had invited some of the brighter young managers in the game. george will can burn, obv. i don't think any players should be in there because baseball players are really dumb.

― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 30 December 2009 00:31 (nine years ago) Permalink

two years pass...

low-hanging fruit?

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2012/5/10/3012029/mlb-fake-to-third-throw-to-first-move-balk

― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Friday, 11 May 2012 17:55 (six years ago) Permalink

so the idea is that would speed up the game?

― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 11 May 2012 18:11 (six years ago) Permalink

does it even happen once every 5 games?

― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Friday, 11 May 2012 18:20 (six years ago) Permalink

maybe that?! of all the things dumb about baseball i never thought the fake to 3rd was one of them.

― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 11 May 2012 18:22 (six years ago) Permalink

Granderson fell for the banana in the tailpipe?

RHPs will step off the rubber and do the same damn thing. It will probably happen with roughly the same frequency.

― Grusin' Gang (Andy K), Friday, 11 May 2012 18:45 (six years ago) Permalink

two weeks pass...

Neyer predicts that, SOMEDAY, MLB will have to reduce strikeouts and pitching changes to shorten games.

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2012/5/29/3048980/ernesto-frieri-angels-strikeouts

― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:50 (six years ago) Permalink

Neyer's been on that soapbox for a while. Anyway, the game goes in cycles so I wouldn't assume that strikeouts are some runaway phenomenon that's going to necessitate a significant rule change.

― NoTimeBeforeTime, Tuesday, 29 May 2012 20:36 (six years ago) Permalink

seven months pass...

The fake-to-third/throw-to-first will now be ruled a balk:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mlb/news/20130126/pickoff-rule-change.ap/

The hidden-ball-trick's days are surely numbered.

― clemenza, Saturday, 26 January 2013 15:35 (six years ago) Permalink

ha, i used to do this all the time when i played

― k3vin k., Saturday, 26 January 2013 15:53 (six years ago) Permalink

will cut 30 seconds off the average game

― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Monday, 28 January 2013 21:43 (six years ago) Permalink

I wonder if the LV sports books are offering an o/u on the number of balks that will come of this in 2013.

― If it were up to you we'd all be eating tea and strumpets. (WilliamC), Monday, 28 January 2013 21:59 (six years ago) Permalink

ten months pass...

looking to ban collisions at home

http://www.baseballnation.com/2013/12/12/5201700/mlb-banning-collisions-home-plate-winter-meetings-rules

― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 12 December 2013 16:49 (five years ago) Permalink

one month passes...

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/1/28/5353948/baseball-padded-caps-pitchers-safety

― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 28 January 2014 18:41 (five years ago) Permalink

four weeks pass...

"Just reading through it, the main thing it does is eliminate the malicious collision," Posey told ESPN's "Baseball Tonight" on Tuesday morning. "If the catcher is not set up right on top of the plate, it doesn't allow the runner to run through him."

Posey said the tweak to the rule would not alter the way he prepares for the season as a catcher or as a baserunner.

"For the most part, I think it'll stay pretty much the same," Posey said. "We've never been taught to set up right on top of the plate; we've always been taught to give the runner a little bit of the plate.

"[As a baserunner], my mindset, when I'm coming around third, is to slide hard and late."

Texas Rangers catcher J.P. Arencibia said the new rule "takes away the malicious intent behind the play at the plate."

"It stops guys just going out of their way just to try to dislodge the baseball when [catchers] have the plate," Rangers manager Ron Washington said.

Hall of Famer George Brett, the Kansas City Royals' vice president of baseball operations, said he doesn't like the rule even though he understands that the objective is to reduce injuries.

"I'm not a big fan of it," Brett told ESPN.com. "Catchers are taught to put their foot right in front of home plate, and the plays are bang-bang. I like the collision.

"I don't sit around at home at night and think about it. This is the first time I've thought about it since two months ago when somebody told me, 'They can't run into catchers anymore.' I said, 'That sucks. I love that play.'"

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10512206/mlb-bans-home-collisions-1-exception

― images of war violence and historical smoking (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 25 February 2014 16:02 (four years ago) Permalink

one month passes...

so without amending the rulebook, MLB has redefined a legal catch

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/transfer-rule-focus-of-cleveland-replay?ymd=20140409&content_id=71485458&vkey=news_mlb

― images of war violence and historical smoking (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 10 April 2014 16:26 (four years ago) Permalink

two weeks pass...

I'm sure you've heard, they've fixed this idiotic transfer thing

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/mlb-makes-1st-major-adjustment-of-replay-era-tweaks-transfer-rule-042514

― images of war violence and historical smoking (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 26 April 2014 16:59 (four years ago) Permalink

four months pass...

Rules quiz:

http://www.sbnation.com/2014/8/27/6075321/obscure-mlb-rules-quiz

I got 7/10.

― NoTimeBeforeTime, Friday, 29 August 2014 07:02 (four years ago) Permalink

one month passes...

In the Arizona Fall League this year:

http://deadspin.com/baseball-will-test-out-six-new-rules-to-speed-up-the-ga-1641283166

Hitters must keep at least one foot inside the batter's box at all times, barring exceptions like foul balls, wild pitches, or if the umpire grants him time out.

Pitchers must throw a pitch within 20 seconds of receiving the ball. Clocks posted in each dugout will count down the 20 seconds.

There will be a maximum break between innings of 2:05, with a clock keeping track. Hitters must be in the batter's box by 1:45. If the hitter's not ready, the umpire can call a strike. If the pitcher doesn't throw a pitch by 2:05, the umpire can call a ball.

Teams will have a maximum of 2:30 to change pitchers, with the clock starting as soon as the reliever enters the playing field.

Teams are limited to a maximum of three mound visits per game, not including pitching changes. This applies to trips to the mound by managers, coaches, and catchers.

Pitchers no longer have to deliver four balls for an intentional walk. The manager can simply signal to the umpire.

― it's taco science, but it works like taco magic (WilliamC), Wednesday, 1 October 2014 22:33 (four years ago) Permalink

four months pass...

new pace rules for MLB this year

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2015/2/20/8075545/mlb-pace-of-play-changes-effective-2015

― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Friday, 20 February 2015 17:10 (three years ago) Permalink

one year passes...

MLB, MLBPA ADOPT SLIDE RULE ON DOUBLE PLAYS, PACE OF GAME CHANGES
Interference Rule Governing Double Play Slides Clarified;
Mound Visits, Break Times Adjusted in Pace of Game Program

― mookieproof, Thursday, 25 February 2016 17:09 (two years ago) Permalink

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/165429062/pace-of-game-changes-new-slide-rule-adopted

― mookieproof, Thursday, 25 February 2016 17:23 (two years ago) Permalink

“People watch the UFC. But they get mad when a guy breaks his ankle at second base because of a hard slide. I don't get it." -- Ian Kinsler, future Fox analyst

― Andy K, Saturday, 27 February 2016 17:00 (two years ago) Permalink

one month passes...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ce_iquoVAAELtrm.jpg:large

― mookieproof, Saturday, 2 April 2016 00:13 (two years ago) Permalink

three months pass...

In the 9th last night vs the Mets, Jayson Werth was called out for interference making a late slide on a DP breakup attempt. I'm getting a little sick of Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling grousing about the new unmacho world (Keith sneered about "the geniuses" who effected the rule). Nats GM Rizzo also got into a shouting match with the umps after the game. Tough shit, dinosaurs.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/watch-ninth-inning-slide-rule-call-plays-a-big-part-in-mets-win-over-nats/

https://www.sny.tv/mets/news/nats-gm-ump-argue-over-call-on-werth-slide/188622326

― helpless before THRILLARY (Dr Morbius), Friday, 8 July 2016 16:57 (two years ago) Permalink

seven months pass...

oh go fuck yourselves

"Major League Baseball plans on testing a rule change in the lowest levels of the minor leagues this season that automatically would place a runner on second base at the start of extra innings, a distinct break from the game’s orthodoxy that nonetheless has wide-ranging support at the highest levels of the league, sources familiar with the plan told Yahoo Sports."

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/mlb-plans-to-test-new-extra-innings-rules-in-rookie-ball-with-joe-torres-approval-224914115.html

― Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 9 February 2017 12:24 (two years ago) Permalink

What in the blue hell is that all about.

Honestly, I would prefer ties in baseball to a dumb rule change like that.

― NoTimeBeforeTime, Thursday, 9 February 2017 13:55 (two years ago) Permalink

“It’s not fun to watch when you go through your whole pitching staff and wind up bringing a utility infielder in to pitch.

gotta disagree with you there, Joe.

― Mad Piratical (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 9 February 2017 15:22 (two years ago) Permalink

i will give you each $1000 if this ever becomes a major league rule

― mookieproof, Thursday, 9 February 2017 15:25 (two years ago) Permalink

twist: the free runner on second base is bartolo colon

― Karl Malone, Thursday, 9 February 2017 15:28 (two years ago) Permalink

Anthony Castrovince @castrovince
This idea has uncovered quite a number of rookie ball purists.

― mookieproof, Thursday, 9 February 2017 16:43 (two years ago) Permalink

first they came for rookie league, and i said nothing

― Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 9 February 2017 16:45 (two years ago) Permalink

gonna need one for this, because c'mon

https://twitter.com/AJCassavell/status/831916548369510400

― mookieproof, Wednesday, 15 February 2017 18:42 (two years ago) Permalink

that's even worse than jordan walden

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 15 February 2017 18:53 (two years ago) Permalink

no one ever calls traveling anymore

― na (NA), Wednesday, 15 February 2017 18:58 (two years ago) Permalink

that is a fucking weird delivery.

― Mad Piratical (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, 15 February 2017 19:12 (two years ago) Permalink

Cater Crapps

― Andy K, Wednesday, 15 February 2017 19:42 (two years ago) Permalink

@JeffPassan
Rob Manfred: There will not be substantive rules changes in 2017 due to "lack of cooperation from the MLBPA."

― mookieproof, Tuesday, 21 February 2017 21:13 (one year ago) Permalink

@EricFisherSBJ
And Manfred then reveals a new chestnut in new labor deal: a unilateral ability by the league to impose rules changes as soon as next yr
@JeffPassan
Among the rules changes MLB could impose, per Manfred: a pitch clock, a smaller strike zone, fewer visits to the mound, auto-intentional BB.

― mookieproof, Tuesday, 21 February 2017 21:14 (one year ago) Permalink

yay lack of cooperation

― Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 21 February 2017 21:35 (one year ago) Permalink

As part of its initiative to improve pace-of-game play, Major League Baseball has approved a change to the intentional walk rule, going from the traditional four-pitch walk to a dugout signal, team and union sources told ESPN's Howard Bryant.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/18737245/mlb-union-agree-get-rid-traditional-intentional-walkwill-use-signal-dugout

― Andy K, Wednesday, 22 February 2017 02:01 (one year ago) Permalink

this will save nearly 12 seconds per game

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 22 February 2017 02:40 (one year ago) Permalink

i'm so pissed that the miggy cabrera intentional walk single will never happen again

― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 22 February 2017 03:04 (one year ago) Permalink

ugh

― na (NA), Wednesday, 22 February 2017 03:13 (one year ago) Permalink

what about the Johnny Bench WORLD SERIES fake-IBB strikeout?

(1972)

― Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 22 February 2017 03:15 (one year ago) Permalink

i was not alive but that sounds tremendous

― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 22 February 2017 03:18 (one year ago) Permalink

Skipping 62 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

it's amazing how baseball has convinced itself that it's impossible to make players actually play the game faster so instead they come up with shit like this.

― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 16:43 (one week ago) Permalink

yeaaaah...it does seem possible that someone could come in and have a terrible day *cough greg holland, cough*, throw 10 pitches to the first guy, 8 to the next, 9 to the third, or whatever. and you'd not only be forced to watch greg holland suck for 3 batters in a row, but also throw way too many pitches in the process?

or an old schooler like Tony Larussa might just visit the mound and tell him to hit the next 2 batters on the first pitch and gtfo?

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 16:44 (one week ago) Permalink

opposed to 3-batter min

i don't like the endless pitching changes, but unintended consequences will likely be worse

kinda like term limits

― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 6 February 2019 16:46 (one week ago) Permalink

and whoever tweets for NBC Sports, it's not "the MLB" you savage

― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 6 February 2019 16:47 (one week ago) Permalink

if that got out of hand it wouldn't be difficult to institute a rule that if a pitcher is removed for an injury he has to sit for x games (like if you do an injury roster replacement in the playoffs)

― mookieproof, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 16:50 (one week ago) Permalink

i don't really get why relievers need eight warmup pitches -- that's what the bullpen is for. come in, throw two or three to get the feel of the mound, and get going

― mookieproof, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 16:54 (one week ago) Permalink

i'm out on anything that takes strategy out of the game and again, they could just.....execute pitching changes faster? like maybe the tubby manager doesn't have to stroll out to the mound to "take the ball?" maybe the new pitcher doesn't need a dozen warmup throws off the mound after having fully warmed up in the bullpen?

― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 16:57 (one week ago) Permalink

it doesn't take strategy out of the game, it just changes the strategy. you could argue it requires more strategic thinking to plan by batches of three batters instead of being able to swap out pitchers for each batter.

― na (NA), Wednesday, 6 February 2019 17:03 (one week ago) Permalink

you could, but i wouldn't

― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 17:06 (one week ago) Permalink

― call all destroyer, Wednesday, February 6, 2019 11:57 AM (eleven minutes ago

right, or enforce a damn pitch clock!

― k3vin k., Wednesday, 6 February 2019 17:10 (one week ago) Permalink

i think they should just implemented this rule in the minor leagues so that it can work there and then never be properly implemented and enforced in the major leagues, several years later

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 17:10 (one week ago) Permalink

xp lol

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 17:10 (one week ago) Permalink

Even though I hate the glacial pace-of-play and the sheer pointlessness of many pitching changes--cf. my whining about the Brewers in last years NL playoff thread--my instinctive reaction to the three-batter idea is no. That seems to be an overly drastic and artificial intervention...I'd have to give it some thought to explain better.

― clemenza, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 17:12 (one week ago) Permalink

the endless dance of trying to get/avoid hand-on-hand matchups is 'strategy' that isn't very interesting to me

― mookieproof, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 17:14 (one week ago) Permalink

Found this James tweet pretty illuminating:

In 1958 there were 11 major league games in which a starting pitcher was removed before pitching 5 innings or allowing a run to score.

In 1968 there were 11; in 1978, still 11. In 1988 there were 15; in 1998, still 15.

In 2008 there were 32.

In 2018 there were 125.

― clemenza, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 17:27 (one week ago) Permalink

honestly that still doesn't seem like very much as a proportion of all games played, just over 5% right?

― na (NA), Wednesday, 6 February 2019 17:33 (one week ago) Permalink

yeah it's an arbitrary stat, the point is that there are a lot of pitching changes and games are taking too long

― k3vin k., Wednesday, 6 February 2019 17:35 (one week ago) Permalink

If you just focus on the increase from 1998 to 2018, you're looking at the same number of games (no expansion since then, right?). That seems like a huge jump to me (and an exponential jump; twice as many by 2008, eight times as many by 2018), and not arbitrary. It shows that needless pitching changes are happening at both ends of the game.

― clemenza, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 17:42 (one week ago) Permalink

I meant that 5 innings/no runs cutoff is arbitrary. agreed about the message

― k3vin k., Wednesday, 6 February 2019 17:46 (one week ago) Permalink

some of that is the rays using openers; more of it is teams recognizing the third-time-through-the-order penalty. i suppose i'd rather see a great starter go all nine, but if you wanna use a new reliever at the start of every inning i don't see a reason to outlaw it -- it's the in-inning pitching changes that are slowing things down

― mookieproof, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 17:48 (one week ago) Permalink

Good point...Obviously he based that on the five innings a starter needs for a win, so to the extent that starter wins are a relic, yes, arbitrary.

― clemenza, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 17:51 (one week ago) Permalink

t shows that needless pitching changes are happening at both ends of the game.

don't know if "needless" is correct there. it might be that managers/front offices are learning that in certain situations, it's better to bring in a reliever relatively early in the game, before the pitcher faces a lineup for the dreaded 3rd time through the lineup, and before the pitcher qualifies for the all-important "win" or "quality start"

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 17:53 (one week ago) Permalink

oops, xposts

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 17:53 (one week ago) Permalink

Obviously he based that on the five innings a starter needs for a win, so to the extent that starter wins are a relic, yes, arbitrary.

this is a very minor thing, of course, but one of the things about bill james that annoys me is that he seems to find a lot of ways to keep the old stats alive

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 18:00 (one week ago) Permalink

Say goodbye to the disabled list.

Major League Baseball is renaming its designation for hurt players the "Injured List" and getting rid of the DL, a fixture in the game since 1966, a source familiar with the plan tells ESPN.

News at ESPN: https://t.co/6HytAl2eS5
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 7, 2019

― mookieproof, Thursday, 7 February 2019 21:18 (one week ago) Permalink

sounds good to me!

― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 7 February 2019 21:46 (one week ago) Permalink

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/whats-not-to-like-about-proposed-mlb-rules-changes-nothing-except-for-one/2019/02/06/7a184fa8-2a56-11e9-b011-d8500644dc98_story.html

― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 7 February 2019 21:46 (one week ago) Permalink

Baseball is fine. This obsession w/ shortening the games—by what, 15 minutes?—is stupid.

I hate the idea of a pitch clock, but fine. What I fear is that watching televised baseball will mean—from now on—hours of staring at an ONSCREEN COUNTDOWN for every pitch, which would seem to run counter to so much about what sets apart and elevates baseball. I like the languor of baseball, and I like the idea that to some degree players dictate the pace.

If they're going to do this I hope that we are only alerted to the clock when it expires.

― Rhine Jive Click Bait (Hadrian VIII), Thursday, 7 February 2019 22:11 (one week ago) Permalink

My life already feels like a constantly ticking clock ffs

― Rhine Jive Click Bait (Hadrian VIII), Thursday, 7 February 2019 22:13 (one week ago) Permalink

I think Joe Posnanski was dead set against the pitch clock, but once he went to a game that had one he became a fan, saying you really don't notice it. If it manages to speed up deadly slow pitchers like Jon Lester then it's a good thing. I do think putting it on screen is probably a mistake, unless they just turn it on for the last 5 seconds.

I like the "three-batter minimum" rule. I'm not so sure about the "runner on 2nd in extras" one, b/c it seems like every team would then put a light-hitting fast dude like Billy Hamilton on their roster who could just steal 3rd and score on a ground ball. maybe if you speculate that it has to be the manager or hitting coach, then I'd be in

― frogbs, Thursday, 7 February 2019 22:24 (one week ago) Permalink

what's the penalty if a pitcher doesn't pitch before the pitch clock runs out

― na (NA), Thursday, 7 February 2019 22:26 (one week ago) Permalink

he has to back up 5 yards

― frogbs, Thursday, 7 February 2019 22:30 (one week ago) Permalink

there's been a pitch clock in the minors for years and it is almost never a factor. once pitchers get used to it and the idea that they don't have endless time to fuck around, no one will notice it. penalty is a called ball

i don't think the guy-on-second-in-extras thing will ever actually happen in the majors, but if it did, that would be bad imo

― mookieproof, Thursday, 7 February 2019 22:31 (one week ago) Permalink

To be clear I only object to having to stare at a countdown clock.

Yeah the runner on 2nd thing is awful. But so is three-batter minimum! I mean there's already a cost that comes with carrying a LOOGY— it means more work for the rest of your bullpen. It's one of the things that makes bullpen management interesting.

Ugh, I wish they'd just leave the game alone.

― Rhine Jive Click Bait (Hadrian VIII), Thursday, 7 February 2019 22:32 (one week ago) Permalink

I don't think that overmanaging your bullpen LaRussa-style feels like an abuse of the rules or anything, it just makes the game more boring to watch

― frogbs, Thursday, 7 February 2019 22:36 (one week ago) Permalink

I agree w that but I also don't object to being bored occasionally. God forbid anybody should have to just be alone with their thoughts for a couple minutes. I'm nearly always doing something else when watching a game anyway.

― Rhine Jive Click Bait (Hadrian VIII), Thursday, 7 February 2019 23:04 (one week ago) Permalink

Televised football and basketball games don’t constantly show their countdown clocks, so I really doubt they would show it for baseball.

Xposts

― Karl Malone, Thursday, 7 February 2019 23:59 (one week ago) Permalink

I was under the impression, which I totally pulled out of the ether, that the runner to be placed on 2nd was the first batter due up in that inning, so there's no way to guarantee a Billy Hamilton.

― ILX Moderator: It's Like a Pressure Wash for Your Insides (WmC), Friday, 8 February 2019 00:15 (one week ago) Permalink

If they are going to change the DH, just go ahead and do it, don't put it up for debate or comment or anything.

― earlnash, Friday, 8 February 2019 03:54 (one week ago) Permalink

xp - pinch runner then

― frogbs, Friday, 8 February 2019 04:02 (one week ago) Permalink

it's the last batter of the previous inning who gets put on second; not sure if you're allowed to pinch run for him

― mookieproof, Friday, 8 February 2019 04:41 (one week ago) Permalink

Only year we ever won baseball at my school in 20 years (the Darren Shred year), the title game involved an extra inning and the start-on-second rule. We scored, they didn't. Can't remember how they determined the baserunner.

― clemenza, Friday, 8 February 2019 12:54 (one week ago) Permalink

Televised football and basketball games don’t constantly show their countdown clocks, so I really doubt they would show it for baseball.

they do in football once it gets below :25. in basketball it's always on the screen, but the shot clock essentially drives the pace of the game sometimes so I get why that's necessary. feel like the smart thing to do in baseball is to just display it when it goes under :05

― frogbs, Friday, 8 February 2019 14:16 (one week ago) Permalink

Don't display it at all, totally unnecessary. If they go over, you'll know!

― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Friday, 8 February 2019 14:31 (one week ago) Permalink

clem the reds released yr man. he's still only 21, but the injuries may have done him in

― mookieproof, Friday, 8 February 2019 18:13 (one week ago) Permalink

https://www.sbnation.com/a/mlb-2017-season-preview/game-length

the article that convinced me a pitching clock is necessary

― Van Horn Street, Saturday, 9 February 2019 05:01 (one week ago) Permalink

that's a great article. rip firewalled grant brisbee

― Karl Malone, Saturday, 9 February 2019 05:47 (one week ago) Permalink

a friend writes:

Of all the issues that MLB is allegedly discussing with the Players Association the one with the greatest potential for mischief is…September call-ups.

This seemed to be the favorite topic of complaint among baseball’s talking heads last fall – oh, the impurity of a team with 37 players on its roster competing with a team that has 34 players.

I get the concern about expanded benches and bullpens contributing to The Great Slowdown. But in a $10 billion industry where the union famously could care less about anyone (minor leaguers, stadium workers, striking hotel employees) outside their little guild and the owners are comically greedy, one month of 40-man rosters is the closest thing baseball has to a genuine share-the-wealth program. (Set aside for the moment clubhouse tipping and the teams’ revenue sharing plan).

Under the terms of the current CBA:

After completing 43 game days on a ML roster players become fully vested in the MLBPA’s defined-benefit pension plan and receive a minimum annual payout of $34,000 at retirement. (Annual benefit amounts increase with additional service time.)
With one (1) day of service time players receive comprehensive lifetime health insurance (including dental, vision and Medicare supplemental) for themselves and their immediate family.
(The CBA also includes provisions for long-term disability coverage and employer-funded IRA contributions. Dunno what the service-time requirements are for those benefits.)

It seems likely that getting called up in September is the main pathway for scores (maybe more) of fringe and AAAA ballplayers to accrue service time each year. Of course the rewards for making it past the Service Time Threshold look pretty paltry stacked up against an average major leaguer’s compensation package. But for normal people that is a fantastic level of economic security. In fact, if baseball was still the national pastime, someone could run a great Huey Long/Francis Townsend-type campaign around the notion of “Every American a September Call-Up.”

Maybe Tony Clark & Co. will come up with a savvy proposal to preserve or even enhance this benefits windfall for baseball’s have-nots by trading off a more restrictive September roster rule for reduced (i.e. more generous) service-time requirements. Obviously, ending the big overflowing September rosters in exchange for a full-season 26-man roster would not achieve that goal.

― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 12 February 2019 08:24 (four days ago) Permalink

i would suggest, then, that only 25 players from expanded september rosters be available for each individual game. it wouldn't completely end the parade of relievers (since you could just swap in fresh ones tomorrow) but it might make managers at least consider the possibility of an 18-inning game

― mookieproof, Tuesday, 12 February 2019 15:56 (four days ago) Permalink

wow I actually remember that Brewer game

― frogbs, Tuesday, 12 February 2019 19:09 (four days ago) Permalink

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