One week tomorrow is the Opening Day for the 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) season and for the first time since 1968 every team (30 today as compared to 20 in 1968) will be playing its first game on the same day. However, more importantly, fans flocking to the stadiums on 30th March will be witnessing a historic moment, the first day of the implementation of the biggest reforms in the history of the game.
The brains trusts of MLB have decided to modify the rules, which are designed to appease the long-standing criticisms that the games are too long without enough action. The changes come into effect two years after MLB games were found to last an average of three hours and eleven minutes as compared to two hours and forty-four minutes in 1985. Hits per games were near historic lows and strikeouts (bowled in cricket) were higher than ever. According to MLB Commissioner Robert D Manfred Jnr, “We think the changes are going to produce a crisp, more exciting game with more balls in play.”
Baseball was the only one of the big four professional major league sports – the others are American football, basketball and ice hockey – in which the pace, and/or the duration of its games were not dictated or controlled by the vagaries of the clock. The void of a ‘time harness’ is probably the most attractive of several alluring charms of the summer game. Like all other sports or activities of long standing, it is steeped in tradition, inclusive of an ‘unwritten rule book and code of behaviour’ which players are expected to respect. In a closely fought game, when the two starting pitchers (bowlers) are locked in a duel akin to two master fencers parrying with foils, the game can take on a life of its own. A sublime aura of romanticism envelops the spectators as the absence, or the lack, of a time monitoring or control device, fathoms a battle of brawn and wits, where in an instant, just a single pitch (delivery) can swing the pendulum of the game in either team’s favour.
Great orators, standup comedians, ventriloquists, and baseball pitchers are master executioners of the pause; they have the uncanny ability to deliberately hesitate for the briefest of moments in time: one, two, or three seconds. It is as if they are suspending time, toying with it like a string-less yo-yo expert; it’s the very essence of what makes them the ultimate masters of their chosen craft. The first three maestros ensnare their audiences as if they are caught in a bear trap; clinging to their seats, craning forward, ensuring that they don’t miss a single word or the punchline. Whereas, the pitcher utilises the fugitive moment to sow the elements of mystery and doubt in the batter’s mind, who in turn, mentally tumbles his rolodex of the pitcher’s repertoire. Fastball? Curve? Change-up? Slider? Two seam? Four seam? Location? Up? Down? Away? Inside? As the batter waits, the pitcher goes through his routine, then pauses again. The hitter steps out of the batter’s box (crease), tugs on his gloves, once again notes the positioning of the fielders, returns to the box, adjusts his feet, and locks eyes with the pitcher who checks with the catcher (wicket-keeper) that they are still on the same modus operandi.
There is uncertainty. The pitcher and catcher have a tete-a-tete midway between the mound (bowling crease) and the batter’s box, their gloves masking their mouths, lest their opponents try to read their lips. When they return to their positions, the cat and mouse mind game between the pitcher and hitter resumes. It is an intrinsic strategy of the game, carefully choreographed delaying tactics to disrupt exceptional hitters and batters on hot streaks.
Last September, the MLB Competition Committee announced sweeping changes to the rules, the most significant since the reduction in height of the pitcher’s mound in 1969 from 15 inches to 10 inches and the introduction of the Designated Hitter [DH], a hitter who takes the place of the pitcher in the batting order, in the American League in 1973 (the DH rule was only adopted by the National League last year).
The most important change MLB is introducing is the pitch clock. Pitchers will have 15 seconds between pitches with the bases empty and 20 seconds with runners on. Pitchers must begin their motion within that time or be assessed a ball (equivalent to a wide, four wides before three strikes puts the batter on base). With a runner on base, pitchers will be limited to each plate appearance to two pick-off attempts (or stepping-off the pitching rubber), after which a pick-off throw will result in a balk – unless the pitcher is successful in obtaining an out. If the base runner advances, the pick-off/ step-off count of two will be reset. In addition, the batter is required to be in the box by the eight-second mark or he will be assessed a strike (three strikes is equivalent to being bowled). There will be a 30-second clock between batters and a two-minute, 15-second inning (MLB games are played over nine innings) break during regular season games.
Baseball purists are equally upset over the banning of the defensive shift which proliferated rapidly in the last decade as the game fell under the shadow of the analytical personnel hired by MLB franchises. The new rule states that two infielders must be positioned on each side of second base when a pitch is released, and all four infielders must have their feet positioned in the infield cutout in front of the outfield grass. A violation results in a ball, or the batting team can let the play stand. This restriction on unorthodox field placements delivers a severe blow to less talented teams which employed various defensive configurations based upon their pitching strength and the perceived weaknesses of the opposing teams’ batters.
The third change is increasing the size of all three bases from 15 inches square to 18 inches square. This modification was done with the intention of decreasing collisions at first base, along with stimulating more infield hits and stolen bases since the distance between first and second, and second and third base has now been reduced.
MLB claims that comprehensive testing of these rule changes were performed in more than 8,000 minor league games. It found that the implementation of the pitch clock shortened the average game by 25 minutes, and overall MLB observed a slight increase in the batting average, a larger one in stolen base attempts, a smaller decrease in strikeouts, and a notable decline in injuries. The four MLB Players Association (MLBPA) representatives on the 11-member Competition Committee all voted against the installation of the pitch clock and the defensive shift change, whilst being unanimous in their acceptance of the increase in the size of the bases. “Players live the game – day in and day out,” the MLBPA said in a statement, after MLB’s announcement of the changes last September. “On-field rules and regulations impact their preparation, performance and, ultimately, the integrity of the game itself. Player leaders from across the league were engaged in on-field rules negotiations through the Competition Committee, and they provided specific and actionable feedback on the changes proposed by the Commissioner’s Office.” The MLBPA statement further noted that MLB’s unwillingness to address the players’ concern of the defensive changes and the pitch timer resulted in their unanimous opposition to their implementation.
MLB keeps reiterating that fans want the faster-paced game, hence the push for the modifications. In the words of Theo Epstein, a member of the Competition Committee, “At every turn fans wanted a faster pace of play, more athleticism on display in the field and on the bases, more balls in play and more overall action. Fans want less dead time, less of anything that slows down the pace of play or pace of action.”
It’s hardly likely that either the fans or the players are going to swallow that spiel. Fans are already complaining about the exorbitant ticket prices, and now MLB is introducing measures to reduce the time value of their entertainment dollar, by potentially as much as 20 percent? Many observers strongly suspect that the elephant in the room driving these changes are the television studios who wish to exert as much control as they can over the flow of the game for the timing of the insertion of the advertising slots. Is it a mere coincidence that the time between innings is a specific two minutes and 15 seconds?
In May, 2018, the year prior to the start of the inaugural World Test Championship, and in the wake of serious concern over home-team interference in pitch preparation, the International Cricket Council (ICC) contemplated doing away with the coin toss, and giving the visiting side the option of deciding whether to bat or bowl first. Former India captain Bishen Singh Bedi aptly dismissed the ridiculous proposal: “Do away with the toss…? I really don’t understand this. I’m actually at a loss to make any sense. First of all, why would you even want to tinker with a century-long tradition.” The ICC wisely selected not to interfere with the spinning of the toss ritual.
In this instance, MLB has chosen to ignore the voices of reason. Tradition has been tossed aside like an old rag doll and only time will tell – the pitch timer can record it – if this tinkering will have done irreparable damage to the game of baseball.
