Seattle players balk at notion of adding speed-up rules

GREG JOHNS

Originally published Tuesday, March 26, 2002

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Ever tried hurrying a child in the morning getting ready for school? Or pulling your spouse out of a long farewell to friends as your private clock ticks away?

Then you know exactly what Major League Baseball is up against.

In an effort to shorten games, baseball officials want players and managers to speed things up.

The response:

"Ridiculous," says Bret Boone.

"I think it's a waste," says Jeff Nelson.

"They're looking in the wrong direction," says Jamie Moyer.

A large part of baseball's charm is its pace. They call it the timeless game; the only major team sport without a clock.

Some find it boring. Many find it breathless in its slow-building beauty.

Major League Baseball finds it too slow to suit some of today's clock-watching patrons. So the word has come down.

The ideas could cut up to 15 minutes each game.

But players wonder why they're suddenly being formatted into a tighter box to satisfy an impatient generation.

"I don't understand it," said Boone, the M's second baseman.

"They make movies that are three and a half hours and that's fine. But if a game goes 3 hours and 12 minutes, geez, the national pastime is in trouble?"

Owners tried shortening games last year, expanding the strike zone to cut walks and induce batters to swing more. The effort cut four minutes off the average game, down to 2:54, but not enough to suit the suits.

MLB worries that too many customers are leaving ballparks in the late innings and hopes that a few more nudges here and there can bring the average outing to 2:45.

Among the new rules:

- Relief pitchers have two and a half minutes to finish eight warmup tosses. The stopwatch starts when they step on the field through the bullpen fence. With minimum conversation with a manager or coach, the warmups generally take about 2:15, so the new rule means any lengthy advice will cut into the pitcher's preparation.

- On his second trip to the mound in an inning, a manager must signal in a new reliever from the time he steps on to the field instead of wandering out to the mound while his man keeps warming.

- Pitchers have 12 seconds to throw the ball once a batter is in the box.

- Hitters must stay in or near the box, or risk having the ump signal the pitcher to throw a strike before the batter is ready.

- Public address announcers will introduce the next batter before the end of a commercial break so hitters step to the plate as the telecast resumes.

- Hitters must have an extra bat near the ondeck circle in case their first bat breaks.

Little things to you. Big things to the men who play the game for a living.

"I understand people come to the games and need to get home at a decent hour to get the kids to bed and up for school," Moyer said. "They're trying to make it more fan friendly, which I respect and appreciate. But, if people are leaving early, just start earlier."

It's the night contests that cause problems. The M's start night games at 7:05 p.m., but some cities don't begin games until 7:35 p.m. and ESPN Sunday night games open at 8:05 on the East Coast.

Why not start games at 6:30 p.m.? Wouldn't fans prefer missing the first inning, if they can't make it from work that early, rather than the end?

Like most players, I don't object to umps asking slowpokes to hurry up. But common sense should prevail, not a stopwatch.

As Moyer said, "only time will tell."

Greg Johns can be reached at gjohns@juno.com.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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