Let’s face it – baseball games can be too long.
Major League Baseball (MLB) had earlier formed a special committee to look into ways on how it can increase the pace of the game. Most MLB games can easily go on for 3+ hours and more and during this long drawn out period there are moments in the game where viewers can lose interest.
Most teams play 6 times a week, which is a little crazy. I love watching my home team, but to spend 3+ hours every night is an impossible commitment. I usually only end up watching the last few innings to compensate for the huge time commitment required to watch every full game.
In order to reduce the duration of these games and keep the momentum going, the special committee decided to review and test 6 specific rules of the game. Three of these rules will be tested during the Arizona Fall League and based on the results the committee will then recommend necessary changes in the MLB.
The three rules that will be tested next week at the Arizona Fall League:
- Batter’s Box Rule
- 20-Second Rule
- The No-Pitch Intentional Walks
In a statement, Bud Selig who is the commissioner of the pace of game committee said “We will work with the appropriate parties — including players, umpires, our partners, our fans and many other contributors to our game — to form effective pace-of-game recommendations that will fit the Major League level”.
However these proposed changes have not gone down well with hardcore baseball fans who took to social media to voice their displeasure. The MLB had earlier used the Arizona Fall League in 2013 to test out its expanded instant replay system which proved to be a success and then went on to implement it in the Major League in 2014 and fans grew to accept it. The MLB will release more information after testing and analyzing the results of the new pace of game rules.
