Neyer: Should we let baseball just mosey along?
From SABR member Rob Neyer at FoxSports.com on November 7, 2014:
Will something actually be done to speed up the games some next season? According to a report in Sports Business Daily, the TV executives sound optimistic …
Levy, Freer and Lazarus, each of whom work with MLB, all lauded incoming Commissioner Rob Manfred and said they expect him to be open-minded in working with the sport’s TV partners, particularly with regard to pace-of-play issues. “I want to give Bud (Selig) the due he deserves,” Levy said. “He’s done a great job leading the sport for a long time, and he’s given Rob a tremendous foundation from which to build. But I think Rob will be more apt to figure out ways to work with TV partners, giving us more access to players. He’ll be open to a lot of ideas. I think he’ll be open to what Randy and I need to do with our businesses.”
I’m not surprised that Manfred would be open-minded; I don’t know why Bud wouldn’t have been open-minded, too. Nobody who actually works in baseball likes three-and-a-half-hour games, because everybody wants to get home or back to the office. As I’ve said, the sticking point isn’t the Commissioner’s Office; it’s the Players Association, as hitters are obsessed with Velcro and pitchers love taking a bit of extra rest between pitches. Still, would there be any reason not to speed up the games a little?
Read the full article here: http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/mlb-baseball-pace-play-time-clock-timer-pitcher-110614
Originally published: November 7, 2014. Last Updated: November 7, 2014.