Major League Baseball nailed it with the pitch clock.
It’s a deduction I made after watching the first five innings of a Brewers Cactus League game in early March.
The game was light on offense and lasted 2 hours 11 minutes.
On average, spring training games lasted 2 hours 35 minutes in 2023, down 26-minutes from 2022.
I continue to believe that pace of play in baseball fits under a larger umbrella that the league is more concerned with: The quality of entertainment umbrella.
Baseball doesn’t mind a 3-and-a-half hour game, so long as the quality of entertainment doesn’t suffer.
Romantics of the game have long sung the praises of a clockless past time designed to casually meander through the heart of your afternoon or evening.
The get-the-ball-and-go nature of today’s game will be appealing to casual fans, and staunch supporters of the old game will come around.
So get ready fewer step-offs and lazy pick-off attempts. Those days are gone.
Get ready for more pace, more stolen bases and more action.
The clock is here and it’s here to stay.
What took ’em so long?
