I've read some interesting articles the last couple of days regarding two of Major League Baseball's elite teams, veteran umpire Joe West and the pace of baseball games.
West publically singled out the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox for the long length of their games. The American League Eastern Division rivals opened the season and couldn't finish a game in less than three hours and 20 minutes. The other games in the series were pushing four hours.
He called the two teams "pathetic" and "embarrassing." His comments drew a lot of feedback from across the league. Boston manager Terry Francona was careful about what he said, but his second baseman Dustin Pedroia fired back.
Targeted players outraged
"If he doesn't want to do Red Sox and Yankee games, he should tell the umpires' union. Then when we're in the World Series, he'll be out of that assignment, too," Pedroia said in an ESPN.com article.
The Yankees also had something to say about the matter. Yankee closer Mariano Rivera said, "What does he want us [the players] to do, swing at balls?" And Pedroia said he was going to step out and take a deep breath when playing the Yanks.
But I think they're all missing the point of West's comments. I'm also glad someone finally decided to call out these two elite, yet much-despised clubs.
That's not the point
Here's the deal. If every other team in MLB can play their games in a more timely fashion (although still not ideal), why can't you? The Yanks and the Sox are the two teams that stand out as having the longest games.
Of course you shouldn't start swinging at balls or not step out of the box entirely. But there are other things the players can do that will add up. I think it's interesting and frustrating that West's comments unleashed such outrage from the players. He's justified in his remarks and the players should think long and hard about them.
It looks like West will not be fined, but he was basically told by MLB that he needs to keep his comments to himself. I just hope some good comes out of this situation.
Pick it up
In recent seasons, more attention has been paid to MLB games and ways to possibly speed them up. Games should be shooting for the three-hour mark, in my opinion. Obviously since baseball is not a timed sport, the element of time is a huge variable. But I don't see why the Yanks and Boston need to play these long games night after night.
There are many reasons for why games last as long as they do. A batter steps out after a pitch where he doesn't move in the box, but he still feels the need to readjust his batting gloves. A catcher goes out to talk to his pitcher multiple times in an inning. A pitcher throws over to first base, or steps off the rubber to give him a look, multiple times during one at-bat.
Those are just off the top of my head and probably don't begin to scratch the surface of the variables out there. Are all these actions during a game really necessary?
A few minor changes add up
If you blast a foul ball into the seats on a 94-mph fastball, by all means readjust your gloves. If you need to touch base with your pitcher, please use just one or two quick trips to the mound. If you want the runner at first (that you already let get on in the first place) to know you're paying attention to him, play catch with your firstbaseman once or twice, and after that only if you really have the guy in a bind.
I guess what I'm getting at is these simple elements of the game are getting more exaggerated and drawn out. I'll bet if you watch a game from 20 years ago, the pace would be a lot different.
Of course, television broadcasts do play a role in the length of games, with the set amount of time needed between innings so they can run the commercials that pay the bills. But some of the pacing is in the player's and manager's control.
For example, changing pitchers three or four times in an inning because you're trying to go with the right-handed/left-handed pitcher-to-batter matchups is a little excessive. I'm not a big fan of this strategy in general, and it certainly prolongs the game.
Apples and oranges, but still...
Take this for what it's worth, but I enjoy the fact that I can sit down on my couch and watch a Minnesota Wild game in two-and-a-half hours. A few years ago, the NHL made some changes, including "hurry-up faceoffs" that help improve the game lengths from around the three-hour mark to 2:30.
Again, baseball and hockey are two different sports, but if the NHL could find a way to speed things along, why can't MLB?
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