By Zach Stremer
Baseball is an old sport. Dubbed “America’s Game” since the early twentieth century, any major changes to the sport are quick to make headlines and divide fans. Right now, the big change people are talking about is the addition of the pitch clock. Put simply, the pitch clock works the same as the shot clock in the NBA. In this case, it gives pitcher a limited amount of time to make a pitch before being penalized. In its current iteration, the clock is fifteen seconds when bases are empty, and twenty seconds when there are runners on base. For pitchers, clock violations will result in an automatic ball.
Why was the rule instated? MLB officials are trying to cut down on game time. Baseball games have always run long, and it’s part of the appeal for some audiences. Per CBS Sports – the average game in from 2019-2021 was over three hours. The addition of the pitch clock looks to cut over half an hour from the game, as some recent matches have been running about two and a half hours. It seems like the MLB is trying to make baseball more exciting by speeding the game up.
Is it worth it? Maybe. The pitch clock has met its fair share of detractors. The most often and loudest complaint is that it is rushing pitchers – who must think ahead and plot strategically. The complaint is pitchers are now being cheated out of that time with the introduction of the clock. For the audience watching, reactions are mixed. Baseball has always been more of a leisurely watch as compared to the likes of basketball and football, and the pitch clock seems to disrupt the established pace that audiences are used to. One of the larger reactions isn’t for players or audiences, but instead broadcasters, who now have to program an extra half hour of content that they hadn’t in the past.
Overall, the MLB pitch clock is a mixed bag. I think it’s too reductive to either call it a net positive or negative. Only time will tell how the clock impacts the game, or if it will be changed or removed in the future.
Zach Stremer is a Senior at UW Oshkosh majoring in Radio TV Film
