Do you think this was sent overnight or standard shipping?

Papelbon was subjected to the "additional discipline, including fines" for this on multiple occasions. Well, perhaps not for the warmup throws part, but for pace of game violations.

I didn't even know Ekstrom was out of the Rays system. Only the second most surprising appearance today for me by a former Ray though, I was really surprised when the Seddon listed as today's starter for Cleveland was acutally former Rays prospect Chris Seddon.

I hope the presiding umpires received similar letters.

Cheater! There goes his shot at the HoF.

I think the guy should file for a declaratory judgment in federal court that he's being denied due process without a hearing.

I wouldn't mind having Joe Garagiola Jr.'s job.

Sure, blame the pitchers for 30 seconds of wasted time when every batter exhibits ADD-like symptoms by stepping out of the box after each pitch, playing with their gloves and uniform during at bats.

More greenies, more adderall - the only way to a faster game.

Do you think this was sent overnight or standard shipping?

If it sat in the post office over a weekend, it's no longer valid.

Seriously, shouldn't this letter have been sent to the umpires? They're the ones who need to be looking after this crap. Are pitchers supposed to have a Timex runner's watch or something that keeps track of how long they've been throwing warmup pitches?

Seriously, shouldn't this letter have been sent to the umpires? They're the ones who need to be looking after this crap. Are pitchers supposed to have a Timex runner's watch or something that keeps track of how long they've been throwing warmup pitches?

Do you really need a timepiece to know that you're running almost a minute behind? Not absolving the umps of their issues (and we don't know whether they were sent one also), but it seems Elstrom's violations have been pretty damn blatant.

The simple solution, of course, is to limit pitchers to 2:25, warmup count be damned.

Do you really need a timepiece to know that you're running almost a minute behind?

I honestly have no idea. I have never warmed up in the middle of a major-league game, and have no idea how different two and a half minutes feels from three and a half minutes. I also have no idea how vigilant the umpires are in enforcing the 2:25 limit, whether they tell the pitchers when their time is up. It's possible Ekstrom realized he was taking a lot longer than other pitchers; it's also possible he didn't realize how far he had gone over the limit.

The simple solution, of course, is to limit pitchers to 2:25, warmup count be damned.

Absolutely. Tell the pitchers the limit is eight tosses or 2:25, whichever comes first, and if a pitcher has thrown only five pitches when the time limit arrives, too bad. Managers will whine that the umpires are risking injury by not letting the pitchers warm up, but they'll also make sure it never happens again.

Sure, blame the pitchers for 30 seconds of wasted time when every batter exhibits ADD-like symptoms by stepping out of the box after each pitch, playing with their gloves and uniform during at bats.

I just timed Curtis Granderson's at-bat against Aaron Loup. There were no runners on base. Granderson never stepped out of the box, even when he would have been entitled to by rule after swinging and missing. Loup did not deliver a single pitch within the alloted 12 seconds. I don't believe that this particular at-bat is exceptional.

Tell the pitchers the limit is eight tosses or 2:25, whichever comes first, and if a pitcher has thrown only five pitches when the time limit arrives, too bad. Managers will whine that the umpires are risking injury by not letting the pitchers warm up, but they'll also make sure it never happens again.

I can't imagine spreading eight tosses out over more than two minutes. So the problem has to be that Elkstrom and his coach/manager/catcher killed most of the alloted time before he actually started throwing his warmup pitches, right?