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Saturday, March 11, 2023

TV’s challenge: How to work in the tight spaces of the new pitch clock

On Feb. 25 during the White Sox spring opener against the San Diego Padres, he got his first taste of working with baseball’s new pace. It was even more jarring.

After the game he immediately met with White Sox play-by-play voice Jason Benetti.

“We are covering a different sport now,” Benetti said. Withers agreed.

“What Jason said keeps hitting me,” Withers told theScore this week. “Our jobs are completely different now. Having done three spring training games, it is tenfold more impactful than anything I thought it was going to be just from talking about it.”

Those following MLB’s spring action have seen how some players are struggling to adapt to baseball’s new pace and rules, but they’re not the only critical industry employees facing a major adjustment.

During that first game, Benetti felt the change immediately.

“I said to Stoney (color analyst Steve Stone) on the air, ‘Are we talking faster? I think we’re talking faster,’” Benetti said. “It was like, ‘Wow,’ the cadence and rhythm and the pace of everything we do in the booth felt different.”

The majority of fans consume baseball through TV. How we watch the game is going to change - a lot.

RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: March 11, 2023 at 10:56 AM | 34 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
  Tags: pitch clock

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   1. Tin Angel Posted: March 11, 2023 at 12:19 PM (#6120173)
On a podcast the other day the conversation turned to the necessity of showing the pitch clock counting down on the screen so the viewer is always aware. I'm hoping they don't plan on keeping on it the screen the whole time. Maybe they can just show it once it gets down to five seconds, like they do in football when the play clock is close to expiring?
   2. The Yankee Clapper Posted: March 11, 2023 at 01:18 PM (#6120178)
The best I’v seen so far is having the pitch clock added to the screen at the 7 second mark, when the batter is supposedly set, and the pitcher has just a short time to deliver the ball. I think that was a YES broadcast, but not sure.
   3. Rally Posted: March 11, 2023 at 02:08 PM (#6120186)
I haven’t noticed much different about the broadcasts except when they are explicitly talking about the pitch clock. It’s really cool when I see the game is an hour old and they’ve already reached the 5th inning.
   4. Barry`s_Lazy_Boy Posted: March 11, 2023 at 02:24 PM (#6120191)
The broadcasts I've watched have the pitch clock displayed, but its part of the standard score bug or whatever you call it, with score, count, outs, etc., so it is unobtrusive.

If a large pitch clock was always in the lower corner of the screen, that would stink.
   5. John Northey Posted: March 11, 2023 at 10:52 PM (#6120217)
The Jays seem to have shifted it into the bug with the score/count/pitches/whatever in it as well. Works well, as I look at it now more because I expect screw ups to happen but will have it disappear in my mind at times while watching.
   6. Astroenteritis Posted: March 11, 2023 at 11:03 PM (#6120218)
Just returned from a week in Florida. Attended five games and was surprised that almost every game came in around 2:30. Found myself watching the pitch clock in CF out of the corner of my eye a lot. I'm guessing the in person experience will evolve for fans so that the pitch clock is just kind of in our heads and we don't look at the clock too much. Hope the TV experience is similar, because I don't relish the idea of seeing a clock counting down on the screen all the time.
   7. Jack Sommers Posted: March 12, 2023 at 01:20 AM (#6120225)
From my personal experience the clock fades into the background at the ballpark for me. I've seen broadcasts with a big clock in the lower right corner starting from 15 or 20. I agree, that looks crappy and is annoying, They should just pop it in at 7 seconds like the Yes broadcast does.
   8. kirstie819 Posted: March 12, 2023 at 07:12 AM (#6120229)
Think about what you’re passionate about and what you want to write about. This can be anything from fashion and beauty to travel and lifestyle. Once you’ve narrowed down your niche, you’ll be able to create content that’s tailored for your target audience. https://chairsteam.com/best-gaming-chairs-under-200/
   9. ERROR---Jolly Old St. Nick Posted: March 12, 2023 at 12:21 PM (#6120244)
How desperate does a product pusher have to be to post product links on BTF?
   10. It's regretful that PASTE was able to get out Posted: March 12, 2023 at 12:37 PM (#6120245)
My one worry about this is that, as far as I can tell from watching spring training games, batters are still allowed to call timeout (which the ump invariably grants) and step out pretty much whenever they like. If that's not firmly and officially curtailed, I could see them making a regular habit of it and dragging the games back toward three hours. And it's a practice that's preferential to hitters (I greatly doubt a pitcher would be granted timeout to reset the clock), which would get pitchers whining, which could persuade MLB to say the hell wit it and throw the whole thing out.
   11. Howie Menckel Posted: March 12, 2023 at 01:37 PM (#6120247)
batters can only call timeout once per at-bat.
   12. It's regretful that PASTE was able to get out Posted: March 12, 2023 at 01:50 PM (#6120248)
I actually did not know that--still far too much, they should not be granted time-out at all unless in obvious duress, but that's still a Good Thing.
   13. Howie Menckel Posted: March 12, 2023 at 02:05 PM (#6120249)
one batter used up his timeout almost immediately against Scherzer, who basically froze him in the box for the rest of the AB. I think many hitters may dispense with them altogether unless it is indeed necessary.
   14. Walt Davis Posted: March 12, 2023 at 04:19 PM (#6120256)
Yeah, much like any other use them or lose them timeouts or challenges, we might see batters calling timeout pretty much every PA. But they can deal with that next year if it's a problem.

So what was average time between pitches in MLB last year?
   15. What did Billy Ripken have against ElRoy Face? Posted: March 12, 2023 at 04:38 PM (#6120258)
About three weeks.
   16. John Reynard Posted: March 12, 2023 at 04:50 PM (#6120261)
How desperate does a product pusher have to be to post product links on BTF?


Its probably a bot that just looks for places it can open an account and post automatically. I agree they're probably wasting their time here though.
   17. BDC Posted: March 12, 2023 at 05:26 PM (#6120263)
Hey, I don't know about the rest of you people, but I am passionate about fashion and beauty and travel and lifestyle.
   18. the Hugh Jorgan returns Posted: March 12, 2023 at 09:11 PM (#6120275)
“We are covering a different sport now,”


I believed it is spelled hyperbole.

Seriously, its w*nkers like this complaining about a better product that will give a fraction of people a reason to whinge about the better pace. ITS THE SAME F*CKING GAME BUT WITH LESS WASTED TIME. Move the f*ck on.
   19. Jose is an Absurd Sultan Posted: March 12, 2023 at 09:28 PM (#6120277)
It’s going to take some adjustments but 18 got it. I mean I’ll miss the mid batter T-Mobile ads as much of the next guy but we will soldier on.
   20. Zach Posted: March 12, 2023 at 10:21 PM (#6120280)
In all seriousness, they probably will need to change the emotional tenor of the broadcast from "golfer lining up a putt" to "midseason college basketball".

But that's a big improvement!
   21. Benji Gil Gamesh VII - The Opt-Out Awakens Posted: March 13, 2023 at 12:29 AM (#6120282)
I believed it is spelled hyperbole.

Seriously, its w*nkers like this complaining about a better product that will give a fraction of people a reason to whinge about the better pace.
This is actually FAR more hyperbole (or just inaccurate if you prefer) than what it was reacting to.

I didn't read any whining in the article, I read professionals realizing that they are going to have to change the way they do their jobs. At most they are concerned about their ability to do it effectively.
   22. bookbook Posted: March 13, 2023 at 07:43 AM (#6120288)
One timeout per at bat isn’t too much. I think the 15-second clock may be a beat too fast. (I’ve read 18 might be ideal).

However, the true test is when the first superstar pitcher gets injured and blames the pitch clock. (Not enough time for muscle recovery between pitches.) Will the backlash force some accommodation? Probably not, but it could be interesting.
   23. BDC Posted: March 13, 2023 at 08:48 AM (#6120290)
That's probably true. Of course, superstars have been getting injured all along without any constraint on how fast they have to work, but logic may not prevail in their rhetoric when they do now.
   24. villageidiom Posted: March 13, 2023 at 09:23 AM (#6120292)
On the Baseball Isn't Boring podcast Rich Hill said he wanted 5 seconds added to the clock because it just isn't enough time, which I took as general whining. I thought he did have a point that umpires should have some discretion on when to restart the clock after a play. Hill's example was the pitcher backing up plays at 3rd or home, then being expected to be back on the mound within 15 seconds and then pitch within another 15 seconds. He'd heard that in the minors the umpires had and used that discretion, but in spring training he hasn't seen it yet. I think that's fair.

I also agree with him in principle that it sucks if games are decided by something other than a competitive act. He was pointing that principle toward clock violations, but, like, a game being decided by fan interference also sucks. Although I agree on principle, I see a refusal to compete as being within bounds of competition. If a game is decided because a batter chose not to run out a grounder, that's not ideal and I'd be mad if I rooted for that team; but that's a choice by a competitor in the game, and thus it's a legitimate way for a game to be decided. Clock violations are a new choice, and to me it's just as legitimate a way for a game to be decided.
   25. It's regretful that PASTE was able to get out Posted: March 13, 2023 at 10:43 AM (#6120295)
15 seconds is too many. It's only timing to the first movement of the pitcher's foot to begin his windup/delivery. It ought to be 8 seconds without runners on/12 with. But this is a great and massively needed step in the right direction.

I also agree with him in principle that it sucks if games are decided by something other than a competitive act.


True, but not one percent as much as players having an attitude that the fans are irrelevant sucks.
   26. BDC Posted: March 13, 2023 at 11:46 AM (#6120298)
That's a good argument, villageidiom. Competitive acts are always defined by the rules of the competition. Extremely far back in the day, strikes existed but balls didn't, so the institution of a called ball (towards a base on balls) incorporated a choice into the competition (to throw wide, or not to swing at a wide pitch) that was not originally a competitive act either. And one could probably say the same about lots of new rules in many sports.
   27. Eric J can SABER all he wants to Posted: March 13, 2023 at 12:17 PM (#6120299)
However, the true test is when the first superstar pitcher gets injured and blames the pitch clock. (Not enough time for muscle recovery between pitches.) Will the backlash force some accommodation? Probably not, but it could be interesting.

Did anything change after Tyler Glasnow blamed his injury on the sticky stuff ban a couple years ago?
   28. Rally Posted: March 13, 2023 at 12:45 PM (#6120301)
However, the true test is when the first superstar pitcher gets injured and blames the pitch clock. (Not enough time for muscle recovery between pitches.) Will the backlash force some accommodation? Probably not, but it could be interesting.


I think back to what Jim Kaat once said, on why he pitched so fast. He felt like once he started, he was going to be tired out say, 2 hours later. Was not particularly concerned about innings or pitch count, just time spent out on the mound. So he got as much of the game packed into those hours as he could.
   29. Stevey Posted: March 13, 2023 at 12:59 PM (#6120303)
He felt like once he started, he was going to be tired out say, 2 hours later. Was not particularly concerned about innings or pitch count, just time spent out on the mound.


Ok, but what he felt wasn't actually how things work.
   30. AuntBea odeurs de parfum de distance sociale Posted: March 13, 2023 at 01:21 PM (#6120304)
Think you might be overlooking fast acting greenies.
   31. Perry Posted: March 13, 2023 at 07:15 PM (#6120359)
I barely ever noticed the clock the one game I attended with one (in Columbus in 2019), but I think the minor-league rules were slightly different and also the clock was 20 seconds. Game sure moved along, though. I do think that 15 might be a little quick and they might eventually settle on 18 or 20.

As for seeing it on the screen, I don't feel any need to see it at all. If they call a violation, they call a violation, but I don't care if the clock was at 7 or 5 or 2 or 1 when the pitch was delivered, so why do I need it? It would just be a distraction.

Also I think it's unfair to call Jason Benetti a w*nker or a whinger. He's a solid pro, one of the best in the business as far as I'm concerned, trying to adjust to a fairly massive change in his job conditions. If he says it's a different game as far as doing his job, I'm inclined to believe him. He'll adjust, though, as will the broadcast business as a whole, as will the players.

   32. geonose Posted: March 14, 2023 at 02:47 AM (#6120387)
Yeah, it's a difference to how the broadcasters do their jobs, but what it really means is that it gives them less time to fit in promos and ads while making it very clear how to gamble on games in case we didn't know how to do that.

Or to show meaningless SSS graphics, like how Player X batted such-and-such over the past 13 day games when in an 0-1 count against a left-handed pitcher after having cereal for breakfast that morning.

My feeling is that what I am interested in is the game itself, and not the promos and ads or the gambling come-ons, so perhaps reducing the volume of those is a good thing? So far I see no downside.
   33. Walt Davis Posted: March 14, 2023 at 04:24 PM (#6120411)
On the Baseball Isn't Boring podcast Rich Hill said he wanted 5 seconds added to the clock because it just isn't enough time, which I took as general whining. I thought he did have a point that umpires should have some discretion on when to restart the clock after a play. Hill's example was the pitcher backing up plays at 3rd or home, then being expected to be back on the mound within 15 seconds and then pitch within another 15 seconds. He'd heard that in the minors the umpires had and used that discretion, but in spring training he hasn't seen it yet. I think that's fair.

Hill is nearly as old as I am so I sympathize. It takes me 15 seconds to mentally prepare myself to get off the couch and another 15 seconds to loosen up all the joints enough to move. So I'm all for modifying the rule to give guys over 40 an extra 5-10 seconds per pitch.
   34. Darren Posted: March 14, 2023 at 04:34 PM (#6120413)
I cannot wait to hear less of the banter from the booth. There will be less, right? Right???

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