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Leagues and Governing Bodies

MLB Has No Designs On Pitch Clock For '15, But Will Attempt To Shorten Games

Incoming MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred's "first order of business" when he takes over for Bud Selig next week will be "trying to negotiate an agreement" with the MLBPA implementing rules to reduce the time of games, according to Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY. Manfred and Selig at Thursday's owners meetings in Arizona announced there will be a "pitch clock implemented this year at the Class AA and Class AAA levels, requiring pitchers to throw the ball within 20 seconds." There were "no discussions trying to implement a pitch clock" at the MLB level -- realizing the players and union "likely would resist such a radical change -- but there are proposed rules designed to shorten games." Selig did not offer details, but MLB "could require hitters to keep one foot in the batter's box, as they did during the Arizona Fall League, and put a time limit on pitching changes." However, nothing can happen "without the consent" of the union. Manfred said that he is "optimistic that a deal can be reached with the union on the new rule changes before the start" of the '15 season, with MLB Chief Legal Officer Dan Halem leading the negotiations (USA TODAY, 1/16). On Long Island, David Lennon notes the AFL experiment "shortened games ... by 10 minutes, down to 2 hours, 42 minutes from 2 hours, 52 minutes a year ago." MLB games last season on average "took longer than three hours to complete." Selig: "The Fall League was a very useful thing. It really was a very critical step in that process and we'll see what happens. But I'm very confident. Let's put it that way" (NEWSDAY, 1/16).  MLB Network’s Ron Darling said implementing a pitch clock in the minors can “train” players to play quicker. MLB Network’s Dan Plesac said a pitch clock could be successful "if you implement this and stick to it." Plesac: "But you have to stick to it. You have to have strict guidelines and start calling it in Spring Training” (“MLB Now,” MLB Network, 1/15).

ON THE CLOCK
: SI.com's Cliff Corcoran wrote while he understands the "desire for games to move more swiftly, the presence of an ever-present digital countdown clock strikes me as about as antithetical to the spirit and aesthetic of baseball as possible." Baseball is "famously, and ... proudly, the only major North American team sport to be played without a clock." While a pitch clock "would not impact a team's scoring opportunities ... the deleterious impact of a clock on the feel of the game, its natural ebb and flow, the rise and fall in tension and suspense, would seem to me to be far greater than the positive impact on the length of the average game" (SI.com, 1/15). MLB Network’s Brian Kenny said he “was big on” improving the “pace of play, not length of games." Kenny: "There’s a difference. … Get things going so you have sustained action” ("MLB Now," MLB Network, 1/15).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

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SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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