MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred on Friday said that he "did not expect violations of MLB’s new pace-of-game regulations to result in the suspension of any player" this season, according to Alex Speier of the BOSTON GLOBE. Manfred said, "I think that we’re going to work into the pace-of-game rules and you’re not going to see that type of disciplinary activity at the outset." Asked to clarify what he meant by “at the outset,” Manfred said, “This year is a good bet.” Speier noted Manfred "did not expect to be in direct contact" with Red Sox DH David Ortiz, who has been outspoken against the changes, but he "did reach out to the union in an effort to address the matter" (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/28). MLBPA Exec Dir Tony Clark said, "These changes that we've put in place are not in place to create havoc. They're put in place to see if the game can continue to move." Clark emphasized the rules can be "tweaked" if a problem develops. In Cleveland, Paul Hoynes noted the rules "will be tested in spring training games that begin this week and in April of the regular season" (CLEVELAND.com, 2/28).
WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL? Dodgers 1B Adrian Gonzalez said that he "understands why baseball’s new pace-of-game rules are necessary." Gonzalez: “It’s a TV-driven game, at least the financials of it. TV wants the game to end in three hours. Everything that’s going on with increased payrolls is because of TV. We have to be OK with that. That’s the way the game is going. If they ask for us to keep the game under three hours, we have to try to keep the game under three hours.” In L.A., Dylan Hernandez noted Gonzalez "envisions some problems arising, particularly with the rule that limits time between a third out and the first pitch of the following half-inning." Gonzalez: "What if an outfielder makes a diving catch deep in the gap to end an inning, does he still have two minutes to get in, put his helmet on, catch his breath? It’s a long ways to come in. There should be an exception to that" (L.A. TIMES, 2/28).
NEED FOR SPEED: A CHICAGO TRIBUNE editorial ran under the header, "Speeding Up Baseball, Carefully." MLB and the union "deserve credit for agreeing on steps to speed up the pace just a bit." Some "time-consuming elements are not bugs but features." Baseball games "would be shorter if hitters didn't work counts, if pitchers didn't make throws to first to hold runners, and if managers didn't make ample use of bullpens." The editorial: "Too bad. Those are important parts of the game, not needless padding. Baseball doesn't need to be hurried up. It just doesn't need to be stalled, either" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/28). Meanwhile, the N.Y. Daily News' Mike Lupica said if MLB officials "really want to make the sport more attractive to the younger demographic ... you know what they really ought to do? Move in the fences. Bring the home run back without having players go to the needle the way they once did to hit them. Stop giving the casual fan the idea that there's about as much scoring in baseball these days as there is in World Cup soccer" ("The Sports Reporters," ESPN, 3/1).
WIDE WORLD OF (FASTER) SPORTS: In N.Y., Christopher Clarey wrote in a world where attention spans "are under duress and where big-screen and small-screen entertainment options are proliferating by the hour, sports are increasingly focused on not only making their formats more compact but on making the most of literally every second." MLB recently released its initiatives, and the NBA this preseason experimented with "11-minute quarters and a 44-minute game." Reaching youth is "not just about streamlining the product," but instead is "about breaking up the main meal into bite-size portions that can be easily shared on social media." Golf has "made pace of play a major focus, both for the weekend duffers and the professionals," while tennis has "tried to enforce time limits between points in the last two seasons" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/28).
