Watching the clock

by Eric Nelson

Twenty seconds.

That’s the count on pitchers in pro baseball’s new pitch clock, this season a minor league experiment to trim game lengths. One day it could join its cousins, the 24-second shot clock of pro basketball and football’s 35-second play clock, as another stadium metronome that keeps the pace of play moving along so we can get the game finished and get home.

But are we saving anything? Will baseball’s new time-saving idea make the game better? Or in shaving a few seconds are we taking away from the enjoyment? After all, I’ve always thought of extra innings as free baseball.

Baseball’s argument against a clock is that it’s an otherwise timeless sport, uniquely measured in innings and outs. Play can continue indefinitely as long as you avoid that third out, or at least tie it up in the bottom of the inning.

Some summer nights may drag, but the fix isn’t a countdown. Fans don’t need to watch another clock. We’ve got enough countdowns in life. Sports, baseball in particular, offer a reprieve to measuring what we’ve done by how long it took to do it.

So to those bureaucrats and radio jocks that say baseball is too slow, sit back and relax. Have another hot dog. Wander out to the outfield. Block off more than three hours in your daily planner.

Better yet, leave the planner on the shelf every now and then, or just throw it out the window. Because it’s baseball season again.