Atlanta Braves and the new minor league rule changes

It’s been a while since I’ve had a good rant.  Today’s announcement of new ‘Pace of Play’ rules for minor league baseball is about as good an opportunity for one as there is.

I am a fan of the game of baseball.  I was hooked when listening to Atlanta Braves games on both crystal and transistor radios at night in the late 1960’s.  I like the strategy.  I appreciate the skills involved.  The mini-one-on-one battle happening with every at bat is an art form.  The fact that mere millimeters separates a home run from a routine grounder is fascinating to me.

I don’t need gimmickry.  I don’t need extra offense.  I would appreciate unnecessary delays due to commercial breaks and such, but that’s the price of a modern era with expenses and contracts… the things that incentivize all concerned to purposely perform at the highest level possible.

So I’m not a fan of many of the new pace-of-play initiatives.

The rule changes for the major leagues are probably not going to make a lot of difference, but they are tolerable.  The ones announced today for the minor leagues have crossed the line.

Here’s a summary:

• Mound visits.  Similar rules to those for the majors, though the limits vary by level:
  • AAA:  6 mount visits per game (same as majors)
  • AA:  8 visits
  • A (both Regular and Advanced leagues):  10 visits
  • Rookie/Short-season leagues:  unlimited
• Pitch clock.  This is big:  the pitcher must initiate a pitching motion within 15 seconds of him receiving the ball, provided the catcher and batter are in their places.  There is a laundry list of exceptions and reset opportunities, but recognize that the upper minor leagues have been operating with a 20 second pitch clock for three years now.
• Extra innings.  Here’s where I think that MLB and MiLB started in the right direction, but came off the rails by going too far.  This requires its own page, and we’ll get to that in detail in a bit.