Feb. 25, 2015

For those of us who have grown up loving baseball, “Take me out to the ball game” is as familiar to us as saying the “Pledge of Allegiance.” But take a minute and think about the lyrics. I don’t seem to remember there being a verse that says, “Can this game speed-up, I’m getting bored.”

The MLB Players Association has established new rules for the 2015 season to try to speed up the pace of the games so fans stay interested. According to ESPN.com, the rules include hitters keeping one foot in the batter’s box during at-bats, managers must stay in the dugout during replay challenges and must signal from the dugout if they choose to contest one, a prompt return to play after TV commercial breaks and timed pitching changes.

Now don’t get me wrong, these rules will definitely work. The average game time from the 2014 season was three hours and two minutes. That’s a long time to be either standing or sitting in a stadium chair watching men swing a bat or throw a pitch. But here’s my point: anyone who truly understands and appreciates the dynamics of baseball won’t call it just an at-bat or just throwing a pitch.

When I buy baseball tickets, I want to be at that ball park for as long as I can. I’m choosing to go to a game because I genuinely love the sport and want to watch it. I don’t wait for it to be over, or get bored because it’s taking too long.

If anything, the most exciting thing in baseball is extra innings. That’s when full-count home runs happen or a one-two-three inning by the fifth closer who wasn’t expected to pitch that day. Those are the moments in baseball that fans live for. The moments that happen three hours into a game.

There’s nothing wrong with the pace of a baseball game. For those of us that worship the game like a religion, a three hour ball game is a night or a day well spent. Speeding up the game will only take away from the tension building situations that come in an at-bat or on the mound.

Just imagine it’s the bottom of the ninth, with two outs. The count is 3-2 and the home team needs one run to tie the game to send it into extra innings. I don’t want the pitcher to have to rush to send the pitch over the plate. I want the batter to step out of the box and take a minute to make the pitcher think. It’s in these few seconds the hope that every baseball fan lives for. The hope that the batter is going to hit that bottom of the ninth home run, or the pitcher is going to strike out the side and end the game.

These are the moments that will be taken away with these new rules. We spend enough of our time rushing around in life, I prefer to take baseball one pitch at a time; no matter how long it is.