Tick Tock, Tick Tock. Gotta Watch The Clock

Baseball used to be the only game without a clock/Image Credit: Latino Sports

Los Angeles, California– Get ready for this one baseball fans, the FTC’s are here. What is a FTC you ask? They are the “Field Timing Coordinators” who control the in game clock for every game. It has always been a low-profile position, until the non baseball people who never played this game at this level and run the game now, decided to add another way to speed up the game. That being the pitch clock.

So how does all of this work? As per MLB: “The length of games will still be determined by innings, not minutes. But to create a crisper pace, there will be a 30-second timer between batters and then a shorter time limit between pitches. Pitchers will be required to begin their motion 15 seconds after receiving the ball with the bases empty or 20 seconds after receiving the ball with runners on base. If they don’t, they will be charged with an automatic ball.” Got it?

I’m not sure what these FTC people get paid but it should be comparable to an Air Traffic Controller. The stress level and total concentration needed to sit for a whole game and get it right will be so intense that, like Air Traffic Controllers, burn-outs with these mostly young people, will be high.

MLB claims that this pitch clock rule cut minor league games by 25 minutes to two hours, 38 minutes last year, wow! That means in LA fans will spend more time getting to the game than they will watching a game. By the way, what’s the rush? Where you going? Got a plane to catch?

When you are spending all that money to attend one of these games, wouldn’t you want to stay as long as you can to get your moneys worth? It’s like flying first class and the pilot tells you they ran into a big jet stream and are now going to land one hour sooner. If I was flying first class I would rather they circle the airport three more times so I could enjoy another cocktail.

All of this is another stupid idea, by the baseball nerds, who are trying to reinvent the game in a way that is becoming unrecognizable. Is it really necessary? The numbers on how much live action takes place during an NFL game varies, but it is generally between 15 and 20 minutes. Yet the games are over three hours long. No one complaining there! If baseball would spend more time in player development working with pitchers on how to speed up their deliveries and teaching them how to pitch instead of encouraging them to throw 103 MPH, the fans would gladly stay an extra 20 minutes to watch a baseball game.

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