Pace of Play Clock being used in Arizona Fall League

Baseball is a game with no clock, they said. Well, that has all changed as the Arizona Fall League has instituted a pace of play clock beside each dugout, behind home plate and in the outfield at Salt River home games. The opener of the Fall League was one week ago and things have gone smoothly so far since instituting the clock.

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The clock resembles that of a shot clock in basketball. The clock brings new rules to the game of baseball and you can see them all here. Some of the main points are as follows:

– The intentional walk will no longer require four pitches. The manager will just hold up four fingers and the hitter will hand his bat to the bat boy and walk to first.

– The hitter must have at least one foot inside the batters box at all times, unless there is a foul tip off of him or a pitch forcing him out of the box.

– There will be a time limit of two minutes and 30 seconds to make a pitching change. The penalty for not complying with the time limit is a ball on the batter.

While they are implementing these rules, they are also looking at potential modifications to the replay system. The system seemed to work for the most part, but not everyone is going to be happy. That is just like not everyone is going to like the pace of play clock.

By the way, last night’s game at Salt River Field between Surprise and Salt River lasted 2 hours and 14 minutes using all of the tactics to speed up the game. The final was 1-0, but still, if games can be finished in the 2 hour and 40 minute range with regularity that will make the game a lot more appealing for the younger fan. Not saying I agree with it, but it will appeal to the younger fan, wanting fast paced action, all the time.