This
Rob Manfred guy doesn't fool around. Major League Baseball today announced a new set of
"pace of play" rules that will be implemented this year in Spring Training, the regular season and the post-season. The key feature
requires that all batters must keep at least one foot in the batter’s box unless one of a group of exceptions occurs (e.g., the batter swings, the batter must evade a pitched ball, time is granted, a wild pitch occurs, etc.). Also, there will be
stricter timing of breaks between innings and pitching changes. A load of other changes will be implemented as well—including a new rule that
requires a manager to stay in the dugout during replay reviews. All of the pace rules seem eminently reasonable and Commissioner Manfred should be lauded for this quick implementation. Bud would have appointed another commission and waited six years.
