Comments on: No wonder Yankees and Red Sox play never-ending games

By: JBerardi

JBerardi — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 18:27:53 +0000

Also, the Red Sox DID just hire the A’s former pitching coach, so there may be some hope there.

By: JBerardi

JBerardi — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 18:26:50 +0000

“…and there’s just no reason to allow guys like Betancourt and Papelbon to take 30 seconds on every pitch.”

In fact, there’s every reason to NOT let them do it. Watching Papelbon pitch is excruciating, and there’s absolutely no need for it.

By: stchoo

stchoo — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 13:43:41 +0000

Nope. The article mentions is only accounts for when there are no runners on base, because the PitchFX data does not include pickoffs.

By: Roger Moore

Roger Moore — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 04:39:14 +0000

That rule only applies if the bases are empty. The pitcher is free to hold the ball for as long as he likes if there are runners on base. Holding the ball for a long time is a well-known strategy for stopping the stolen base. A runner can only keep himself at peak readiness to steal for a little while, after which he has to relax a bit. The pitcher holds the ball until the runner relaxes and then immediately starts his motion. It’s an effective but time consuming approach. I wonder if part of the slow time between pitches for the Yankees and Red Sox is because their organizations teach that approach to controlling the running game.

By: Jonny 5

Jonny 5 — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:53:14 +0000

Stepping out of the box kills the most time. Do players need to redo their gloves between every pitch? Half the time is the pitchers waiting for every damn batter to walk out of the box ,do a twirl or two, spit a couple times, then readjust their gloves. Seems to me the Red Sox and Yanks are just being more polite to the batters.

By: scatterbrian

scatterbrian — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 23:33:14 +0000

Concur. It seems like most Yankees pitchers not named Rivera have trouble getting on the same page as Posada. Dude is constantly running out to the mound…

By: uyf1950

uyf1950 — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 23:18:04 +0000

Your right they do. My post was all inclusive of all players and all teams. Your reply seems to mistakenly assume I was excluding the Yankees in my original comment.

By: proudlycanadian

proudlycanadian — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 22:54:57 +0000

In my experience, Yankee hitters take their sweet time at the plate. They are constantly stepping out of the box and have a habit of adjusting themselves (equipment etc.).

By: Kevin S.

Kevin S. — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 22:52:55 +0000

Curious if those “time between pitches” totals account for throw-overs?

By: uyf1950

uyf1950 — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 22:47:36 +0000

I hate to bring this up but could it possibly be that the major contributing factor in the length of Yankee and Red Sox games is due to the fact that they are the 2 highest scoring teams. Also, since the Yankees and Red Sox only play each other 18 times out of a 162 game schedule that means for the other 144 games when they play other teams those game are only 10 minutes longer then the example in the article. That comes to a little over one minute per inning for a 9 inning game.

If MLB is really interested in reducing the length of games, limit the time of “mound conferences”, and players stepping out of the batters box to “adjust” their batting gloves after every pitch. Just these 2 changes would save more then timing the time between pitchers pitches.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 22:16:23 +0000

There is a rule in place if the pitcher takes too long between pitches (I believe it’s an automatic ball for the hitter if the ump rules the pitcher is taking too long), but the umpires rarely enforce it.

By: proudlycanadian

proudlycanadian — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 21:50:55 +0000

I used to enjoy watching head to head match ups between Buehrle and Halladay. Those games were usually over in less than 2 hours.