MLB’s Pitch Clock Is a Warning Sign
Ahead of this year’s MLB (Major League Baseball) season, there was genuine concern that a pitch clock would ruin the game. A month into the shortened-game era, and it’s tough to find much of a debate about the pitch clock. Fans love it. The change is a great example of how live sports are being impacted by other uses for our time, including social media and free streaming video. One can’t shake the feeling that changes like the pitch clock are just the beginning, not the ending. Live sports are on a collision course with much more addicting forms of media and software.
The pitch clock gives MLB pitchers 15 seconds to throw a pitch when the bases are empty and 20 seconds when there is a runner on base. Hitters need to be in the batter’s box before the pitch clock reaches 8 seconds. A similar pitch clock was instituted in the minor league last year. The primary reason for having a pitch clock is to shorten games. In 2022, the average nine-inning MLB game was 3 hours, 3 minutes.
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