Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose among 35 rotating taps and 200+ beers in the cooler.

Major League Baseball may have finally gotten something right.

Since taking the MLB commissioner job in 2015, it’s safe to say Rob Manfred hasn’t exactly endeared himself to baseball fans. From refusing to fight frustrating local blackouts to devaluing the World Series trophy, Manfred’s tenure has been rocky. But it appears Manfred at last has a win under his belt: the pitch clock.

Before making its way to the big leagues, the pitch clock had been used in minor league baseball as an experimental rule since 2015. And take it from someone who worked in minor league baseball for a season: it was not nearly as invasive as baseball purists would make it out to be.

The pitch clock is in its debut season in the bigs, and after an iffy first week or so of spring training as veteran major leaguers struggled to adjust, the rule has had the desired effect. In the first few games of the regular season, average game time has gone down by about 30 minutes, from three hours to two-and-a-half. Pitch clock violations against either pitcher or batter are not commonplace as some feared, but rather just another quirky thing you can see at a baseball game.

One such notable instance occurred on Tuesday, when Diamond Heels alum Zac Gallen earned the easiest strikeout of his career against Manny Machado, who took too long adjusting his batting gloves. Machado then got himself ejected arguing the call.

Elsewhere, Miami Marlins ace and reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcántara earned what baseball old heads call “the Maddux” by pitching a complete game in just an hour and 57 minutes, something which would have been unthinkable last season. The new rule is clearly slanted toward quick workers like Alcántara and Boston Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale, but baseball purists who opposed the clock underrated the ability of professional athletes to adjust to a new rule. Who among us hasn’t had to do that at our workplace? At least the ballplayers had a warning.

From a selfish perspective as a baseball fan, I hope the pitch clock starts to bring back followers of the game who may have turned their back on it due to slow pace and dead time. There’s no question MLB is terrible at promoting itself, what with the aforementioned blackouts and a puzzling refusal to market star players. But maybe this new rule, a rare good look for the league, can start to change that.

 

Featured image via Associated Press/Erin Hooley

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