Baseball is back with a buzz
By Anthony Garzilli
Baseball cards line the mantle, displayed prominently among family photos and pieces of valued artwork. An autographed baseball sits nearby.
An afternoon game from a distant city plays in the background. There’s the distinct sound of the crack of the bat followed by cheers and whistles.
Between innings the radio station plays catchy local commercials (“Hop on over to Meijer”).
I’m wearing a baseball-themed T-shirt (“Baseball is the Best”) and glancing at scores from a busy slate of contests.
The announcer shouts: “Quick toss to first ... got him!”
The crowd roars.
Baseball is back. It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
The season is just getting going, but there’s a buzz about baseball.
New rules have been the storyline, most notably the pitch clock. The goal is to pick up the pace of play. The games had been crawling along in recent years (an average time of 3 hours, 6 minutes in 2022), often because of the sluggish down time between pitches.
The pitch clock, which gives pitchers 15 seconds to throw with nobody on base and 20 seconds when there is a base runner, has made an immediate impact. The games are about half an hour shorter, averaging 2:37 (shortest average time since the early 1980s), and the rhythm has quickened.
Fans nationwide took immediate notice. MLB.TV, the league’s streaming platform, saw a record 172 million watched minutes on Opening Day, according to SportsPro.That’s a 42 percent increase from last year. MLB’s social media views were up 83 percent.
Back with a buzz.
I listened to a game from Detroit as I wrote this. After an hour had passed, two home runs had been hit, five runs had scored, and there were exciting defensive plays and two-out run-scoring hits.
The game was already in the fifth inning. My attention never wavered.
Baseball didn’t need to invoke new rules (larger bases, restricting the infield shift) to rekindle my interest. I’ve been a fan since childhood, but the rule changes can’t be ignored.
The pace means I don’t have to struggle to keep my eyes open to watch the final innings of a night game. In fact, I can catch a decent amount of West Coast action.
In my line of sight are the baseball cards: Rickey Henderson darts off third base. Mike Trout leaps to rob a batter of a home run. Mariano Rivera smiles.
The cards are a reminder of the extraordinary talent of the game’s greats and have me excited for this season’s memorable moments.
And that afternoon contest in Detroit? Time of game 2:32. Leaving plenty of time to get ready to tune into the first pitch of the next game.
