I’ll admit, when minor league baseball, at the behest of Major League Baseball, began using a pitch clock, also known as pace of play clock, in 2015, I wasn’t a fan. However, I’ve warmed up to it a bit since then.

That first season, I became one of a few people hired by the Tulsa Drillers to run the clock for their home games, and as a baseball traditionalist, I wasn’t sure what to think of it at first. To me, baseball was meant to be played at a leisurely pace, letting the game unfold and whatever happened, happened. I will admit, I am not a fan of three-hour-plus marathons. Especially, when it’s a blowout or a game filled with several pitching changes because nobody can throw a strike.

When the clock was first instituted, the pitcher was given a certain amount of time (20-seconds) to be ready on the mound and release a pitch, and at the same time, the batter had to be in the batter’s box and ready to receive a pitch.

There was also a very liberal amount of time (2:40) allowed between half innings and pitcher substitutions, and a 30-second clock in between batters and for mound visits.

Some of these times have been tweaked a bit over the years, and this season the clock is set at :14 without runners on base and 18-seconds when there are runners on base, 30-seconds is still the norm for mound visits and between batters, but pitching changes and time between innings has been shortened to 2:15.

This is the first season that Major League Baseball has also instituted the pace of play clock for all aspects of the game, just like minor league baseball, but with a few different times. There is a 15-second timer with the bases empty and a 20-second timer with runners on base.

At last check, the pitch timer had reduced the average time of games in the minors by about 26 minutes, and I can attest to that.

Last weekend, I ran the pitch clock for two of the Drillers first three games of the season. The time of game for game two of the homestand ran 2:25, while the third game of the season was 2:19. That’s a whopping 20 to 30-minutes faster than the average over the past few years.

That’s huge.

It appears, at least for the most part, the days of three-hour-plus games is over. There’s still a chance that could happen, with a poor pitching performance or a high scoring ball game, or maybe even if the game goes to extra innings. However, even the extra innings issue has been addressed, as now, both the majors and minors begin extra innings with a runner on second base. The idea is, the teams have a better chance of scoring that runner from second, than beginning the inning with the bases empty, thus we likely won’t see any more 18-inning ball games.

So, just as I began this column, I admit that eight seasons ago I was against this idea of having a pace of play clock, but here we are in the 2023 season, and I get it.   Having a clock in baseball has improved the pace of play on the field to a point where it’s made watching the game more palatable to the average fan, and even more enjoyable for those of us who consider ourselves baseball purists.

TULSA BEACON RADIO

My guests this week on the “Tulsa Beacon” radio show will include State Senator Nathan Dahm with an Oklahoma Legislature update, and Tulsa Drillers president and general manager Mike Melega. The show airs on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. CST on 970am KCFO.