Rob Manfred, man of action.
OK, so his first actions as new commissioner aren't exactly blockbusters. Just like the pitchers reporting to camps this weekend, he's still limbering up. But in acting to move the game along, he's striking all the right notes.
Managers no longer will be required to amble out to chat with umpires, stalling, while the decision is made whether or not to challenge a call and request instant replay. They can make that call from the comfort of their very own dugout.
Batters will be required to keep at least one foot anchored inside the batter's box during an at-bat. Gone will be the days when they went for casual walks on our time—and, more importantly, on the pitcher's time—between pitches while readjusting their gloves, caps, socks, jocks, dinner reservations and whatever else was on their obsessive-compulsive to-do lists.
And everyone will be required to snap to attention the second the commercial break is over between innings, when umpires will signal play to begin.
Drastic? No.
Helpful? Yes.
Something everyone can agree upon? Clearly.
"The Pace of Game Committee wants to take measured steps as we address this industry goal to quicken the pace of our great game," John Schuerholz, Braves president and chairman of MLB's Pace of Game and Instant Replay Committees, said in a statement.
Mostly, committees and committee-speak make me want to go all Earl Weaver and start screaming and hopping and tossing my cap around.
But one aspect of the new instant replay system last summer trumped that: managers loitering on the field after close plays, waiting around as if at a bus terminal for the high sign from the dugout on whether or not to ask for a replay.
In no small part because of this, the average time of an MLB game in 2014 landed in the record books, at three hours, two minutes. Longest ever. Three hours is much too long even for a Martin Scorsese flick, let alone for Astros-Rays.
It was the fourth consecutive season in which the average time of an MLB game increased. And as attention spans decrease, and though this isn't necessarily a crisis on the level of the White Sox's Bermuda shorts of the 1970s, it is a situation that bears watching.
Schuerholz's word, "measured," is a good one. There is a fine line here, and it is one the MLB Players Association was very concerned with: Everyone agrees people need to pick up the pace of play, but nobody wants that to happen at the expense of changing the integrity of the game.
Pitch clocks? That was discussed, something along the lines of implementing a 30-second count and ordering each pitch to be delivered within that time frame. Reasonable enough, yes. But baseball has been proud of being the only game played without a clock going back to days of horses and buggies, and this idea absolutely would not fall under that word "measured."
Besides, some pitchers will freak at the sight of a pitch clock looming over their shoulders. And the last thing anybody needs, for now, is an unexpected outbreak of the yips, like the measles this winter, because of it. Laws of unintended consequences, you know.
So this is a start. Aside from the clock, these moves should make for less dead time during a night at the ballpark. If all goes well, maybe five or six minutes can be shaved from the average time of a game.
Everybody, other than a few hitters who may get grumpy over this (apologies in advance, David Ortiz), should benefit. Managers' mothers no longer will feel the need to pack their sons a lunch each night for those long walks toward the umpires. Pitchers no longer will need to take snacks to the mound while waiting for hitters to get ready.
And families at the ballpark shouldn't run out of things to talk about while waiting for the next inning to start.
The commercial breaks between innings are 2:25 for locally televised games, 2:45 for nationally televised games. Yes, chop that to a minute or so, and you really could bite into the average time of games. But there is a reason why revenues shot up to the $9 billion range in 2014.
Knowing that's not going to change, ordering personnel to be ready to roll when the commercials are finished is a highly reasonable act. Pitchers must finish their warm-up pitches 30 seconds before the start of the next inning, and batters must be in the box ready to go somewhere between five and 25 seconds before the start of the next inning.
And walk-up songs must end 25 seconds before the start of the next inning.
Don't get me started on walk-up songs. This modern gimmick has become an out-of-control monster. Many batters won't even step into the box until their walk-up songs are finished playing, and that needs to stop. Pronto.
Look, I'm saying this as a music lover. When we were first married 22 years ago, my wife could not believe that I kept my CDs alphabetized by artist (she learned quickly when I corrected her for putting some back in the wrong place). This winter, she just rolled her eyes as I sorted my CDs into genres (rock, country/Americana, soul, indie...and all alphabetized, of course) while trying to get a handle on an overgrown collection.
I love when Torii Hunter, when he's in a slump, sometimes will have the Sanford and Son theme played as a walk-up song. Loved it when Matt Kemp, after being dragged into the Donald Sterling muck last spring, had Michael Jackson's "Black or White" played.
But for the love of ex-Padre Randy Jones (who once threw a 1:29 compete game against Jim Kaat and the Phillies), sometimes we just need to get these games moving.
So let's see how these changes play out in 2015, and hopefully they will effect positive change, even if only slightly.
The problem isn't in a 3:02 game that finishes 7-6 with gappers, homers, great catches and other dramatics.
The problems are in a 3:02 game that is 2-1 with serious dead time.
Nobody likes dead time—even if the walk-up music is good.
Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report. He has over two decades of experience covering MLB, including 14 years as a national baseball columnist at CBSSports.com.
Follow Scott on Twitter and talk baseball @ScottMillerBbl.
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