04/23/24
February 18, 2005
Minor Leagues to Experiment With Rules Change: The experimental rule is designed to encourage an improved pace of play and requires a batter to keep one foot in the batter's box throughout an at-bat.
It's to speed up the game. NCAA and NFHS have been using similar rules for years. No UIS in the minors.
posted by UmpNews at 10:26 AM on February 18, 2005
No UIS in the minors. I know—the UIS op guy just happened to mention the strike zone's drifting outside from batter's box abuse. Thought this might be addressing that. Guess not though.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 10:52 AM on February 18, 2005
This could not come to the major leagues fast enough. I love you Nomah, but you don't need to adjust your gloves for 30 seconds between pitches. Imagine if he were a patient hitter.
posted by yerfatma at 01:46 PM on February 18, 2005
They had a rule like this in the extremely short lived Canadian Baseball League in 2003. You weren't allowed to leave the batters box. Of course, it took a while to adjust, and since the league lasted only half a season they never started smacking people for it. They definitely need to speed the game up. Hell, if you read MLB's video section on their website for their condensed games, reading between the lines it says "The games are damn slow. Pay us money so you can see the important bits."
posted by Drood at 03:48 PM on February 18, 2005
Can they also make a rule that they can't fuss with their gloves?
posted by lil_brown_bat at 05:55 PM on February 18, 2005
I'm confused about the intent here. Is this meant to discourage betters' lengthy pre-pitch ceremonies? Or is it a step towards simply reinforcing the dimensions of the batter's box, and bring the strike zone back over the plate (like the UIS operator mentioned)?