OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -Red Sox manager Terry Francona called his team together Saturday to discuss the latest emphasis by baseball to enforce speed up rules considering games have been running long this year.
This weekend, umpires have begun the process – and the Red Sox dealt with the issue firsthand in their 8-3 loss to the Oakland Athletics on Friday night.
Boston hitting coach Dave Magadan was ejected by plate umpire Tim Tschida in the sixth for arguing during J.D. Drew’s at-bat. Drew had broken his bat fouling a ball off and a bat boy quickly brought him a replacement, but Drew wanted timeout to apply his “Manny Mota Grip Stick,” a sticky substance similar to pine tar that players use to help better grip the bat.
Magadan said Saturday he didn’t know the rules would be enforced more strictly starting this weekend.
“I just said, ‘That’s a part of baseball,’ with a little louder voice,” Magadan said of what got him tossed. “I didn’t know there was a conference call. That’s my fault for not knowing. It’s something we hear a lot about. It’s true, we play a lot of national television games. That’s part of what my job is, to make sure hitters aren’t giving away at-bats. There’s not a time limit on baseball. That’s part of the beauty of it. I like being at the ballpark – it doesn’t matter if it’s 3:10 or 3:20.”
Francona said he called Major League Baseball on Saturday to voice his complaint.
“It was one-sided,” he said of the conversation. “I told Tim last night, ‘we don’t need to be yelling at each other over the Mota stick.’ There probably needs to be some common sense. That game was moving along – too fast.”
The game ended in 2 hours, 27 minutes.
A translator for Japanese pitchers Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima also explained the rules so the pitchers would have an idea what umpires are doing.
Among the suggestions by MLB are that umpires should urge batters to approach home plate from the on-deck circle and enter the batter’s box faster, and also should enforce rules such as issuing an automatic strike to batters who linger outside the box.
In bases-empty situations, pitchers should be warned if they don’t pitch within a 12-second time limit. Pitchers will be called for a ball for each subsequent violation.
Francona is fine with efforts being made to make games move more quickly, as long as it doesn’t take away from teams doing what is necessary to try to win or from the fan experience at the ballpark.
“I don’t question ever they’re trying to do the right thing,” he said. “I never do. Sometimes it leads to things like yesterday. It shouldn’t get in the way of the game. Things usually have a way of getting ironed out. … You don’t want to lose sight of the fact you’re trying to win a game. We get memos a lot on pace of game. Teams with better records play slower. It’s always been the case since I’ve been here. We always play long games.”
Add A Comment