海角大神

Jeremy Pe帽a, star shortstop for the Houston Astros, looked stunned. He had just been called out on strikes without even receiving a final pitch 鈥� and that was precisely the problem. Mr. Pe帽a had failed to be ready in time.

We in the stands at Florida鈥檚 Ballpark of the Palm Beaches were confused. 鈥淲hat just happened?鈥� we wondered, if not verbally, at least with our eyes.

This, we soon realized, is life with The Clock 鈥� one of now in effect in professional baseball to speed things up and make the game more exciting.

To be blunt: The national pastime had gotten boring. Pitchers were taking forever to pitch. Batters were taking forever to settle in to actually, maybe, hit the ball. Games were dragging on and on. And owners were feeling it in the bottom line, with attendance in steady decline.

鈥淏ring a good book,鈥� I would advise anyone going to a game.

The Clock can be mesmerizing. There鈥檚 now a 30-second limit between batters. Pitchers have 20 seconds to pitch if there are runners on base, 15 seconds if not. Batters must be ready at home plate with eight seconds to go. If a pitcher violates The Clock, he鈥檚 charged an automatic ball. An unready batter gets an automatic strike.

I found myself sometimes watching The Clock and not the actual players. But, like the players themselves, we鈥檒l all soon get used to the new normal and ignore The Clock, as we do in professional basketball and football.

The impact has been immediate. Games are now, on average, a half-hour shorter. The Astros-Red Sox game we attended March 1 lasted a reasonable two hours and 26 minutes, albeit ending in an unsatisfying 4-4 tie. (No extra innings during spring training.)

So, kudos to Theo Epstein, the genius who helped both the once-benighted Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs overcome their 鈥渃urses鈥� and win the World Series. Mr. Epstein was hired by Major League Baseball to save the game itself, and through smart analysis and advice from focus groups, he may have succeeded.

And with that, play ball!