Baseball's 12-second rule

A winning team should not be able to change pitchers if it has a lead of seven or eight runs or more.

 

Terrible idea. Eight warmup pitches only takes about 90 seconds. That's not the problem. ... Ban most between-inning "entertainment" or limit it to said 90 seconds.

Of course, then precious TV could only show 3 quick commercials. Can't have that.

 

Really? What if a team scores 12 runs by the second inning? That starting pitcher must complete the game even if he's thrown 265 pitches?

 

I see absolutely no harm in that.

 

Which umpire monitors this? Does the home-plate ump have a stopwatch?

The guys doing the Royals - Jays game last night on FSN KC (there was no Jays' feed due to hockey commitments) were talking about this rule and mentioning there was no need to worry about Hallday since he works so fast. Indeed, he went the route in 2:14.

 

I can't remember which team it was against or who the pitcher was but a couple weeks ago, in a Cubs game, the second or third base umpire pulled out a stopwatch at one point. The pitcher sped up shortly, though, and the watch was put away.

 

My one issue with the buzzer is that it could be distracting for both the pitcher and the hitter. You don't want a buzzer going off right as the hitter is facing a 90 mile an hour fastball that may be heading for his head. Likewise, the buzzer could cause a pitcher to mess up his delivery, and hurt his arm.

 

Gavin Floyd of the White Sox is the unanimous Desker Rookie of the Year. He and Saunders finished in, what, 2:25 last night?

Between him and Buerhle, it's almost enough not to hate the White Sox.

Almost.

 

It was the second-base umpire.

 

It's the second-base umpire with no one on.
With a runner on, duty goes to the umpire at third. That's how they were instructed to do it.
Makes sense, too. With no one on, the second-base umpire is on the outfield grass and the corner umpires have fair-foul responsibility. With a runner on first, the second base umpire has a target on him and is only 100 feet from home plate. So it switches.
Now, if they ever do anything about, that's a whole different story.