Those who regularly watch a Red Sox/ Yankees game know they are in for a long one.  Its 4 hours, no matter how you cut it, and it isn’t just the TV commercials that make it that long.  Well, the umpiring crew attempted this time to do something about it.  Angel Hernandez, while working behind the plate, did not grant time-outs on three occasions Tuesday night.

One of the things umpires are critiqued on is their pace of game.  Its a stat that is kept on them that we have no idea about.  Do we blame the umpire if the game goes slow?  Do we blame the umpire when someone like Steve Trachsel or Carlos Zambrano starts stomping around the mound between pitches?  Nope, we blame the pitcher.  But that time goes on the Umpires record.

And now, after that crazy post-season where umpires with poor records of umpiring were calling post-season games caused the system to be overhauled, the umpires records now really count for something.  The Red Sox and the Yankees aren’t going to be kept from getting their post-season chance, or their post-season bonuses because they took too long.  (One might even be able to argue though that they make the post-season entirely because they take their time.)

In this Jeff Roberts piece, Joe West, the crew chief for the umpires Tuesday night called the unwillingness for the Yankees and Red Sox players to work with the crew to quicken the pace “embarrassing.”   He noted that this isn’t the first year that players have been asked to keep the game moving along- nor is the first time they have been told umpires are going to do something about it.  Yet the players aren’t working with the men in blue to speed anything up.  If the umpires stick to the plan of not giving so many time outs the games will get faster.  Eventually, this will make pitchers ready to pitch a little quicker, or, they will slow down in hopes of making the hitter that uncomfortable that they step out of the box without time being called as one Red Sox hitter did on Tuesday night, but because AJ Burnett wasn’t ready to throw, he missed his chance to throw an easy strike.

So, if the umpires keep up their mission to keep the game moving faster by not calling time, pitchers are going to eventually use that.  Keeping a guy in the box for a long time will work to their advantage by not just making the hitter uncomfortable, but may also make him step out without time- giving the pitcher a chance to throw a free strike.

There is no punishment for a pitcher that is just slow, other than infielders resting on their heels.

Teams do need to work to speed these games up.  Commercials between innings aren’t going away.  The only thing left to get rid of is that part of is that optional part of the game.  And while that is strategy- do you want the umpires controlling when you can have a time out and when you can’t?

Joe West is right.  Its embarrassing that baseball players are so stuck in their ways that their give their power over to the umpires.  Its embarrassing that they don’t want to pick and choose when they take a time out- but will take so many that the umpire has to take control. Its also embarrassing that it has take this long for an umpire to do it.