Dennis Sommers, (ace pitcher for the 1961 nine/ten-year-old Champion Beech Aircraft Hawks), Minot

I read with interest the story from MDN’s sports page March 7th titled “MLB pitchers adjusting to quick pace of new pitch clock.” It spoke of changes to rules for Major League Baseball intended to speed the game along by requiring less time between pitches along with several other elements.

It’s hard not to wonder what professional basketball or football players might think when a pitcher says, “When I run in from the bull pen, I feel winded.” When was the last time (any time, really) you saw a reliever sprint from the bull pen to the mound like Usain Bolt might. Or what about, “If I step off the rubber, I can get an extra three seconds to catch my breath.” Evidently standing out in the sun on a hot day, throwing the ball as hard as you can a couple dozen times per inning must be like running the Boston Marathon. A guy might work up a sweat. In addition, running all the way over to third to backup an errant throw, then hustling 70 feet back to mound for another pitch is simply too much. It can drain the major league sap right out of you. How will hurlers ever find time within the new rules to work a nail file out of a back pocket or swipe a little pine tar from their cap’s bill before the pitch clock winds down?

What surely will gripe seasoned ball park visitors is how fast they will need to wolf-down a brat, a bag of peanuts and guzzle a couple beers before being kicked out of the park. No more lazy, hazy days of summer. Returning from a trip to the restroom one might ask, “What did I miss?” only to hear the response, “innings five and six.” Soon we might expect further changes — probably limiting the amount of dirt a coach is allowed to kick onto the ump’s shoes after a bad call to just two ounces. What about the seventh inning stretch? The Take Me Out to The Ball Park phrase “I don’t care if I never get back” might need to be stricken to further shorten game and get fans out of the park so players can get to the massage table sooner.

It could be I’m missing the point here. There must be some positive considerations to ponder. After all, averaging a cut of 22 minutes off America’s Pastime game clock will enable our quicker return to dealing with the realities of life as we now know it – fretting over the price of a dozen eggs or a gallon of gas. But, please…. take me out to the ball game first anyway!