Article: Report From The Fort: Logan Morrison Is Nice, But BULLPEN CARS

[John Bonnes]

The Big Story dropped, as the Twins have a deal in place with slugger Logan Morrison. You can find Twins Daily stories on it here, here and here. Oh, and here. But to some of us old timers, there was even bigger news: the possible return of the infamous bullpen cars.

 

That’s the most fun and fairly straightforward news that resulted from a long interview with MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark regarding pace of play. That nostalgic, semi-ridiculous, totally unnecessary lovable, promotional crutch of my youth is what you’ll want to hang onto – we’ll get back to it – because once you leave that simple idea, things become a lot messier.In fact, messy is the best way to describe MLB and the length of their games. The games are longer because they’re messy. The solutions are messy. The positions of both the league and the MLBPA are messy. And the agreement that was reached for this year’s games is messy, too.

 

Even the use of the word “agreement” is messy. The MLBPA worked with the league on the issue, but opposed most of the solutions. As a result, the agreement simply said that the MLBPA would not oppose the changes, which is safe to do because they had almost no power to oppose.

 

The solutions are messy, so I’ll provide a link to the details. The summary is this: only six visits to the mound per game, and that includes the catcher. Commercial breaks between innings will be slightly shorter. And for now, there will be no clock for anything this year, with the suggestion that the players will try to police themselves. But it’s certainly not ruled out for next year.

 

The MLBPA’s position on the changes is messy, too. Certainly the players would love to make sure that they don’t spend an extra hour at the ballpark. “Players don’t want to be in a position where they’re playing three-and-a-half or four hour games,” Clark says, and he went back to that point repeatedly. But what is less clear is what they’re willing to propose.

 

Because there are game integrity issues about which the players are concerned. We’ve seen changes that were supposed to improve the game have unintended consequences, like instant replay totally changing how stolen bases are called. The concern is that rule changes will impact the game.

 

“It’s not a matter of not appreciating advancements in the game. It’s not that,” says Clark. “As it relates to a pitch clock or not a pitch clock, the guys - on its most fundamental basis – just don’t believe that a pace of game violation should potentially change ... the outcome of a game.”

 

In this case it’s the players who are being the baseball purists. By doing so, they’re at odds with their own self-interest in shortening the games.But they're not alone.

 

The fans face the same dilemma. “Baseball games are too long” is becoming as ubiquitous a cliché as “MTV doesn’t play music videos” but the truth is that for the last decade game times were fairly steady prior to the past six years. Per Baseball Reference, the first time that MLB games averaged over three hours was in 2000, likely a result of the offensive explosion of that era. But it retreated, and didn’t exceed that mark again until 2013.

 

Like players, fans also care about the time of the game so long as it doesn’t affect their team. By all means, if the opposing team’s closer is taking too long in between pitches, they should be penalized. But if your slugger needs to readjust his batting gloves for the fifth time, you want that to be his prerogative.

 

Of course, it’s easy for fans and players to be conflicted, because ultimately they don’t get much say. That could change in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement, which is still four seasons away. We’ll find out if the players really want to oppose impacting the games and how important it is. Is it really important enough to open a new front in the negotiations with management? Are they willing to give up something financially for their fundamental belief on the integrity of the game?

 

(And, more cynically, is that one of the reasons that MLB is pushing this agenda to annoy the players?)

 

The MLBPA’s position would be strengthened if they released some concrete proposals, and that’s where we might see the return of bullpen cars. Clark gave some background information about that idea, sort of tongue-in-cheek. It was the result of talks about reducing the time of pitcher changes, which average almost three minutes per change, since pitching changes are going up in frequency. Bullpen cars were one idea to help. “And it was a nostalgic one that any fan who has been around the game, and has loved our game as long as a number of them have, can appreciate the days when there were cars,” clarified Clark.

 

Bullpen cars! It’s nice to see one idea that fans, ownership and players can agree on. We’ll need to wait on it, but we’ll also be waiting for the owners and players to sort out the rest of this pace-of-play mess.

 

Twins Notes

The Twins beat the Rays 5-4 on Sunday afternoon in their Grapefruit League home opener. Kyle Gibson started, was relieved by Addison Reed, who was followed by Ryan Pressly, so a fair number of potential Opening Day roster pitchers appeared. The lineup also contained several probable starting players.

 

After the game, manager Paul Molitor revealed that Joe Mauer and Miguel Sano will likely make their first spring training appearance on Wednesday, presumably in the home half of the split squad games scheduled that day. Furthermore, the current plan is to have Sano play in the field, though he didn’t specifically say if it would be at first base, third base, or center field. ;-)

 

For more notes and speculation today, I’d encourage you to check out a new feature on Twins Daily that we’re trying out: Twins Daily Nightly Wrap. It’s all the inside stuff we couldn’t fit into the column in a short audio file that you can listen to on your smart phone or computer. Let us know how you like it.

 

P.S.

No, but seriously, the bullpen car will be awesome. This is a no-brainer. Make them super fast to speed up gametime. Sponsor the hell out of them. So long as it's a car wearing a baseball cap, we, the fans, are IN.

 

Click here to view the article

[T_J]

I want flames on the side too! 

I want so much speed that it kicks up grass too! When it rains I want to see mud tracks left in its wake. 

Oh, maybe have two of them for racing...

Ok, I have dreams and goals in life. I have places I want to go things I want to see and career marks I want to hit. I have mouths to feed and homes to pay for. I will give up nearly all of that to be the driver. I would put everything on pause to have that job! 

[diehardtwinsfan]

it should be a firetruck, not a car... 

[Brock Beauchamp]

it should be a firetruck, not a car...

This is a good chance to add additional sponsorship opportunities with Chevron or Shell.

[nicksaviking]

 

This is a good chance to add additional sponsorship opportunities with Chevron or Shell.

 

Oscar Meyer.

 

And yes, I am suggesting it be a Weinermobilecart.

[nicksaviking]

So this quote:

 

“It’s not a matter of not appreciating advancements in the game. It’s not that,” says Clark. “As it relates to a pitch clock or not a pitch clock, the guys - on its most fundamental basis – just don’t believe that a pace of game violation should potentially change ... the outcome of a game.”

 

Yeah, I'm guessing the players don't want a pace of play violation to impact the outcome of the game. Isn't that the motivation being wielded to get these guys to pitch/bat faster? 

[slash129]

I think John went to an all-you-can-eat ribs joint for dinner.  10 uses of "mess" and it's derivatives in one article had to come from a recent experience.

[Dantes929]

"Like players, fans also care about the time of the game so long as it doesn’t affect their team. By all means, if the opposing team’s closer is taking too long in between pitches, they should be penalized. But if your slugger needs to readjust his batting gloves for the fifth time, you want that to be his prerogative."

 

Nope!    I want him readjusting his batting glove when it needs readjusting, not as part of a ritual.    I get that rituals are important to the batter and the pitcher but it is the rituals that need adjusting, not the batting gloves.     If Altuve never adjusted his gloves or left the batters box I am guessing he would still be the MVP  and his team would still have won the WS.    Like many things I equate it to golf.    Rushed is no good but those that go at a snails pace don't play any better and cause those they are playing with and those behind them  to play at a worse pace.   Where's the integrity in that? A pitcher that takes too long between pitches makes a batter uncomfortable so the batter calls time out.   The batter that takes too long between pitches to get in the box makes the pitcher uncomfortable.    This is the kind of stuff the players should be concerned about relating to integrity of the game.  

 

As far as the visits to the mound maybe a study should be done on the results of mound visits..    If a catcher visits the mound during an at bat what was the result of that at bat?    If a coach visits the mound what is the result of that at bat vs all the at bats where there is no mound visit?    If it can be shown that the pitcher after a coach visit has the equivalent of a 7 ERA then maybe it will convince the coach that either his visit was detrimental or that if he has the urge to visit the mound he should just make the pitching change instead.   

It would be really interesting if you let the NL have as many visits as they wanted and limited the AL to a total of 3 visits, or even no visits and then compare the results of interleague play with those of the past.

[Blake]

I think fewer commercials is an idea who's time has come.

[Michael (ClassicMNTwins)]

The early Twins had it good too, John.

•  
• 

[LeatherAntenna]

Self driving bull pen cars. Could still have celebrities or lottery fans ride in the driver seat.

[jimbo92107]

I heard the golf cart is a converted Tesla Roadster.

 

Well, that's what I heard!

[slash129]

 

I think fewer commercials is an idea who's time has come.

 

Completely agree.  Unfortunately, 30 owners and the hands that feed their golden sows won't.

[Nine of twelve]

Here's another way to finish games sooner: start every game at 5 minutes past the hour or half hour instead of 10, or 15, or even 20 as some teams have done in the past. It shouldn't take announcers more than 5 minutes to do an intro. Talk briefly about the starting pitchers and other pertinent important items then be ready to go for the first pitch.

[Doomtints]

At the old Met they used to drive a car around the warning track at the middle of the 7th. It was something promotional from some local car dealer.

I missed this when the Dome was built.  

 

:/

[Danchat]

 

I think fewer commercials is an idea who's time has come.

Y'know, the NFL reduced their number of commercials this past year in order to increase the pace of play (no more commercials - kickoff - commercials). My main problem with commercials for Twins games is that the same 6 ones seem to play every single time... I just can't watch them anymore.

[Platoon]

I would like the commercials to lessen also, but that's not very likely. If you keep time of game comparisons to the last 5 years or so, I would think a lot of the time "wasted" is in situational pitching changes. The minutes pile up in a hurry. A lot of sports have their quirk, all one has to do is watch a college basketball games last 3 minutes to experience what it feels like if time actually did stand still. Fortunately DST starts soon, so the games will all be done an hour sooner! Or is it an hour later? I can never remember.

[USAFChief]

So this quote:

 

“It’s not a matter of not appreciating advancements in the game. It’s not that,” says Clark. “As it relates to a pitch clock or not a pitch clock, the guys - on its most fundamental basis – just don’t believe that a pace of game violation should potentially change ... the outcome of a game.”

 

Yeah, I'm guessing the players don't want a pace of play violation to impact the outcome of the game. Isn't that the motivation being wielded to get these guys to pitch/bat faster?

Instead of impacting the outcome of the games, how about violations impact the players' wallets?

 

Make pace of play violations a fine, and there will be few violations.

[Deduno Abides]

Bullpen cars remind me of an old joke about the difference between the Mets and the Yankees. The Mets have a mascot with an enormous head, and the Yankees have Rudy Giuliani.

Edited February 26, 2018 by Deduno Abides

[Broker]

I usually listen to the games on the radio. I do other things with the game in the background. As far as I am concerned the length of the games is just fine. Low scoring games go by fairly quickly while the high scoring games do take a while. Those baserunners are the real problem. They tend to advance one base at a time and the clock ticks away.

[Tuba]

I'm skeptical that bullpen cars would even be noticeably faster than the reliever just jogging in.

 

Twins solved this years ago in the metrodome by having the bullpens FRONT AND CENTER BABY. 

[ashbury]

Two words regarding bullpen cars: NASCAR Sponsorship.

 

Have Dale Earnhardt Jr or Jeff Gordon drive the car and I guarantee the game will speed up.

[Platoon]

Two words regarding bullpen cars: NASCAR Sponsorship.

 

Have Dale Earnhardt Jr or Jeff Gordon drive the car and I guarantee the game will speed up.

Won't work! No one would watch it unless each one would start heading around the warning track in opposite directions. . One with the pitcher, one without. The goal would be to cross home plate first. I don't think anyone would watch NASCAR without the real possibility of a big crash. The only problem I can see with my brilliant plan is that one would need more than a 13 man pitching staff.

[nmtwinsfan]

What if managers had to notify the ump the batter before a new pitcher may come and the pitcher could finish his tosses and run to the dugout in case he's used.

 

For example, if there is a lefty on deck, and the manager is going to bring in a lhp to face him, you would think he should be able to jog to the dugout from the bullpen and be ready to immediately come in to the game.

 

It's not a perfect system by any means, but it might be something to consider as a piece of the puzzle to speed games up.

 

That being said, the pace of play really doesn't bother me. I don't fret over a few minutes per game, which is what we're really looking at but I also really enjoy the nuances of the game.

[Deduno Abides]

Two ideas regarding game length that won’t require negotiation.

 

1. Get rid of the juiced ball.

2. Start playoff and World Series games earlier so people who live somewhere other than Hawaii and Alaska can see the end of the game.