Dec

14

Hurry up and pitch!

Posted by Greg | Filed Under News | 6 Comments

NCAA rule changes are being discussed by coaches during the off-season.

NCAA rule changes are being discussed by coaches during the off-season.

Is the 20-second pitch clock coming to the Cape? Will college teams play 52 games or 56 before their players head off to summer leagues? Will more players receive scholarships?

These are the topics consuming the American Baseball Coaches Association during the off-season. It’s not the most riveting video, but you can watch a discussion of 2009 rule changes on the NCAA website.

Baseball America has several good stories about NCAA baseball rules this month, including one on their website now about rules surrounding player agents.

These are rules for the regular NCAA season but I assume something like the 20-second pitch clock could find its way to the Cape League. It might help speed up the pace and enable games to be completed before the fog rolls in. What do you think?

Comments

6 Responses to “Hurry up and pitch!”

  1. CapeMan on December 15th, 2008 5:10 pm

    I think Cape League games are played fast now. You have umps that move things along between innings, no commercials, etc to worry about and a pace that I’ve never found too slow. At times sure but overall, I think games move along at a good clip; especially when low scoring….as many of them are anyway.

  2. CapeMan on December 16th, 2008 3:23 pm

    Very interesting tidbit on the SouthCoast Today newspaper out of New Bedford. Apparantly, the Torrington Twisters out of the New England Collegiate League are relocating to New Bedford. Explains why no CCBL game there this year. This piece is also linked from the Gatemen news section of that website.

    Here is the link to the SouthCoast article:

    http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081216/NEWS/812160333

  3. Kevin Wilson on December 16th, 2008 9:59 pm

    I agree CapeMan on the pace of the Cape games. Coaching in Cotuit in 2007, I remember we averaged about 2 hours 15 minutes for 9 inning games. Sometimes they were even as short as 2 hours. Coaching in the minor leagues now, I wish that the games were that fast every night.

  4. CapeMan on December 17th, 2008 11:47 am

    There are other ways of moving the game along other than a “shot clock” type of format. I think umpires should be trained to manage the pace of the game….making the batter get in the box, making the pitcher pick up his pace…etc. Perhaps limit the number of pitcher/catcher meetings during the game is a way to speed things up too. A combination of enforcing different aspects of the pace of the game should be enough at any level of the game.

  5. Wille on December 17th, 2008 12:19 pm

    Notice that in baseball, no game played is identical, which is pretty neat considering how many games are played. Therefore, some games will run longer than others no matter what is tried.

  6. CapeMan on December 18th, 2008 11:39 am

    Another piece about the NECBL in New Bedford…take a look as there are mentions of the Cape League.

    http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081218/SPORTS/812180302

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