Baseball "Experts" Blame Yanks, Sox For Speed of Game Issues

It's always fun being a Yankees fan and waking up one morning to see they're now the cause for another one of Baseball's problems. No, this one isn't about money, but apparently it's the Yankees (and Red Sox) fault that games are taking so long.

USA Today had a round table discussion (hat-tip to Hard Ball Talk) on how to improve the game with eight baseball men, "representing virtually every facet of the game." Those men are, Gary Hughes (scout), Dusty Baker, Scott Boras, USA TODAY reporter Bob Nightengale, Steve Palermo (major league supervisor of umpires), Latroy Hawkins, Torii Hunter, and "J" Harrison (scout). This will be a five part series that looks at how to improve all areas of the game. Today, they spoke about the on-field product, mainly the umpiring, instant replay, and the speed of the game. Here's what they said about speed of play:

"When you got a 15-13 game, it's going to take 3½ hours," Palermo says. "But I don't think it should take 3 hours, 5 minutes to play a 2-1 game. You're putting everybody in a deep freeze by doing that. You might as well have (former North Carolina basketball coach) Dean Smith come out and do Four Corners."

The trouble, Palermo says, is there are certain teams and individuals who continually ignore baseball's directives.

"This is a hot button with the commissioner," Palermo says. "We've got a couple teams — I'm not going to name names, but I think everybody knows who they are — and they're arrogant. They don't think this pertains to them. I had a president of one of those ballclubs tell me the system is flawed. I told him, 'Then how did the 28 other teams conform to what we're asking except for you and your next-door neighbor that you have a rivalry with?' "

Says Los Angeles Angels outfielder Torii Hunter, realizing along with the other panelists that Palermo is alluding to the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, "Everybody else gets screwed but those two teams."

Palermo was particularly annoyed with Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, who was fined last season for throwing excessive pitches in the bullpen after being summoned, then tore up the letter of discipline in front of sports reporters.

"You know what?" Palermo says. "If somebody acts up, whack them. I'm talking about $50,000. And then $100,000. And then $200,000. You usually get the attention after the $100,000 mark."

There also was talk about constant trips to the pitcher's mound by catchers and infielders. So why not limit how many times players can visit the mound?

"That would be the greatest way to shorten the game," agent Scott Boras says. "The extra eight to 10 minutes is because of the young pitchers. They're still going through the drill, and the catcher is coming out every couple of pitches."

Jason Varitek basically lives on the mound with his pitchers, so I can see why the Sox are mentioned, but the Yankees? I know there are problems with the sport, and I know the Yankees get blamed for all the game's problems, but the only reason Yankees games take so long is because they draw the most walks, work pitchers to death, and score a lot of runs.

Either way, even if the Yankees' pitchers are guilty of taking too much time, and Posada is guilty of going out to the mound too often, isn't this really Major League Baseball's fault? I have yet to see a Yankee punished for not pitching quickly enough (maybe there was one), so until the league enforces these rules, I don't see the need for the Yankees to try to "conform' to what they're asking.

Also, I think a another issue regarding speed of game has to do with batters stepping out of the box and going through their routines every pitch. To me, that's what is holding these games up. And I'm not sure there is a team in baseball that isn't guilty of that.

But hey, it's always easier just to blame the Yankees.