The Case for Limiting Mound Meetings
By Mike Silva ~ November 3rd, 2009. Filed under: Mike Silva.
I found this Associated Press report at Newsday regarding the issue of mound meetings slowing down games, specifically in the postseason.
It appears that Mike Port, MLB Vice President of Umpiring, believes that frequent mound meetings will be discussed by league officials this offseason. The Yankees have been habitual offenders as Posada and Molina have made multiple trips to the mound in a given inning throughout October. Just the other night the Yankees made six trips to the mound in the first inning and eight in the fifth. As much as late starts and commercial time slows down playoff games this type of behavior is an equal, or worse, culprit.
If the manager or coach only has two visits to the mound than why are we still allowing unlimited catcher/pitcher visits? Why not put the two per inning rule on the catcher as well? If the team violates the measure than it’s an automatic ball on the batter. Similar to when a pitcher goes to his mouth on a warm night.
Better yet, perhaps you can give each team 18 mound visits per game. That comes out to two per inning. That way if a pitcher needs more counseling than another you can allocate those visits based on need. Make it 18 total for a game, but no more than two per batter.
Regardless of what happens I believe the two visits by a manager/coach and the pitcher is out should remain. Baseball is a chess match and fans of the game enjoy the drama and thinking behind the matchups. There is, however, a balance between drama and filibustering. I believe we have seen teams, not just the Yankees, hug the line of decency in that regard during the season.
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:35 am
The Yankees have been well over the line of decency for years. And it’s not just the mound visits. It’s the throwing to first, the stepping off, the timing of the visits. (How often do the Yankees manager/coach jog out right after a play and how many times do they wait until the hitter is announced and set?
November 3rd, 2009 at 4:53 pm
I agree, there was this instance in the ALCS where Angels had 2nd & 3rd with 2 outs, Yanks up by 1 and Joba Chamberlain came in, threw a strike, posada mound visit, threw another strike, posada another mound visit and then threw a pitch in the dirt that was swung at. IT WAS THE CHEAPEST THING I EVER SAW. How can a batter have any rhythm like that? It was an automatic out with that technique. I mean 0-2 and your going out to talk, it was cheesy.