I read this interesting article at Hardball Times yesterday attempting to discern if pitchers who work fast really get better defense behind them, as many believe. The data do not support the belief. However, what I found interesting is that the teams whose pitchers work slowest are the Yankees and Red Sox. I've always felt that their games seem to last forever, and, considering those 2 teams get more coverage than any others, they are killing baseball with their slow pace of play. But are the pitchers to blame, or the hitters who refuse to hit? The Yanks and Sox have to lead all of baseball in at-the-plate adjustments. Jeter, Giambi, and Ortiz take a lifetime between pitches, even if they never swing the bat. So, since the Sox and Yanks play each other so often, is the long delay between pitches caused by slow pitchers, or by them having to way for the hitters to stop adjusting their batting gloves.
By the way, that brings up my easy solution to speed up play in baseball: Ban Batting Gloves! Derek Jeter has to waste 5 minutes a game alone adjusting his!
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