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Originally Posted by BBGiovanni
I'm not 100% sure, as they don't really announce what is happening (in San Jose anyway) and Cal League umpires are even worse than they were for High A. I can't verify the effect on base stealing, as it just seems like guys will run a lot at Low A (I think because the catchers are limited in throwing guys out especially after losing development time for 2 years).
As to the timekeeping, the scoreboard op runs the clock and the ump(s) direct them to start/stop/rewind/whatever. Like anything, there are disputes sometimes when a pitcher blows it, and once in a while the ump may let a second or two go. So, like everything else MLB will throw it in without adequate supervision of umpires and we'll see what happens.
I'm with Andy though, it sounds like Fresno games have been as good as SJ in terms of crisp play. And college and minor league games were way tighter in the first place, few A ball guys are such divas they need to obsess with their batting gloves or take a walk behind the mound after every pitch.
I'll try to pay more attention to the details tonight.
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Regarding the clock stuff, minor leaguers have now been subject to it for several years so most of the Rick Mannings are older veterans. It's really up to the MLB umps to enforce this rule, which it has to be said they've been presented with this in the past and have refused to enforce it so it may wind up being a generational issue.
I do have to say that the game time thing, while interesting, is more of a secondary or tertiary stat to look at the thing that's really the point of the rule: to increase the percentage of time there's action in the game. I think the general tide is just beginning to turn away from this but in the 70s and 80s there was a lot less of this thing where hitters leave the batter's box after every pitch to reset or whatever, to the point that guys who did so got a reputation for it.