In the early days of the professional baseball exhibition game, the “pitch clock,” which strictly measures the interval between pitchers’ pitches, has emerged as a hot potato.
With the opening of the exhibition game on the 9th, the controversy is heating up as some field leaders publicly expressed their opposition to the implementation of the pitch clock this season.
The KBO Secretariat decided to introduce the pitch clock, which was introduced last year in the Major League Baseball (MLB) and had a great effect on reducing game time, to the Korean professional baseball this year and is operating it in an exhibition game.
Pitchers shall pitch within 23 seconds with runners and 18 seconds without runners in accordance with pitch clock regulations.
In addition, the batter must prepare for batting when eight seconds are marked. If this is violated, the pitcher will be judged as a ball, and the batter will be judged as a strike.
The KBO Secretariat decided to test-run the pitch clock in the first half of the 2024 season and then consider whether to officially implement it in the second half.
The problem is that the voice of players who are involved in the implementation of the new system was completely excluded during discussion and decision-making on the introduction of the pitch clock. It was controversial in the first place.
The reason why on-site officials, including players, are more opposed to the pitch clock than the automatic pitching judgment system (ABS), which will be implemented from the regular league this year through the same procedure, is because it has not been reviewed and tested sufficiently.
The KBO has piloted ABS for four years in the Futures League (second tier) since 2020. With management know-how accumulated and players’ psychological resistance has significantly decreased, the KBO has decided to introduce the first tier team.
However, the pitch clock has yet to be tested in the Futures League. Except for a few players in the team who experienced the pitch clock in the spring camp, most players are experiencing the pitch clock that they saw on TV at exhibition games.
In addition, in order not to violate pitch clock, there must be a “pitchcombe,” an essential electronic equipment in the form of a band worn by pitchers, catchers, and fielders to reduce sign exchange time, which has not even been introduced.
There is no company developing it in Korea, and it must be certified by the government to use imported goods used by MLB.
KBO President Heo Gu-yeon strongly pushed for the introduction of pitch clocks this season, and the board of directors, consisting of 10 club presidents, approved the goal of reducing game time.
However, the Korea Professional Baseball Players Association, the representative organization of the players, did not say anything about the introduction of pitch clock, but only notified the board of directors of the decision.
An official from the players’ association said on the 11th, “The players are not against the implementation of the pitch clock,” adding, “I think it will be applied to the actual game after taking the time to do enough testing.”
The Players Association will collect pitch clock opinions from players from 10 clubs during the exhibition game.
If the atmosphere on the ground is not good, KBO should hurry to declare that it will not implement pitch clock this year to prevent confusion.
This is because the ambiguous expression of “reviewing whether to apply it in the second half after the first half of the pilot operation” could further incite confusion.
“Why would a team that performed well until the first half (a pitch clock that could be a variable in the second half) be in favor of?” said Lee Kang-chul, head coach of KT Wiz, who asked back. 핑크알바
Taking this opportunity, it seems necessary to listen to the players’ opinions on the new regulations through the official channel.
MLB will form an 11-member game committee, including six team representatives, four player representatives, and one referee, through a labor-management agreement to determine major pending issues directly related to the game, such as introducing new rules and revising rules.
Since the team has a majority of personnel, it is highly likely that a conclusion will be made as the MLB Secretariat intends, but it is important to reach an agreement reflecting the opinions of the players even though it is formal.
