SI

Why pace of play has slowed to a crawl, and a dozen ways to fix it

The irony is that baseball has changed radically just in the past 10 years with no rules changes or enforcements in place. It has grown like an untended

Tom Verducci

Why pace of play has slowed to a crawl, and a dozen ways to fix it
Why pace of play has slowed to a crawl, and a dozen ways to fix it /
Danny Espinosa takes more than 27 seconds between pitches, and that isn't even the majors' slowest time.
Danny Espinosa takes more than 27 seconds between pitches, and that isn't even the majors' slowest time :: Tony Quinn/Icon SMI
Catcher Jose Molina is one of the prime culprits making the Rays the slowest team in baseball.
Catcher Jose Molina is one of the prime culprits making the Rays the slowest team in baseball :: Chris O'Meara/AP

The irony is that baseball has changed radically just in the past 10 years with no rules changes or enforcements in place. It has grown like an untended garden, with weeds diminishing its beauty. Let's clean it up before it gets worse.

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Tom Verducci
TOM VERDUCCI

Tom Verducci is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who has covered Major League Baseball since 1981. He also serves as an analyst for FOX Sports and the MLB Network; is a New York Times best-selling author; and cohosts The Book of Joe podcast with Joe Maddon. A five-time Emmy Award winner across three categories (studio analyst, reporter, short form writing) and nominated in a fourth (game analyst), he is a three-time National Sportswriter of the Year winner, two-time National Magazine Award finalist, and a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient. Verducci is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame, Baseball Writers Association of America (including past New York chapter chairman) and a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 1993. He also is the only writer to be a game analyst for World Series telecasts. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, with whom he has two children.

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