Some of the national pastime’s decline is overstated: a lot of people are still going to games and watching them on television, too. In the 1970s, a famous Chevrolet campaign declared that the Chevy was as American as “baseball, hot dogs and apple pie.” As far as popularity is concerned, baseball no longer occupies the top of that pyramid (neither do hot dogs, apple pie or Chevy, by the way). For a certain kind of fan, any changes - more than changes to any other sport - are assaults on all of those ideas as well. The sport, for many, is wrapped up in visions of summer, childhood and a kind of quintessence of America. But the change in regulation has stirred up in fans a debate that’s about much more than baseball. If you’re not a fan of the sport, these tweaks might go undetected (and, let’s be honest, the games might continue to feel interminable). Among a host of rule changes, the most notable is the pitch clock, a rule that’s complex in its implementation but simple in its purpose: MLB games need to get shorter. ON THE CLOCK - Major League Baseball is gearing up to experiment with the largest changes to the game in at least a half-century - and maybe ever.Īs spring training unfolds this year, the sport known for its languid pace is trying to speed things up to remain relevant in an ever-accelerating world. A pitch clock counts down during the sixth inning of a spring training baseball game on Februin Peoria, Arizona.

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