PLAY BALL (A LITTLE FASTER)!

As the clock wound down, the 6-foot-4-inch player looked to his left and looked to his right before releasing … the pitch to the plate.

We’re not talking March Madness here. It’s baseball, baby. The pitch clock measuring seconds between pitches is one of several new changes Major League Baseball (MLB), whose season opens today, has instituted this year. The idea, at least for the clock, is to speed up the games, which had lengthened to an average of three hours and 11 minutes in 2021.

Television and radio commercials extended the time, to be sure. But so did the fidgeting of a pitcher and the ministrations of a batter between pitches. Untighten the Velcro strap on the glove. Retighten it. Take a practice swing outside the box. Step in and take several more swings. Pull at the shoulders of the uniform. Step back out. Repeat.

Now, pitchers will have 15 seconds between pitches if nobody is on base and 20 seconds if there is. Batters must be in the box and ready for the pitch with at least eight seconds on the clock. They can call time only once per plate appearance.

The penalty for pitchers if they fail to throw before the clock runs out is a ball; if a batter isn’t ready in time, it’s a strike.

Baseball purists may be gnashing their teeth — “The sport’s not meant to have a clock” — but nobody wants to watch a three-and-a-half-hour affair between the goingnowhere Washington Nationals and the Miami Marlins with players nobody’s ever heard of. And advertisers don’t want to pay for a game viewers are tuning out with every succeeding minute.

(Question break: What is the shortest nine-inning MLB game every played? Answer below.)

Also to quicken the games, pitchers can only disengage from the pitching rubber (step off or attempt a pickoff throw) twice per batter. A third time, unless a pickoff is successful, will result in a balk, giving the runner another base.

We also see this change ramping up the stolen bases in the game. After all, if a pitcher has exhausted his pickoff throws, the runner has an advantage in cheating off the base. Since “chicks dig the long ball,” though, we don’t see the running game of the 1970s ad 1980s returning, but it will be a bigger weapon for teams than it has in years.

And that weapon will be enhanced by yet another rule change — bigger bases. The pillows at the three bases are three inches larger, 18 inches square instead of 15 inches. So when 270-pound New York Mets designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach comes barreling down the line, a skosh more room exists for a first baseman to have his foot on the base. Or when Atlanta Braves speedster Ronald Acuna Jr. is attempting a steal of second, an extra bit of sack is available around which to curl his hand and draw a “safe” call.

(Question break: In 1,305 career at-bats, how many stolen bases does Daniel Vogelbach have? Answer below.)

That brings us to the final rule change, and the most complicated, so bear with us.

For the past decade or so, teams have been making numerous infield defensive shifts — having three players on either side of second base (based on batter’s tendencies) — to prevent hits. The shifts also had led to lower batting averages, less action on the field and, theoretically, less interest in the game.

The change mandates that two infielders must be on either side of second base when the pitch is delivered and must have both feet in the infield, which now must be a uniform dimension in all 30 ballparks. Umpires will be given wide discretion to enforce the rule, violations of which result in a ball being called on the pitcher. However, if the ball is put in play, the offensive team can accept the result of the play. Think of an NFL referee: “The offensive team declines the penalty; the play stands.”

(Question break: What Atlanta Braves player has lost the most hits to defensive shifts — and is third in baseball in the category — since 2020? Answer below.)

If we’re honest, as much as we’d like the game sped up, we worried the changes would make games become stopand-start affairs with an extra ball here, an extra strike there and too many niggling distractions that would affect the tenor of play. Change is always hard, especially in such a tradition-rich, buttoned-down sport like baseball. But spring training games this month have proven that pitchers and batters can adjust to the rules, so fans should be able to look forward to a faster, more lively game this year.

Today, finally, we’ll hear the storied words “Play ball!” Because as all baseball fans know, time begins on opening day.

(Answers: 51 minutes in 1919 in a game between the New York Giants and Philadelphia Phillies; 0; Matt Olson, who would have had an additional 49 hits)