The pace-of-play rules seem pretty reasonable & may actually help get rid of some dead time. I expect we’re going to end up missing the first pitch of the inning on a lot of telecasts, though.
Major League Baseball, the MLBPA officially announce new pace-of-play rules | HardballTalk
PaulHadsall.com 
Paul,
There’s five minutes of commercials every inning. So, at a minimum, that’s 40 minutes right there. Then, there’s the almost appalling number of pitches thrown as, God forbid, someone should actually swing at the first pitch (yes, it happens occasionally). And, then, there’s the worst thing that ever happened to baseball, and his name is Tony LaRussa, who micromanaged the crap out of a game and, with his success, others followed because, again, God forbid someone should have an original idea. So, should we surprised that the average nine-inning game runs 3:00+?
You want an easy solution? Deaden the ball; raise the seams; call the strike zone the way it’s supposed to be called (knees to halfway between the top of the pants and shoulders) and the pitchers will pitch to contact instead of nibbling and the appalling strikeout fest that we have now will be no more.
It might take a couple years for pitchers and hitters to truly adjust. Sadly, however, like everyone else, MLB is interested in the quick fix. That won’t work. You have to change the mindset.
LikeLike
I’m not expecting the new rules to lead to noticeably shorter game times, because you’re right – the biggest reason we have longer games now than we did 30 years ago is the longer commercial breaks. MLB is not going to turn down money, would you?
It will be a victory if certain batters stop taking their batting gloves off and putting them back on after every pitch, and if managers have to make an instant decision about whether to call for a replay review.
LikeLike
–A member of either team requests and is granted “Time
There is something the home plate umpire can do a better job of, just stop granting batters timeouts every other pitch. The most annoying thing I see is batters calling time once the pitcher is already in his windup, that needs to stop. I get that it is a tactic for disrupting the pitcher’s rhythm, but it shouldn’t be an option.
Bob Gibson needs to be hired as a consultant about how to speed up the game from the pitchers’ side.
LikeLike
Bob Gibson is too far removed from the reality of MLB baseball in the 21st century to be helpful. Why not appoint Mark Buehrle? I love watching him pitch because I know I’m likely to see a fast game with batters actually making contact.
Besides, I agree with Crash Davis: “Strikeouts are boring! …Throw some ground balls – it’s more democratic.”
LikeLike