Big money in taking pitches-Yankee Red Sox games may take longer because they take more pitches

Taking pitches is where the money is.

• The two teams they're pressuring to speed it up are the best at taking pitches, the Yankees and Red Sox. Taking pitches has meant winning for the teams, but the practice tends to mute Bud Selig's plan that splashy home runs rule the game.

"The Yankees and Red Sox, who play April 4 at Boston’s Fenway Park, are slow, in part, because their hitters are patient. In 2009, both teams saw more than 1000 pitches over the league average. Selig's plan for baseball money was beefy home run hitters, taking pitches puts the game a bit out of his control.

• Last season the Yankees were first in pitches seen by their batters with 25,066,

• and the Red Sox were second with 25,005.

• The league average was 23,894 per team,

according to the Elias Sports Bureau....

The Yankees and Red Sox also put the most runners on base last season. The Los Angeles Angels were third and the Dodgers fourth.

• Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo said in an e-mail that the team wouldn’t comment on Watson’s directive. Red Sox spokeswoman Pam Ganley said the team would have no comment."...

from Bloomberg Business Week, 4/1/10, by Tom Moroney, "Yankees Top Red Sox in game length; Baseball tells both faster" *Per Sports Business Journal, Selig made $18.35 million in 2007 which was a 22% increase from his prior year's salary. Presently his salary is secret due to legal changes MLB made to make it so. $20 million is a conservative estimate at this point. Teams spend the time and effort to get players who can do well enough that people will pay to see them, which will more importantly pay Bud Selig's approximately $20 million* a year salary. Umpires recent unseemly public rants are a reflection of their feeling of powerlessness. ed.

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