Darrell Davis: No time like the present

Baseball needs to speed up!

It’s one of the few sports without a time clock, but even golf doesn’t tolerate slow play. National League playoff games last season were exceeding four hours — and they didn’t need extra innings! So Rob Manfred, Major League Baseball’s commissioner, presented several recommendations to hurry the pace.

A higher strike zone. A pitch clock. Limiting the number of a manager’s visits to the pitcher’s mound. And automatic intentional walks. A proposed rule to put a runner at second base for the start of extra innings is designed only for the minor leagues.

The players’ union said “No!” to all the timely proposals. So the rules won’t be implemented this season, but next year Manfred has the authority to force those rules into use. Hopefully the angry players’ union won’t stage a work slowdown.