Bob Raissman: Fans and broadcasters also have to come to grips with MLB’s new pitch clock

It’s hard getting those who make their living covering baseball to agree on anything. Still, with a small sample size to work with, they are nearly unanimous in their praise of MLB’s new rules and how they already have accelerated the pace of the game.

Nonetheless, the rapid consensus over a pitch clock being baseball’s salvation, cannot quantify if a quicker pace will bring more eyeballs to MLB telecasts, including Mets games on SNY and Yankees broadcasts on YES.

MLB wants Time of Game to average around 2 hours, 30 minutes. Under that number, which is going to be fluid, a 7 p.m. start will end around 9:30 p.m. Television primetime, the hours when the universe of viewers is at its highest, extends from 8 p.m.-11 p.m.

That means an accelerated nine-inning game would be played in front of a primetime universe for 90 minutes. In some cases, with the pitch clock, viewers (both hardcore and casual fans), after arriving home from work and eating dinner, would not sit down to watch a game until sometime between 7:30 p.m.-8 p.m. or later. By the time the viewer tunes in under the new rules, the game might be almost half over.

“If you combined the new rules [faster pace] with 8 o’clock starts, MLB could have a shot at generating maximum viewership,” a Manhattan-based TV station manager said. “But that’s not going to happen.”

Nonetheless, if enough casual fans are curious about the new rules and their impact on the game, will they be in front of their screens for first pitch? There were more than a few professional Seam Heads who speculated it was curiosity that led to ESPN’s Feb. 27 Mets-Cardinals afternoon telecast averaging 423,000 viewers, ESPN’s most-watched exhibition tilt in seven years.

Those who subscribe to this theory cannot prove it. Neither can it be disproven. It just hangs out in the ozone as a form of MLB propaganda until regular season viewership numbers start rolling in.

Another set of numbers will affect the voices in the broadcast booths. Play-by-play people and analysts are used to working at their own pace with few constraints (except producers who they often ignore).

Now with pitchers working on a time limit, and batters not allowed to exit the box on uniform-adjusting expeditions, voices won’t have the normal space to leisurely tell stories. Or offer multiple replays and extended analysis of a play viewers just witnessed. On the radio side, the announcers will have to hustle to get the heavy load of in-game commercials into the broadcast.

There will be some voices (those who think they ARE the game) who will treat the clock as a necessary evil, a tool of ignorance designed to mess with their brilliance. A conspiracy by MLB to have their constant chatter end before the next pitch.

These voices should not fret. They could be part of the solution. For now, everyone in baseball is on the clock.

ESPN CAN’T TOUCH THIS

Strange ESPN’s Thursday edition of “First Take” didn’t touch a Washington Post report on the alleged transgressions of Grizzlies’ superstar Ja Morant.

Yet over on FS1′s “Undisputed,” the Morant story, published on Wednesday afternoon, was the first debate topic discussed by Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless. First Take lead its proceedings with Stephen A. Smith and Jay Williams staying on the court “debating:” How dangerous are the Suns with Kevin Durant?”

A lot “safer” topic than the Morant conversation, especially when you are the NBA’s national TV partner.

Also on Thursday, First Take went the full two hours without mentioning the Morant story. Among other incidents, the Washington Post cited police reports alleging Morant repeatedly punched a 17-year-old kid in the head during a pickup basketball game. The report also alleged that Morant threatened the teenager with a gun.

On Undisputed, Sharpe, who, already this season, had an on-court altercation with Morant’s entourage, said: “You [Morant] are in a different stratosphere now. I just think he needs to conduct himself as a person that’s in that stratosphere.”

Why didn’t First Take touch the Morant story on Thursday? Perhaps it could not confirm it? Or maybe the network, didn’t want to “needlessly” cast a cloud of suspicion over Morant, who is rapidly becoming the face of the NBA?

OH MY, DARLING

Ron Darling, SNY’s veteran Mets analyst, is a steady voice, yet it sure sounded like he wanted to stir the pot during Sunday’s Nationals-Mets exhibition tilt.

Along with Gary Cohen, the subject turned from MLB’s new rules, to Pickle Ball, and then to Keith Hernandez returning to the booth with a new contract.

Darling noted that Norman Julius Esiason was providing updates of Hernandez’s contract status on WFAN. Darling wondered if NJE was getting direct calls from Mex with info on how his contract negotiations were going. Hernandez bobbed and weaved but never directly answered Darling’s question.

Good job by Darling.

NOT SO FAST, JAY

Between, his Facial Recognition trip and his looking for love on the Raya app, James (Guitar Jimmy) Dolan’s Knickerbockers are — at this point — playing with consistency, which has Valley of the Stupid Gasbags making wild predictions of a playoff run.

There are some mouths who even think the media is not giving Dolan enough credit for the Knicks’ recent success. Like Jay Williams on ESPN. Williams has been preaching for Dolan, putting the Garden Boss right up there with Tom Thibodeau and Leon (Sphinx) Rose.

Williams should relax. And he should realize there’s still enough season left for Dolan to be Dolan.

AROUND THE DIAL

The more Michael Kay continues to talk about “retiring” from his ESPN-98.7 show it sounds less like a cliffhanger and more like a comedy bit. … With the Lakers losing 67-53 in the third quarter Sunday, Doris Burke thought it was a swell idea to pay tribute to the work LeBron James does outside the lines. The well-meaning testimony seemed out of place. … Stephen A. Smith had a big week of offending people. If it wasn’t NHL fans, and the league itself, when he said ESPN’s “First Take” was not the place for hockey discussions, it was Jets fans. SAS took recently minted Hall of Famer, Joe Klecko, to task for saying Aaron Rodgers is not a good fit for the Jets. “It [Klecko’s comment] is one of the most ignorant statements I’ve heard from a football player in my life,” SAS proclaimed. Really? … NFL Network presented six hours of info-loaded TV Tuesday during its combine show. This was an NFL junkie’s delight. Credit anchors Andrew Siciliano and Rhett Lewis with keeping things moving. No Shtick. Much appreciated.

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DUDE OF THE WEEK: DAMIAN LILLARD

For his commitment. An NBA superstar content to stay put and roll as best he can with his team. How unusual. Lillard’s 71-point effort underscored his desire to make it work in Portland.

DWEEB OF THE WEEK: FRAN McCAFFERY

For providing his Iowa basketball team with a demonstration of poor sportsmanship. Not satisfied after arguing a call then getting hit with a technical, McCaffery walked toward referee Kelly Pfeifer and stared at him. The evil-eye trip was awkward and embarrassing.

DOUBLE TALK

What Aaron Rodgers said: “My life and my happiness is directly connected to how I feel about football and it [the darkness] gave me such a deep calm about how I feel about the decision.”

What Aaron Rodgers meant to say: “My life and my happiness is directly connected to the world revolving around me — Aaron Rodgers.”

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