As a rule, it's baseball as usual to the viewers

I spent a few days at spring training in Arizona last week, hoping to see how Major League Baseball's new rules make watching games different.

MLB's first major rule changes in decades, meant to quicken and liven games, debuted in the Cactus League and Grapefruit League this year. A pitch clock requires the ball to be delivered within 15 seconds when the bases are empty and 20 seconds with runners on. Bases now are three inches wider. Pickoff attempts are limited, essentially, to two in any plate appearance. Last but not least, infield shifts are banned.

My first reaction to the changes being announced was disgust on principle — baseball should leave rule tinkering to football! — and worry that a violation of the shift ban could result in a great play being called back — again, too much like football!

Those philosophical, theoretical concerns stand (as does the understanding that copying football, America's most popular sport, isn't the dumbest way to go).

But do the new rules spoil anything about going to an everyday game?

Something became clear to me almost halfway through the Angels' game against the Milwaukee Brewers in Maryvale, Ariz., last Thursday.

That's when I suddenly realized that I'd forgotten to pay any attention to the rules. Not the pitch clock, at least not until an Angels batter was charged with a strike in the fourth inning for failing to be ready in time. Not the bigger bases, which you might not notice unless you knew. Not the new dynamic between pitcher and baserunner. Not the absence of shifts, because there hadn't been a ground ball through the right side.

There were so many other sensory sensations to enjoy about my first majorleague game of 2023, and again Friday when I saw the Dodgers play the Chicago Cubs in Mesa, that it never crossed my mind to figure out if the “pizza box” bases are large or extra large, New York or Chicago style.

If the rules weren't grabbing my attention even after I showed up at the ballpark with them on my mind, they might not be as intrusive as feared.

I actually thought more about the new rules when I went to Mexico's 2-1 victory over Great Britain in a World Baseball Classic game at Chase Field in Phoenix, a game played under the old rules. The lowscoring game passed three hours, I wished there'd been a pitch clock. (The Angels and Dodgers games took 2:37 and 2:45.)

And I've thought about the new rules more in watching games on TV, maybe because of the pitch clock on the screen and because announcers were talking about them for the first couple of weeks.

Don't take my word for it.

Bill Plunkett, on the Dodgers beat, and Jeff Fletcher, covering the Angels, have been watching Cactus League games all spring for readers of the Southern California News Group papers and have the same impressions I now have.

“These might be the most drastic rules changes MLB has made since the DH (the designated hitter, introduced in the American League in 1973), but once you get used to them, you don't notice,” Plunkett said.

“You might notice the pace being quicker. But it's just a general feeling. You won't be focused on the pitch clock unless/until there's a violation. The shift is more noticeable because we kind of got used to seeing third basemen playing short right field. Those ground balls from left-handed hitters are going to be hits again.”

Said Fletcher: “I barely notice that the game has changed at all until we get to the end and I realize the game took 2:40 instead of 3:05. It makes you wonder what was happening in that other 25 minutes. Whatever it was, I don't miss it. I do notice when I'm watching a WBC game that it seems to go slower, though.”

Fletcher added: “As for the bigger bases or lack of shifts, those have almost no impact whatsoever. Baseball without shifts just looks like baseball as I've known it most of my life. I don't think there are that many more hits resulting from it, though. We add some and lose others.”

We fans tend to exaggerate the importance of things like specific rules or scoring rates on our like and dislike for different sports. We fall in love with the sports that are big where and when we're growing up, the sports we associate with family outings and lazy afternoons and local pride. Then we rationalize that we love a sport because it has, say, 8.56 runs per game instead of 2.73 goals.

In all the times I've heard people talk about the first time they walked into a major-league ballpark and took in the vast emerald vista, I've never heard anyone recall exclaiming: “The bases are 15 inches across! Dad, I love baseball!”

There will be times when we love baseball's new rules, times when we hate them, and times when it's fascinating to see the effects and debate if further tinkering is needed.

But watching games in person last week, games with the new rules and one without them, makes me think that most of the time we'll happily not have to pay them much attention.

MEN

NCAA TOURNAMENT

EAST REGIONAL

Regional Semifinals

At New York

Thursday

Michigan St. (21-12) vs. Kansas St. (25-9), 3:30 p.m.

FAU (33-3) vs. Tennessee (25-10), 6 p.m.

SOUTH REGIONAL Regional Semifinals At Louisville, Ky. Friday

Alabama (32-5) vs. San Diego St. (29-6), 3:30 p.m.

Princeton (23-8) vs. Creighton, (23-12), 6 p.m.

MIDWEST REGIONAL Regional Semifinals At Kansas City, Mo. Friday

Houston (33-3) vs. Miami (27-7), 4:15 p.m.

Texas (28-8) vs. Xavier (27-9), 6:45 p.m.

WEST REGIONAL Regional Semifinals At Las Vegas Thursday

Arkansas (22-13) vs. UConn (27-8), 4:15 p.m.

UCLA (31-5) vs. Gonzaga (30-5), 6:45 p.m.

NIT

Quarterfinals Today's games

North Texas (28-7) at Oklahoma St. (20-15), 4 p.m.

Wisconsin (19-14) at Oregon (21-14), 6 p.m.

Wednesday's games

UAB (27-9) at Vanderbilt (22-14), 4 p.m. Cincinnati (23-12) at Utah Valley (27-8), 6 p.m.

NCAA TOURNAMENT

SEATTLE 4 Second Round Sunday's results At Stanford

Mississippi 54, Stanford 49

At Iowa City, Iowa

Iowa 74, Georgia 66

Monday's results At Austin, Texas

Louisville 73, Texas 51

At Durham, N.C.

Colorado 61, Duke 53, OT

Regional Semifinals At Seattle

Friday's games

Mississippi (25-8) vs. Louisville (23-10), TBA

Iowa (25-6) vs. Colorado (25-8), TBA

GREENVILLE 2 Second Round Sunday's results

At Baton Rouge, La.

LSU 66, Michigan 42

At Salt Lake City

Utah 63, Princeton 56

Monday's results At Bloomington, Ind.

Miami 70, Indiana 68

At Bryn Mawr, Pa.

Villanova 76, Florida Gulf Coast 57

Regional Semifinals At Greenville, S.C. Friday's games

Miami (21-12)vs. Villanova (30-6), TBA Utah (27-4) vs. LSU (30-2), TBA

GREENVILLE 1

Second Round

Sunday's results

At Columbia, S.C.

South Carolina 76, S. Florida 45

At South Bend, Ind.

Notre Dame 53, Mississippi St. 48

At College Park, Md.

Maryland 77, Arizona 64

Monday's result

At Pauley Pavilion

UCLA 82, Oklahoma 73

Regional Semifinals

At Greenville, S.C.

Saturday's games

South Carolina (34-0) vs. UCLA (27-9), TBA

Maryland (27-6) vs. Notre Dame (27-5), TBA

SEATTLE 3

Second Round Sunday's result At Blacksburg, Va.

Virginia Tech 72, S. Dakota St. 60

Monday's results At Knoxville, Tenn.

Tennessee 94, Toledo 47

At Columbus, Ohio

Ohio St. 71, North Carolina 69

At Storrs, Conn.

UConn 77, Baylor 58

Regional Semifinals At Seattle

Friday's games

Virginia Tech (29-4) vs. Tennessee (25-11), TBA

UConn (31-5) vs. Ohio St. (27-7), TBA

NIT

Second Round Monday's results

Rhode Island 74, Richmond 64 Florida 80, Wake Forest 63 Clemson 56, Auburn 66

Texas Tech 61, SMU 49

Harvard 89, UMass 87

Columbia 78, Fordham 73 Syracuse 72, Seton Hall 54 Kansas 75, Missouri 47 Arkansas 60, S.F. Austin 37 Bowling Green 69, Green Bay 51 Memphis 79, Ball St. 62

San Diego 58, UC Irvine 48 Oregon 78, Rice 53

Today's game

Wyoming vs. Kansas St., 4 p.m.

College Basketball NIT

Favorite

at Oklahoma St 41/2 at Oregon 41/2

NBA

Favorite

at Clippers 61/2 (236) Oklahoma City Washington 2 (Off) at Orlando at Atlanta 121/2 (2381/2) Detroit Cleveland 21/2 (2191/2) at Brooklyn at New Orleans 81/2 (2351/2) San Antonio Boston 4 (239) at Sacramento

NHL

Favorite

Calgary Florida at Washington Tampa Bay at New Jersey at Boston at NY Rangers at Buffalo at St. Louis at Winnipeg at Dallas Vegas

Monday's resuls

Colorado 5, Dodgers 1

Cincinnati 10, Angels 0

St. Louis 5, Miami 0

Pittsburgh 7, Boston 5

Atlanta 6, Tampa Bay 5

Philadelphia 14, Baltimore 6

Toronto 5, Detroit 0

Arizona 7, Chicago White Sox 3 Cleveland 5, Texas 5

Seattle 7, Milwaukee 2

Washington 3, N.Y. Mets 2

Dodgers vs. Colorado at Scottsdale, Arizona, 6:40 p.m.

Today's games

Line

Line (O/U)

Line

-207/+173 -173/+148 -250/+206 -272/+220 -176/+149 -280/+227 -111/-109 -140/+118 -136/+115 -267/+217 -160/+136 -144/+122

Underdog

N Texas Wisconsin

Underdog

Underdog

at Ducks at Phila. Columbus at Montreal Minnesota Ottawa Carolina Nashville Detroit Arizona Seattle at Vancouver

Boston vs. Baltimore at Sarasota, Florida, 10:05 a.m.

Detroit vs. N.Y. Yankees at Tampa, Florida, 10:05 a.m.

Miami vs. Houston at Palm Beach, Florida, 10:05 a.m.

Washington vs. St. Louis at Sarasota, Florida, 10:05 a.m.

Philadelphia vs. Pittsburgh at Bradenton, Florida, 10:05 a.m.

Dodgers (ss) vs. Cleveland at Goodyear, Arizona, 1:05 p.m.

San Francisco vs. Dodgers (ss) at Phoenix, Arizona, 1:05 p.m.

Angels (ss) vs. Arizona at Scottsdale, Arizona, 1:10 p.m.

Chicago White Sox vs. Milwaukee at Phoenix, Arizona, 1:10 p.m.

Oakland vs. Angels (ss) at Tempe, Arizona, 1:10 p.m.

Tampa Bay vs. Minnesota at Fort Myers, Florida, 3:05 p.m.

Chicago Cubs vs. Kansas City at Surprise, Arizona, 6:05 p.m.

Colorado vs. San Diego at Peoria, Arizona, 6:40 p.m.