Why Detroit Tigers fans will get more sleep after games this year — regardless of score

LAKELAND, FLA. — Zack Short was in the batter’s box. Two strikes against him. His bat in his hand. Eight seconds left on the pitch clock.

He was looking down at the dirt.

“And I got banged!” he said.

The umpire called Strike 3 — rang him up on a technicality — because he wasn’t ready to hit with eight seconds left on the pitch clock.

“Come on!” Short said to the ump.

Frustrated, Short went back to the dugout, even though the pitcher never threw the ball.

“I wasn’t very happy because it felt like the clock had just switched to eight seconds,” Short said.

It happened last year during a Triple-A Toledo game when the minor leagues were experimenting with a pitch clock.

UPGRADE YOU:Christopher Ilitch reveals major upgrades, like new team plane, to players

Those rules will be implemented at the MLB level this season. The pitch clock will be 15 seconds with the bases empty and 20 seconds with a runner on base.

At the eight-second mark, a batter must be in the box and ready to swing.

Baseball purists will hate it.

But I love it.

Last summer, I went to minor league games and the pitch clock changed everything. The games seemed to fly. And the action was noticeably faster.

If the pitch clock is implemented the same way in the big leagues this season, it will speed up the game and make it far more entertaining.

Tigers trying to prepare for it

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch is using this spring training to try to get his team used to the new rules. The team has have used the pitch clock in bullpens. And on Tuesday, they used the pitch clock during live at-bats.

Some players might be anxious about it. Others not so much.

“I didn’t even notice it,” Alex Lange said Tuesday after throwing — and looking dominant — in a live pitching situation.

Hinch said he expects some violations during spring training. Some might even happen during the season.

It’s all part of the learning curve.

“I hope there’s some failure early in camp for everybody to understand what a violation is and what isn’t,” Hinch said.

If a pitcher exceeds the time limit, a ball will be added to the count. And a hitter gets one timeout per plate appearance. In addition, a pitcher can “disengage” with the rubber only twice per batter — either stepping off or a pickoff attempt. The third would be a balk.

But here is the other change that will affect Tigers fans: all weeknight start times at Comerica Park have been moved up to 6:40 p.m.

So with the new pitch clock rules and new start time, it’s conceivable that a mid-week home games will end just after 9 p.m. Not all of them. But some. And these games are going to feel like they are flying.

Again, traditionalists might hate it.

But the younger generation will love it.

And eventually, everybody will get used to it.

“That will change the new normal for a whole generation of kids and fans,” Hinch said. “So, it’ll be their normal. When they think of baseball, they will think of clocks. They will think of the speed of the game. Hopefully they get to go to a few more games and it’s not past their bedtime.”

Hinch is not against new rules.

“I love the traditional values,” Hinch said. “I like the human element in the game. I also think there’s always a way to do things a little bit better. I have been in the game long enough to see some of rule changes and things that initially we were all resistant to, and yet the game comes out of it a little bit better.”

Learning to love it

Something funny happened last year in the minors.

“You’re getting back into the locker room, and it’s 9:30 at night and it’s just like, ‘wow, this was great,’” Short said. “It’s tough because I’m a — quote, unquote — baseball purist. I don’t want the automated strike zone in there. And I complain about umpires with the best of them. And the pitch clock was annoying at first. We were all against it at first.”

But the more they used the clock.

The more they got used to it.

The more they sensed how the game flowed so much better.

The more they got back in the clubhouse at a reasonable hour.

“There was a point in time where we were just sitting in a locker room and we were just like, ‘do we all kind of like this?'”

And they did.

“It was awesome,” Short said.

Obviously, there will be growing pains. Some umpires will be adamant about calling everything. Others will be more relaxed. Little things will be ironed out.

But the games will speed up.

And by the end of the season, fans are gonna love it.

Probably, the players, too.

Best of all, everybody is gonna get more sleep.

JEFF SEIDEL: Brain and bat have kept Andre Lipcius climbing through Tigers’ system

Contact Jeff Seidel at jseidel@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @seideljeff.

To read Seidel’s recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.