they ought to address in order to keep the game moving.
Umps do NOT have to grant timeouts to anyone. That includes batters, catchers, and baserunners. I'm not sure that they have to grant managers a timeout to talk to the pitcher.</p>
I'm all for awarding the batter a called ball if the pitcher's taking too long and, in return, calling a strike on the batter if he's slow to get in the box. (I'm tired of watching batters primping before they get settled in the box. There are kids in the local rec league that step out after every pitch, primp, step back in, hold up their back hand while never looking at the ump, shuffle around., and ...aarrrgghh!.. the umps always grant the kids time. It gotten ridiculous at every level.)
Heck, even tennis awards points to the opposition if you take too long in process of serving.
2 minutes is all that's needed betwen half-innnings. You could also reduce by one the number of warmup pitches allowed before each half-innning.
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