A pitch clock

[Bob Of Burleson]

Manfred given mandate to manage MLB changes

By RONALD BLUM

BALTIMORE (AP) — Kenesaw Mountain Landis is remembered for throwing out the Black Sox, Ford Frick for an asterisk, and Bowie Kuhn for squabbles with players and owners.

A. Bartlett Giamatti ran Pete Rose out of baseball, Fay Vincent suspended George Steinbrenner, and Bud Selig presided over the cancellation of a World Series, supersized Steroids Era sluggers, increasingly strong drug-testing agreements, and instant replay to aid umpires.

Minutes after he was elected baseball's 10th commissioner, Rob Manfred didn't want to discuss what great issues he expects to take on when he succeeds Selig on Jan. 25.

"I really don't want to get too deeply today into agendas," he said Thursday after winning a three-way race.

Others speculated the length of games will be a top priority.

Some pitchers step on and off the rubber so much you'd think they were on a StairMaster, and hitters move in and out of the batter's box as if they were rhythm gymnasts. All the pausing and preening — along with the expanded use of relief pitchers — has led to the average time of a nine-inning game expanding 30 minutes since 1981 to 3:03.

"That's going to be toward the top of his list, I would think," San Francisco Giants President Larry Baer said. "I'm not going to comment specifically on pitch clock. I think that's one of several ideas. Every candidate talked about it, and every owner wants it. Obviously, there will need to be player input."

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