Feb. 17, 2005
SportsLine.com wire reports

NEW YORK -- Minor league hitters will have to stay close to home
plate during at-bats this season under an experimental rule aimed at
speeding play.

The rule approved Thursday by baseball's rules committee requires a
batter to keep one foot in the batter's box throughout an at-bat,
unless certain exceptions apply. And in cases where the hitter is
allowed to leave the box, the player must remain in the dirt area
surrounding home plate.

An umpire will be able to award an automatic strike if a batter
intentionally leaves the batter's box and delays play.

The rule will be used this year in all minor leagues affiliates with
the majors. The rule was used during the 2004 Arizona Fall League and
similar rule is used in the NCAA.

Baseball has been trying to pick up the pace of games in recent years
by tweaking its rules and better enforcing others already on the
books.

The average time of a nine-inning regular-season game has dropped
from 2 hours, 58 minutes in 2000 to 2:46 in 2003 before climbing to
2:47 last year.

"The playing rules committee hopes that the adoption of this rule in
the minor leagues will encourage players, as they progress toward the
majors, to develop and maintain habits that will improve the pace of
play," said Sandy Alderson, executive vice president for baseball
operations in the commissioner's office.

Under the experimental rule, there will be seven instances when a
hitter can remove both feet from the batter's box:


The batter swings at a pitch;
The batter is forced out of the batter's box by a pitch;
A member of either team requests and is granted "time;"
A defensive player attempts a play on a runner at any base;
The batter feints a bunt;
A wild pitch or passed ball occurs;
The pitcher leaves the dirt area of the pitching mound after
receiving the ball; or
The catcher leaves the catcher's box to give defensive signals.
Batters can leave the dirt area around home plate when a substitution
is being made or either team is having a conference on the field.

Commissioner Bud Selig and Mike Moore, the president of the National
Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, also appointed nine
baseball officials to the playing rules committee.

Alderson will chair the committee, which includes Hall of Famer Rod
Carew, Atlanta Braves general manager John Schuerholz and Minnesota
Twins GM Terry Ryan.

AP NEWS