Baseball’s new rules designed to improve pace of play are coming fast at everyone, particularly the players. The most dramatic moment of the new pitch clock era arrived on the first full day of spring games. Cal Conley of the Atlanta Braves thought he had won the game with a two-out, bases-loaded walk-off walk. He took a few steps toward first base with bat in hand when umpire John Libka indicated strike three. Conley wasn’t set in the box as the clock wound under eight seconds. The penalty is an automatic strike. Conley apparently thought he had been awarded ball four.
