Actually a great idea.
By nearly every metric, the pitch clock has been a phenomenal addition to Major League Baseball. Games are shorter. There’s a rhythm and pace to the action. And now, there’s a new opportunity for some gamesmanship from the crowd.
Twins fans figured that out on Tuesday.
After hosting the Twins’ wild-card sweep of the Blue Jays, Target Field was once again rocking for Minnesota’s Game 3 ALDS matchup with the Astros. And though Houston quickly silenced the crowd with a four-run top of the first inning, the bottom half brought us a hilarious countdown from the Twins crowd.
With Cristian Javier on the mound, the entire stadium counted down the pitch clock in an effort to throw off Javier’s cadence.
Fans in Minnesota are counting down the pitch clock
pic.twitter.com/lJWhSnXHjL
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 10, 2023
While the fans appeared to be counting down the actual clock (which Fox’s broadcast was not displaying), the Twins crowd really should have counted down the wrong time instead like what we see in college basketball. If a pitcher fell for that, the batters would be able to time up the rhythm.
Either way, it was still a funny chant that had MLB fans wishing they thought of it first.
