Up until opening day, I was wondering what to do with all the extra time that Major League Baseball’s new “Pace of Play” rules were supposed to free up. The commissioner’s office and the rules committee wanted to move the game along faster, presumably to appeal to baseball fans with lots of other demands on their attention. So managers now have only 30 seconds to decide if they’re going to challenge a play, and replay “officials” must decide the outcome within two minutes. Most controversially, the intentional walk is now automatic: No need to watch the pitches sail high and wide, just trot to first base.

I figure that the classic four-pitch intentional walk averages about a minute and a half. I’m estimating it takes a minute to throw the four balls and adding another 30 seconds, since maybe 20 percent of intentional walks are preceded by a visit to the mound, where the pitching coach or manager decides to walk the batter. Let’s say there’s one intentional walk a game, though I acknowledge that might be high.