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The story
Former NPB star Hiromitsu Ochiai shared his views on MLB’s pitch clock in a recent video on his YouTube channel. He said that if the pitch clock had been in place during his playing days, “guys like me would’ve been absolutely finished,” and argued that shortening game times would be a “major blow” to ballpark food and drink sales. On 5ch, this drew pushback: commenters pointed out that in MLB, shorter games actually boosted attendance and revenue, and that NPB attendance is already at record highs. The discussion broadened into whether Japan and the US have different reasons for introducing a pitch clock in the first place.
Hiromitsu Ochiai on the pitch clock: “Guys like me would’ve been absolutely finished” — “It’s a major blow for the ballparks”
Hiromitsu Ochiai (72), a three-time Triple Crown winner as a player and a manager who led the Chunichi Dragons to four league titles, posted a new video on his YouTube channel “Ochiai Hiromitsu no Oreryu Channel” on the 25th.
In it, he shared his thoughts on what it would have been like if the pitch clock had existed during his playing career.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
It hasn't actually declined, though.
Except for Hiroshima.
Sounds like we'll be down to one league by then
So there is a loophole after all, huh
Apparently there were some tweaks too, like extending alcohol sales from the old 7th-inning cutoff to the 8th inning
I'm a Dragons fan and I think the Ochiai era was the best.
The ones who rate Ochiai poorly are probably the Nagoya-native Dragons fans, I'd guess
Attendance really started picking up in the Tatsunami era.
This year it was even more popular.
It's beyond the old Showa-era mindset's understanding, so they can't even weigh in anymore
Seems that way.
It's less about national character and more that the goals are just different, I guess
As for the whole 'international rules' thing, what are the fans and NPB (the pro baseball teams) actually saying about it?
Most Dodgers fans drive there, so alcohol probably doesn't sell much anyway
How about a 3-inning tripleheader with a rotating audience system? lol
Why not introduce it to sumo instead?
If you'd say it's unnecessary for sumo, then by the same logic it's unnecessary for baseball too
They actually did introduce 'no false starts' (a kind of time control), because of TV broadcasting
At Fujiidera Stadium they used to roast sweet potatoes out in the outfield lol
Sumo probably can't do away with the pre-bout stare-downs, so baseball at least should hurry things along
Sumo pretty much always wraps up by 6 PM anyway
That's not really an issue for sumo — it runs on schedule regardless
Pro baseball has become the kind of entertainment that even draws foreign tourists
Re: #69
For NPB (the pro baseball teams), making money is the number one 'job,' after all
There are tons of women at the ballpark though
but re Re: #83,
that's what I'd think too
No, attendance is at an all-time record high.
Seriously
They can already show the strike zone in real time, so just hurry up and implement it already
Feels like NPB doesn't even consider TV viewers customers anymore.
No sponsors bother with it either
NPB, with all its cheering and stadium production, sells out every game though.
So who needs something like a pitch clock?
Seems like it's been decided that international tournaments will all adopt it across the board
If you're fine being Galapagos-syndrome isolated, then go ahead and keep dragging things out
Background and key points of this discussion
The pitch clock is a rule MLB introduced in 2023 to shorten the time between pitches, and it’s credited with boosting both attendance and revenue alongside shorter games. NPB hasn’t formally adopted it, but international tournaments like the WBC have been moving toward it, and opinion at home has remained split. What divided the thread was how time-shortening affects food and drink sales. Ochiai raised concerns that “if fans spend less time in the stands, drink sales will drop,” but replies pointed out that in MLB’s case, attendance and revenue actually grew, and that some parks made adjustments like extending alcohol sales hours. Commenters also noted that NPB attendance has actually been trending upward in recent years, suggesting Ochiai’s concerns may not match the current state of the league. One point worth clarifying for readers is that the pitch clock isn’t purely an “MLB-only” issue — because of its adoption in international tournament rules, it’s a system that could well spread to Japanese baseball too.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisoku Sokuhou+) thread “[Baseball] Hiromitsu Ochiai on the pitch clock: “Guys like me would’ve been absolutely finished” — “It’s a major blow for the ballparks. Drink sales will drop”.”
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