Orioles pitchers Darren O'Day and Brad Brach react to the decision by Major League Baseball to eliminate the four-pitch intentional walk. (Karl Merton Feron/Baltimore Sun video)
Major League Baseball and the players union have agreed to scrap the obligatory four pitches previously required for an intentional walk and replace them with a simple hand signal that says, "On your way, buddy, nothing more to see here."
It's part of an overall MLB strategy to shorten games, but standing alone the new rule does little to help in that effort. It takes about a minute to throw those four pitches and there were only 932 intentional walks in baseball's nearly 2,500 regular-season games.