A Whole New (Old) Ballgame

The commissioner of Major League Baseball is always in demand, which makes it hard, these days, to actually watch a game.

For years, this was not a problem: Rob Manfred knew the natural breaks in the action — those tedious, drawn-out, “just throw the ball already!” pauses — and could adjust his conversations accordingly. Now, after a sweeping set of rule changes, his personal clock is off.

“Most of the time, I’m in a suite and I’ve got somebody talking at me about something,” Manfred said late in spring training. “Prior to the change, the pace was such that you never really lost track of the game. But the first couple of games, I’m like, ‘Can you please let me watch?’ Because you miss stuff.”

M…