Pace of play: just order the damn umpires to not call time out!

My head is going to explode if I hear one more moronic discussion about rule changes to improve pace of play, which invariably include stuff like limiting the number of pitchers, which impacts length of games but NOT pace of play!

Much of it sounds like: OK, only one time out per pitch, unless they really need more.

Order the umpires to not call time out. You know, like the other sports. Come on, baseball is a simple game. There's not much to think about and not much to talk about.

I see no reason that the umpires need to be consulted. It's not a rule change. Don't give either the umpires or the players any excuse to claim that they can oppose. Make it a simple procedural issue. Umpires, do not call time. Umpires, impose the penalties already on the books for not complying. See, it's simple.

Commissioner Rob Manfred, the A-Rod Slayer, pretend that you are the chief executive of the major baseball league. Take control of your bodily functions and issue the order.

Remember in 1993 Chris Webber calling time out at the end of the NCAA college basketball championship game when his team had no more time outs? Big penalty. There was no do-over.

Reliving Chris Webber's timeout that Michigan didn't have Nov 29, 2017 by Ryan McGee, ESPN Senior Writer

In basketball players do not get to call time out after each dribble. Are baseball players stupid? Are baseball fans stupid?

90% of what's happening in a batter-pitcher confrontation is:
- high and tight
- low and away.

Got it? Can they remember that? It's been that way for 100 years. We've heard that there's now so much more for players to remember. No there isn't. Just play. Stop jerking around. Baseball by its nature has by far the least action of the three U.S. team sports: baseball, football, basketball. Baseball is by far the simplest. Stop the nonsense.

The latest excuse is that the constant meetings between the catcher and pitcher are to thwart sign stealing. What? Script the pitches before the plate appearance. The San Francisco 49ers did that in the early 1980s to get a competitive advantage. Just throw the damn ball without signs. Joe Montana did.

How about ONE team doing things differently, if not for a competitive advantage, then for the entertainment value? This especially, if the team stinks. Maybe instead of tanking. Hey, Miami Marlins.

That's some combination: slow motion tanking. Anonymous players jerking around between each pitch. How could that possibly be considered entertaining?