Sam Carchidi: Baseball speed-up a good idea

The speed-up rules that are used in the Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic, which starts Saturday, frequently cut 30 to 45 minutes off baseball games, and the brisk pace makes for much crisper play.

It says here it's time for the speed-up rules to be adopted by the NJSIAA and used for all games in the regular season and the end-of-year tournament.

Here are the highlights of the speed-up rules:

A hitter must be in the batter's box in 10 seconds - or a strike is called.

A pitcher must deliver a pitch within 20 seconds - or a ball is called.

Arguments are not allowed to last more than one minute.

Teams must hustle off the field after the third out of an inning, and the next half-inning must start within 90 seconds.

Speed-up rules discourage batters from stepping in and out of the box and stylin' as if they're on ESPN. They also force pitchers to stop an annoying habit of walking around between pitches and taking an interminable amount of time before getting back on the rubber.

Larry White, an NJSIAA assistant director, said a rule change must come through the NJSIAA's Baseball Committee, which is composed of coaches. The rule change would pick up momentum, he added, if Russ Spicer and Joe Hartmann - who serve as the NJSIAA tournament director and assistant director, respectively - recommended that speed-up rules are used.

Hartmann, who also would like to abolish (or at least alter) a rule that stops games if a team has a 10-run lead after four innings - and sometimes 31/2 - said yesterday that he was in favor of the speed-up rules and that he would discuss the issue with Spicer.

Ultimately, the issue could get passed to the NJSIAA's program review committee, which would decide whether to send it to the NJSIAA executive committee for a vote.

It sounds like a lot of red tape, but, having witnessed many revisions to other sports in recent years, it really wouldn't be too difficult for the rule to be implemented.

Listening, Baseball Committee?

The South Jersey Baseball Hall of Fame, located at the Camden Riversharks' Campbell's Field, is a jewel of a museum, a mini-Cooperstown, if you will.

Walk past the glass cases and the South Jersey baseball community comes alive, with memorabilia that spans a century.

Some of the latest additions include the LSU baseball cap worn by former Washington Township standout Mike Koerner, along with the ring he earned for helping his team win the College World Series in 1996.

There's the No. 24 Shawnee jersey worn by Sean Doolittle when he struck out 23 hitters in a nine-inning, state-final win over Kearny in 2003; a bat used by the Chicago White Sox' Chris Widger, a Pennsville graduate, in the 2005 World Series; and the jersey worn by Cherry Hill West's Bo Gray, who went 30-0 in his high school career.

And much, much more.

The South Jersey Hall of Fame, which is open daily, has uncovered some little-known facts. My two favorites:

Whitey Witt, from Alloway, Salem County, was the first Yankee to bat in Yankee Stadium.

Spook Jacobs, a 1943 Salem graduate, is one of the few rookies in history to get four hits in his major-league debut. Playing for the A's in their last season in Philadelphia, Jacobs had four hits in a 6-4 win over Boston on April 13, 1954.

"And I thought I had a fifth hit in the game," Jacobs said the other night during festivities honoring this year's inductees, "but [Red Sox third baseman] Frank Malzone jumped up and caught a liner I hit."

When he played at Salem High, Jacobs lived about six miles away in Pennsville.

"We didn't have buses after practice [or games], so I thumbed it home from practice every day," he said.

Jacobs, now 82, played four years in the majors and batted .247.

For more information on the South Jersey Baseball Hall of Fame, call the Hot Stovers at 856-767-7170 or go to

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