MLB teams extend beer sales due to shorter games

Major League Baseball’s new pitch clock has changed the calculation of beer sales.

With games averaging 31 minutes shorter so far this season, ballparks have had less time to sell alcohol before the usual seventh-inning close.

To counter that time crunch, at least four teams — the Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins and, of course, the Milwaukee Brewers — have extended alcohol sales through the eighth inning of this season. Others, like the Miami Marlins and New York Mets, still have seventh-inning cutoffs, but aren’t ruling out changes.

“Complete sense to me,” said Tom Lienhardt, sipping a beer Tuesday night before the Brewers-Diamondbacks game at Chase Field. “Since the games are shorter, you have to adapt.”

But according to Erin Payton, Regional Executive Director for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the change doesn’t address safety concerns: “If it stops sales in the seventh inning, the eighth inning or the ninth inning, it really won’t affect on our because anyway, we just don’t want people drinking alcohol and then driving home from the game.”

MLB says it does not regulate when teams sell alcohol. Most franchises have used the seventh inning as a closeout, at least in part to avoid overserving customers, who can then get in their cars and drive home.

But in reality, most teams already had areas around the ballpark where fans could get alcohol after the seventh, even if the concession stands stopped serving. Many parks are connected to restaurants or have VIP areas where the booze is still flowing.

At least one team, the Baltimore Orioles, sold alcohol until the eighth inning, or up to 3 1/2 hours after the first pitch, whichever came first.

MLB games were significantly shorter this season, largely due to a series of rule changes, most notably the new pitch clock. During the first 1 1/2 weeks of the season, average playing time had fallen by 31 minutes, on its way to becoming the lowest in the sport since 1984.

The minor leagues played with the pitch clock last season. At least one minor league general manager—Kevin Mahoney of the Class A Brooklyn Cyclones—said there was no drop in franchise sales, even on shorter games.

Still, some big league teams have felt the need to make adjustments.

The Rangers allowed some alcohol sales in the eighth inning last season, but made that option more widely available in 2023. to the pitch clock and the potential of shorter game times so fans don’t miss out on extensive action while waiting in lines at concession stands.

Rick Schlesinger, Brewers’ president of business operations, confirmed to MLB.com that their team’s move to extend alcohol sales through the eighth was an experiment.

“If this turns out to be causing a problem or if we think this could cause a problem, then we will go back to what we did before,” Schlesinger said.

Several fans viewed the move as an attempt to recoup lost revenue from reduced beer sales.

“Completely predictable,” one fan wrote on Twitter.

“I said this would happen,” another tweeted. “Early earnings are down…have to be recouped somehow.”

MLB’s new rules have already had a major impact on the game.

Batting average is up 16 points, stolen bases are up 30 percent, and average playing time is down 31 minutes, en route to becoming the lowest in the sport since 1984.

Restrictions on infield shifts, a pitch clock, and larger bases were all implemented on opening day after testing in the minors and a dress rehearsal of sorts during this year’s big league spring training.

“I think they’re good for the game,” said Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona. “The goal was not to let them get in the way of our game. That doesn’t guarantee you’re going to win or lose or play well or badly, but just don’t get in the way.

“And for the most part, we still have, I think, a few pitchers that we’re trying to get a little more comfortable with, but I think we’re doing a good job.”

The league-wide batting average is .249, up from .233 during a similar period early last season, when cold and wet weather likely contributed to a pale offensive start. Last year’s average rose to .243 at the end of the year, the lowest since 1968.

Right-handed hitters have a .253 average, up from .236 at the start of last year, and a left-hander batting average is .245, up from .228.

Miami’s Luis Arraez, a lefty who won the AL batting crown with Minnesota last year, now leads the majors with a .537 average after batting for the cycle on Tuesday.

Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani is tied with 15 others for the major league lead with two pitch clock violations – both in the same game, one as a batter and one as a pitcher. The New York Mets have the most of any team with 10.

Two-thirds of pitch clock penalties are imposed on pitchers. Clock violations were slightly higher last week compared to the opening weekend, but averaged less than one per game.

The average time of nine-inning games dropped to 2 hours 38 minutes from 3:09 in the first 11 days of last year when the final average was 3:04. The average was unchanged from the first four days and is on course for the lowest since it was 2:35 in 1984.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Colorado Rockies first baseman CJ Cron. “So I think we’re still learning, but yeah, it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of downtime, especially on defense. It feels like there’s always action going on.”

There have been 125 pitch clock violations in 141 games, an average of 0.89 per game. The average over the first four days was 0.82.

Eighty-five fouls were on pitchers (68 percent), 32 on batters (25.6 percent), and four on catchers (3.2 percent). In addition, there were two violations for batter timeouts and two for throwing off the pitch.

“I knew the pitch clock and that everything would work,” said Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker. ‘I’ve been through it before. And also what I think you’re seeing is a resurgence of the singles. There are more hits because we’re not flooding the sides of the diamond that many of these hits have been out of over the years.”

No shift restriction fines have been imposed.

Stolen bases averaged 1.3 per game, up from 1.0, and the hit rate increased from 74 percent to 79.6 percent.

“I don’t know,” said Dusty Baker, manager of the World Series champion Houston Astros. “Some years are offensive years and some years are pitching years. We’ve only played for a week. It’s hard to estimate.’

MLB, despite player objections, adopted a pitch clock of 15 seconds with no runners on base and 20 seconds with runners. There also had to be two infielders on either side of second base, and all infielders had to be within the perimeter of the infield when the pitcher is on the rubber. Players supported increasing bases to 18-inch squares measuring 15 by 15, suggested as a safety precaution.