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Greenberg Blasts Long Ball Games Cleveland General Manager Cites Umpires for Failure To Enforce 20-Second Rule By CARL LINDQUIST United Press Sports Writer NEW YORK, N. Y., June 3. Hank Greenberg went on a personal crusade today against long ball games. The Indians general manager said he would introduce legislation at the major league meetings in Cleveland on July 12, which would cut down playing time by as much as a, half -hour per game. Greenberg was mainly incensed because umpires failed to enforce the 20-second rule on pitchers and also are careless about not hustling up other phases of the game. "Weve got a perfectly good 20-second rule on the books which says that a pitcher must deliver the ball within that time," Greenberg said. "But the umpires simply "refuse to enforce it." Greenberg said that in Wednesday nights game with the Yankees pitcher Allie Reynolds sometimes held the ball as long as 45 seconds. "I held a stopwatch on him," he said. "He wasnt the only guilty one but the umpires never even warn the pitchers." Greenberg said that good pitchers dont find it necessary to lag past the limit. No Fooling Around "Watch these operating today Bob Lemon and Ed Lopat," he said. "They dont fool around and youll notice theyre both pretty consistent winners over the years. "The fans are getting tired of these unnecessarily long ball games. At our double-header the other day, so help me, I saw a lot of fans leaving after the first game was over." Greenberg said he had no idea why the umpires refuse to enforce the 20-second rule. "Therefore, Im asking the club owners either ,to enforce the rule or amend it. What good is it if nobody pays any attention to it?" Greenberg also said he was getting some support from other club owners for his plan to have teams, in the American and National league play each other during the regular season in games that would count in .the standings. "I think it would be a good thing for baseball as a whole and I certainly hope the club owners will act favorably upon it." In Milwaukee last night, president Walter OMalley of the Dodgers said he was in favor of inter-league play, but foresaw no possibility of it before 1956. "Its strictly in the conversational stage now," OMalley said. "Every team would have to be in favor of taking a vote on it before such a vote is taken." He added he though inter-league play would stimulate interest in baseball.
