Teams were announced last week. D-backs players will again play for Salt River. A nice surprise for this Twins fan is that MN players will play for the same team.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/afl/club.jsp?team_id=527

AZ's contingent:

Pitchers: Archie Bradley, Enrique Burgos, Kaleb Fleck, Jimmie Sherfy
Catcher Peter O'Brien, IF Brandon Drury, OF Evan Marzilli

Obviously, looking forward to seeing Bradley pitch as well as see O'Brien again and Drury for the first time. AFL games are great and inexpensive. Plus, you can really hear Susie SuperFan in a mostly empty stadium.

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"Tomorrow is not promised to any of us." - Kirby Puckett

Not sure where to put this but since it is being test used in the AFL I put here. 6 ways to speed up game

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/mlb-will-test-six-initiatives-to-speed-up-games-during-arizona-fall-league-000916732.html

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"Right at Peralta in left, it's over his head and gone!" 7 rows back, that was our great PBP broadcaster Steve B.

You mean we are going to be robbed of scenes like THIS

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Good depth often has to come from within, in the form of younger talent. Depth is hard to build overnight, but it’s easy to deplete. Jeff Sullivan

It had to happen eventually, throwing like that.

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There's no success like failure
And failure's no success at all

I completely agree that the game needs to speed up, and I have no problem with trying a few things out, but I'd have a big problem if they ended up trying to incorporate a clock into a baseball game. Make pitching changes more seamless, stop stepping out of the box and eliminate manager stall tactics, but there are no clocks in baseball.

Looking forward to seeing how they try these changes, though. AFL season starts next week!

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"Tomorrow is not promised to any of us." - Kirby Puckett

Completely agree!

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"Right at Peralta in left, it's over his head and gone!" 7 rows back, that was our great PBP broadcaster Steve B.

I went to SRF last night. It was the first game using the clock. It was bizarre, but an interesting experiment. The umps weren't really prepared for the various rules tests.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/98573818/ ... peedy-pace

There's a 2 minute 5 second clock between innings. The batter is supposed to be in the box by 1:45 or it's a strike and the pitcher needs to pitch before the 2:05 elapses or it's a ball. For one instance between innings Mark Appel was on the mound ready to go, but the hitter wasn't in the box. He stepped into the box right as the 2:05 elapsed and the umps called a ball because he hadn't thrown a pitch. Appel didn't protest enough. He said the hitter wasn't in the box, but the umps ignored him.

I think the clock is un-American, but I think the experiment has value in that it should get both the umpires and the teams conscious about the speed of play. If this leads to making some real changes to the pace of the game I'm all for it after watching 5 hour AL playoff games.

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"Tomorrow is not promised to any of us." - Kirby Puckett

No. Clocks. In. Baseball. The umpire already has the authority to issue balls/strikes for delaying gameplay at his discretion.

Besides, what's the hurry? Is there something better to watch on tv?

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What can we say about the Diamondbacks Franchise that hasn't already been said about Afghanistan?