Clocking the progress in Manchester, N.H.

Northeast Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester, N.H.

Fourth in a series on New England minor league baseball

MANCHESTER, N.H. — It’s not even noon, but it’s already been one hell of a morning for Casey Lawrence.

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats righty is laboring against the New Britain Rock Cats, having already been knocked around during what turned out to be a seven-run first inning. But here he is now, escaping the fourth inning without surrendering a hit, the second-straight frame he’s accomplished that feat, after giving up nine hits and eight runs, including a three-run homer from No. 8 hitter Jan Vazquez, over the first two innings of a mid-May contest at Manchester’s Northeast Delta Dental Stadium.

The 8-0 score is the sort of lopsided affair that should normally be on a four-hour pace, particularly after the Fisher Cats claw their way back into it in the bottom of the fourth. Except that, it’s anything but that kind of progression through the game.

The use of a pitch clock in Double and Triple-A has seemingly cut down on the time of games this season.

In what was a 10 a.m. start, it’s now just past 11, matching the eleven runs, total, that the game has seen thus far.

In one hour?

Despite remaining a controversial implementation-to-be at the major league level, the 20-second pitch clock that debuted in baseball’s Triple-A and Double-A levels in 2015 seems to be a godsend. Pitchers work quickly, batters are in the box promptly, and there’s a flow to the game of baseball that is lacking in the majors, partly responsible for lagging attendance, ratings, and, worst of all, interest, in the game.

According to the Associated Press, the average time of game has been cut 12 minutes to 2:38 this season in the Eastern League at the Double-A level. In Triple-A, the difference is even more dramatic; down 15 minutes to 2:41. For whatever flaws players fear it will have at the top level of the game, the pitch clock is a wonder to behold upon experiencing it in the minor leagues for the first time, and has the powers that be in Major League Baseball encouraged that we could see it instated at ballparks across the country as soon as next year.

“We remain positive about the 20-second clock as something that could be useful to the game at the big-league level,’’ MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said earlier this month.

Based on how it’s working its magic in Manchester on this day under a cool, bright sky, widespread use seems like a no-brainer. However, Major League Baseball Players Association head Tony Clark has already pronounced that major leaguers don’t want the clock.

“The game is fundamentally different,’’ Clark said. “The game is fundamentally faster. There are more considerations that need to be made at the major level than at the Single-A level or the Double-A level or the Triple-A level.

Fisher Cats pitching coach Bob Stanley pitched for the Red Sox from 1977-89.

“We have heard from players who have played in the minor leagues and who have gotten up to the big leagues, and rest assured their experiences wouldn’t suggest that they’re bending over backward to implement the same thing up here that they are experiencing down there.’’

But what about managers and coaches? Surely they feel that the 20-second clock has injected a certain pace to the game by keeping their players focused on their tasks, right?

“The 20-second clock, I feel it does nothing,’’ Fisher Cats pitching coach Bob Stanley said.

Nothing?

“We’ve been called one time all year on a ball because my pitcher wasn’t ready, “ Stanley, the former Red Sox pitcher (1977-89), said. “And that was the only time it’s happened to us. My pitchers work fast so I don’t have to worry about that — except for one guy who takes his time coming in. Otherwise, most of the pitchers normally work fast. I’m not sure it’ll be back next year.’’

Stanley, who went 115-97 during his baseball career, spent entirely with Boston, said that he believes the reduction in time is thanks to the 2:20 clock set in between innings.

“That’s the big one,’’ he said. “In between innings is the one that makes the pitcher hustle to get out there, hustle to get in from the bullpen to get his warmup pitches.’’

That particular clock, of course, is already in play in the majors, where game times have dropped about an average of nine minutes this season. From the players union standpoint, the 20-second clock could dramatically affect the way the game is played, calling a ball for every time a pitcher doesn’t go into his windup in time, a strike for every batter that’s not in the box.

“A lot of times they don’t even reinforce that,’’ Stanley said. “There will be hitters just getting in the box with five seconds, and it’s supposed to be a strike and they don’t even call it.

“You can beat the system just by stepping of [the pitcher’s rubber]. Call timeout and step out of the box for a hitter or step off the rubber for a pitcher and start it all over again.’’


Still, for a game that features a total of 22 hits and 16 runs, it happens to be played with the efficiency of a Greg Maddux start. It takes a mere 2:38 for the Rock Cats to finish off the Fisher Cats, 10-6, and it’s hard to believe baseball’s timing procedures didn’t have something to do with the rapid pace, particularly since after the first half-inning, it looked as if the game could creep into the middle of the afternoon.

The loss dropped Lawrence to 2-4 on the season. Things would get better for the 27-year-old. Things would get better for all the Fisher Cats, who, with the loss to New Britain in May, fell to one game below .500 (16-17).

They’re 34-27 since.

***

Fisher Cats players watch from the dugout.

While the list of names may not be as impressive as those who have dined at the nearby Red Arrow Diner (Paul Newman, Bill Clinton, Adam Sandler, Billy Costa, Ian Ziering, and Guy Fieri touted among them) in downtown Manchester, some notable baseball names have passed through here with the Fisher Cats, a Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Former All-Star second baseman Aaron Hill, now with the Arizona Diamondbacks, played in Manchester in 2004, the first year for the franchise in New Hampshire after moving from New Haven, Conn. Toronto’s Jesse Kitsch (6-3, 4.44 ERA this season with the Blue Jays) has spent parts of three separate seasons playing here. Adam Lind, who is in his first season with the Milwaukee Brewers (.285, 15 home runs, .865 OPS) after eight in Toronto, slugged 19 home runs for the Cats over 91 games in 2006. Koby Clemens, Roger’s son, spent 41 games here in 2012, but hit only .218.

These days, the Fisher Cats are a collection of veteran minor leaguers and late-round draft talent lingering in the game. Joel Piniero, who spent a portion of the 2007 season in Boston and signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays last winter, was 4-2 with a 3.77 ERA for the Fisher Cats, with whom he played earlier this year while serving a 50-game suspension for testing positive for a banned stimulant while with the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate. He has since moved on to Triple-A Buffalo.

First baseman Jake Fox, who leads the current roster of players with an .870 OPS, was a third-round pick of the Chicago Cubs in 2003, but the 33-year-old has managed to only translate his 184 career home runs in the minor leagues to 20 in the majors during short stints with the Cubs, Oakland A’s, and Baltimore Orioles.

Lawrence, who has rebounded to post a 10-8 record with the Fisher Cats, signed as an underrated free agent with the Blue Jays in 2010. Twenty-five-year-old Taylor Cole, who leads the team in strikeouts (86) was a 29th-round selection in 2011.

Many of those who led the way during the early portion of the season have moved onto Buffalo, opening the door for a new influx of talent, including 2014 first-round selection Jeff Hoffman, who allowed two runs over 6 1/3 innings in his Fisher Cats debut last weekend. Jimmy Cordero, a 23-year-old native of the Dominican Republic, has struck out 19 and walked 12 over 20 2/3 with New Hampshire, but it’s his 103 mile-per-hour fastball that intrigues the organization, even if Stanley considers him still a “project.’’

The famous names who have visited the Red Arrow, as touted on the diner’s front door, in donwtown Manchester.

Stanley, who has also had stints in the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants organizations as a minor league pitching coach, spent 2014 as the Toronto Blue Jays’ major league pitching coach, helping lead his team to a staff ERA of 4.00, 22nd-best in Major League Baseball, and one slot ahead of the Red Sox (4.01). The Jays still decided to reassign Stanley, ultimately replacing him with Pete Walker. When the job opened up in Manchester, Stanley said he was happy to take the organization’s offer and return to his New England roots. Stanley was born in Portland, Maine, and these days lives in Stratham, N.H., about a 40-minute ride from the ballpark.

“It’s been a good fit so far,’’ Stanley said. “I’ve really enjoyed it. We started off a little shaky, but we’re playing really well now, and it’s fun. It’s fun coming to the ballpark and most of the people know who you are. You know, it’s not a bad ride home every night and I get to sleep in the big bed. So it’s been really good that way.’’

Of course, Red Sox fans will always remember Stanley as the guy who uncorked the wild pitch while facing Mookie Wilson in the 1986 World Series, helping set the stage for Wilson’s Mets infamy, hand-in-hand with Bill Buckner. But three World Series later, it’s not exactly something Stanley hears about these days. At least not from the fans in Manchester.

The fans in Manchester have also been an unfortunate part of the story over the years as well. It was here in 2012 that former Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford, on a rehab assignment with the Portland Sea Dogs, alleged that a fan called him a racial slur at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium.

“You know, people from Boston don’t even do that,’’ Crawford said. “So I don’t know what that was about, you know. I don’t get it. It’s not that bad in Boston like that.’’

As it turned out, the offender in question was actually an off-duty police officer from Leominster. But the incident still forced Fisher Cats president Rick Brenner to release a statement apologizing on behalf of the club.

A little more than a month later, Crawford was mercifully shipped to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the salary dump that also bid farewell to Josh Beckett and Adrian Gonzalez (and Nick Punto). A dark period for the Red Sox was over. A dark one for New Hampshire was forgotten as well.

As for the fans in Manchester these days, they have impressed Stanley thus far.

“Let’s put it this way, I was in Norwich, Conn. for five years and nobody ever came to a game (Note: more on this coming within the next couple weeks),’’ he said. “Only on Friday nights for fireworks. Binghamton wasn’t that good either. I was there for three years.’’

“Manchester, at the beginning of the year it was cold and nobody wants to come out, but there are some brave people that do come out and watch baseball. The last month or so, our crowds have been really good, probably averaging 5-6,000 a game.

“People are catching on. And they come from all over, it’s not just Manchester.’’

****

Koby Clemens, Roger’s son, played for the Fisher Cats briefly in 2012, but hit only .218.

“She’s not touching the bases!’’ shouts the shrill girl to my right while a fan is racing the Fisher Cats mascot, Fungo (or maybe it’s the other one, Slider. I don’t know) around the bases. “She’s not touching the bases!!’’

Despite this egregious method of cheating, the fan wins, and the Rock Cats and Fisher Cats head to the top of the sixth inning on what has become a seemingly perfect spring day.

Northeast Delta Dental Stadium, which, in retrospect is a much nicer name than the former Merchantsauto.com Stadium, feels like a stadium that is only a decade old. Located right in downtown Manchester, situated along chew Merrimack River, it’s a centrally-located breeze to get to, even if the limited parking in the immediate area can pose its own issues. There’s a Hilton Garden Inn that unapologetically dominates the landscape in left-center field, almost as if it were a nod to the warehouse at Baltimore Camden Yards.

You could argue that there aren’t better sight lines in any other minor league ballpark in New England. Every seat provides an ample view of the field play, and that includes in the left field Sam Adams Bar and Grill, a full-service pub featuring an outfield deck (not-so) high above the field. But from my seat, just to the right of the Fisher Cats dugout (purchased on game day) I’m focused on the Hannaford Supermarkets chicken chucking contest going on along the first base line. Now featuring, real, live, frozen chickens. Meanwhile, in the concourse behind home plate, Wild Encounters, a live animal show based out of Rochester, N.H., has brought a variety of creatures — Sophie, the blue and gold macaw, Koda, the Arctic fox, and Neo, the jungle carpet python — which have attracted dozens of grade school children, still a few weeks away from saying goodbye for the summer.

Story continues after gallery: The Fisher Cats experience in Manchester, N.H.

[bdc-gallery id=”107464″]

The Fisher Cats are currently fourth in Eastern League attendance with an average of 4,888 per game, trailing the rival Sea Dogs by a shade more than 100 per gate. They come for the park. They come for the baseball. Of course, they always come for the fireworks.

“Rick Brenner and his group do a really good job promoting and we have a lot of fireworks,’’ Stanley said, with a telling resignation about that fact. “Almost every night there’s fireworks. People get excited about that. I don’t get too excited because the traffic gets so bad that you can’t get out of there.’’

By the time the middle of the seventh comes around, it’s clear that this is going to be one swift trip to the ballpark, whether or not we should thank the pitch clock for the inviting pace or not. Despite Stanley’s assertions, watching the pitchers work with the countdown looming, does indeed seem like it would work well in major league parks.

Then, suddenly, “Sweet Caroline’’ plays on the park’s PA system, and I settle with myself that some things shouldn’t translate from one level to the next.

Maybe the pitch clock will or won’t follow suit.

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