Major League Baseball officially unveiled a series of rule changes on Thursday that were agreed to by the MLB Players’ Association and that will take effect at the beginning of the 2017 season.

MLB Announces Official Rule Changes for 2017

MLB Communications tweeted the full list, which is highlighted by no-pitch intentional walks and a time limit for replay reviews:

Most of the changes are aimed at helping to improve the game’s speed/pace.

Under the new rules, managers now get just 30 seconds after the play to call for a replay from the dugout, thus forcing them to make quicker decisions on whether or not they agree with the umpire’s call.

The second rule-change regarding replays will allow managers to make challenges up through the seventh inning, one inning longer than previously allowed.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported comments made by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred about the goal of shortening games.

“I will say that pace of play is an issue that we need to be focused on,” he said. “And the ‘we’ there is players, owners, umpires … everyone who is invested in this game.”

Manfred added: “I don’t think there’s a magic bullet that is going to come one year and that’s going to be the solution to pace of play. It’s going to be an ongoing effort to make sure our game moves along in the way in the way that is most attractive to our fans.”

Several players around the league have expressed confusion or openly criticized the rule changes.

David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman’s comments on the changes, some of which— like the new no-pitch intentional walks rule— were first proposed a few weeks ago.

“My thoughts are, I’m a young guy, but I like old-school baseball,” he said. “I don’t think we should have instant replay. I don’t think we should be changing the game at all. It’s a beautiful game the way it is. They’re always talking about pace of play, but I think instant replay made the game longer.”

Freeman also doesn’t believe changing intentional walks will shorten the duration of games: “Taking away 10 seconds [for each pitch in an intentional walk]—they’re still going to have instant replay take five minutes when we’re just standing around. It [intentional walk] is part of the game. I’ve seen a lot of people score on wild pitches on intentional walks.”

An “angered and frustrated” Manfred told reporters, including Nightengale, that he can ultimately make changes and other similar decisions without approval from the MLBPA, a union.

ESPN Stats & Information reported last July that the average MLB game lasted three hours and four minutes. It was a four-minute increase from 2015, when the league was more forceful in keeping players in the batter’s box between pitches, and a 15-minute increase from 2005.

MLB also addressed the controversy that arose after the Mets accused the Dodgers of using lasers to mark the field for defensive positioning last season. All marking used for defensive positioning are now banned, including paint or lasers.

Finally, third-base coaches will be required to stay in their own box before every pitch, refining a rule that was already technically in place, though rarely enforced.  Coaches can still run down the line to shout at their runners during plays, but are still prohibited from interfering with on-field action.

 MINNEAPOLIS, MN – JUNE 07: Ichiro Suzuki #51 of the Miami Marlins steals second base against Eduardo Nunez #9 of the Minnesota Twins as umpire Scott Barry #87 looks on during the tenth inning of the game on June 7, 2016 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins defeated the Marlins 6-4 in eleven innings. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

The rule of golf may soon be drastically changed.

USGA and R&A Propose Changes to Golf Rules Starting in 2019

The United Staes Golf Association — which governs the rules of the sport for the U.S. and Mexico — and the R&A, which oversees the rules for all other countries. announced on Wednesday morning a list of proposed changes aimed at simplifying the game and making its rules more consistent and easier to understand and apply.

“Our aim is to make the rules easier to follow and to apply for all golfers,” said David Rickman, executive director of governance for the R&A, in a press release. “We have looked at every rule to try to find ways of making them more intuitive and straightforward, and we believe we have identified many significant improvements.

“It is important that the rules continue to evolve and remain in tune with the way the modern game is played, but we have been careful not to change the game’s longstanding principles and character.”

The governing bodies, who typically revise the rules every four years, proposed an implementation date of Jan. 1, 2019 for these new rules.

The proposed changes include:

• A player will not receive a penalty if the ball (or ball marker) accidentally moves on the putting green or in search of a ball.
• Players can leave the flagstick in the hole while putting.
• Players may repair spike marks or other damage on the green with no penalty.
• Caddies will no longer be able to line up a player. This will be a big change on the LPGA tour, where many players have their caddies line them up before stepping away just before the player makes a swing.
• Players who have trouble in bunkers could get relief. If you want, you can remove your ball from a bunker (and place it in the fairway or rough behind the bunker, depending on where the bunker is) and accept a two-stroke penalty.
• A new procedure for how to drop a ball in a relief area.
• Time searching for a lost ball would go from five minutes to three.
• There’s a proposal calling for players to take no more than 40 seconds to play their shot.

Several notable players appeared to like the suggested rule changes.

“I like how they are being proactive,” Brandt Snedeker said from the WGC-Mexico Championship. “Some make perfect sense. It’s common sense, really, like a ball moving on a green or getting a penalty stroke when the ball hits your caddie.

“Some of them have too much gray area, like grounding a club in a bunker. But overall I like what they are doing.

“But it’s funny. I have to go back to school now to learn all of them.”

Tiger Woods expressed his strong support for the changes on Twitter early Wednesday. “Lots of thought & hard work by @USGA and @RandA to modernize our rules. Great work to benefit the game,” Woods wrote.

Some, like Daniel Berger, like the changes less.

Mike Davis, USGA executive director and CEO, said on Golf Channel’s Morning Drive that the rules will be an improvement for all golfers, not just those playing professionally on tour.

“This is great for all golfers, this isn’t just about elite golfers, tournament golfers or avid golfers,” Davis said. “If we get this right, this is about all golfers. It’s beginning golfers, recreational golfers and golfers globally. It’s been an interesting process because this has been about making the rules easier to understand, easier to read and easier to apply.”

Thomas Pagel, the USGA’s senior director of the rules of golf and amateur status, stated the process began in April 2012.

“We looked at everything,” Pagel said of the process. “If you think of the rules as a puzzle, we pulled every puzzle piece apart, looked at every outcome, looked at every word to see how we could make it better.”

The governing bodies will allow for a six-month comment period (through Aug. 31), and have encouraged golfers to review the proposed changes and submit their opinions on both organizations’ websites.

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – DECEMBER 02: Tiger Woods of the United States hits his shot on the second tee during round two of the Hero World Challenge at Albany, The Bahamas on December 2, 2016 in Nassau, Bahamas. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)