[FUBLUE]

I prefer Fast Pitch to Baseball. To me at least, baseball moves slower. THis included anything from pitching and reaction time, to time to make plays, to "gamesmanship", etc. But I do some baseball when asked (usually in emergency situations). I like the pace of Fastpitch.

Having said that, that depends on the level. JV baseball and JV softball could take forever. I worked a JV softball game two years ago that took 2:30. Varsity baseball took 2:00 for a 10 run game.
Last year, did a softball double header (varsity) in 2:45. Baseball was just starting game two of their doubleheader when we finished. They started 30 minutes before we did. And they had a 8-7 game and a 9-4 game. (Our scores: 3-0, 2-1)

Comparing Fast Pitch to Slow Pitch is different. With me, Slow Pitch depends on the level of competition. Good defenses make the game fun, because as Mike said there is a lot of offense. So if there is no defense, the game will take forever.

I like his thought on the ball being able to be hit to any part of the field, but a good fastpitch batter will be able to do the same thing. Granted, she/he won't be able to decide to hit the ball to an exact location, but he/she will be able to hit it to left/right/etc.

But then again, bunting in FP kind of takes the place of the short "dink" in SP, doesn't it?

Yet how many fast pitch beer leagues are there?

Concluding in a short period of time? Depends on the level. We all now that without time limits some beginners games would take forever. I remember keeping track of time in fast pitch this year...I averaged around 1:20 minutes, with some going 2+ and some barely 1 hour. When I did SP regularly, we were going 1:20 a game (70 minute time limit, finish inning). Levels were C, D, E, F, and Z. (Yeah, some bad teams, but they had fun, so it was fun)

Best SP game I did was my last one: 6-5 in 65 minutes. Shortstop was pro baseball player who was cut from team (Single A ball) but not released from contract. First baseman for other team was about 6-10 and could stretch all the way to second (or so it seemed). Had seven double-plays and 4 leaps by shortstop to catch line drives. He played about 10 steps onto grass.

But if you enjoy what you are officiating, does it really matter what game it is?