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Hmmmmm...
Let's assume:
The clock begins with "PLAY!"
A half-inning averages 5 batters.
A batter completes his at-bat in an average of 1 minute (3-pitch average takes 40 seconds, plus the new batter appears immediately in the box every time).
There is an average of exactly one minute between the last out of a half-inning and the first pitch of the next.
The home team wins every time.
Under these conditions, a game zips along--even with substitutions, stolen bases, pick-off attempts, walks, errors and conferences, a half-inning averages six minutes. A six-and-a-half inning game takes 78 minutes, or 1:18. Add just one minute per half-inning--seven minutes is still quick--and then throw on the bottom of the seventh, and you're up to 1:38.
It may be not uncommon for individual umpires who manage games properly and are routinely rewarded with games played by talented teams, but "average" for an area? I'm talking about the mean time for all games played in an entire season. Read again the conditions it takes to move a game that quickly. That's not average, and I don't care where you live.
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