Amateur Baseball should be Timed

[Mike M]

Our Babe Ruth program (Prep 13s) started this weekend. We have a rule that inning can start after 2 and 1/2 hours after the game starts. All 4 games did not make it to seven innings. It seems that whatever we do as umpires, unless the quality of pitching and hitting ( just putting the ball in play) is there it is going to be a long day. As for the impact of the time limit on the teams, when 2 and 15 minutes rolls along, then the teams realize that they need to move the game along but it is too late.

Of the 20 HS games (mostly Frosh/JV) I have done this year, once again quality of pitching/hitting determined the length of game. Two average quality teams meant around 2 and 15 minutes of playing time.

Finally, besides quality of teams, the pace of the game is influenced by the pitcher readiness to pitch. As the pitcher matures from a Frosh to Varsity, it appears they work at much faster pace.