Time limit games

[DG]

I show both coaches my watch, which will be in my ball bag, and it will be the official time and we agree on start time as the plate meeting breaks up. I generally add one minute and say "by the time we get started it will be...." They then generally look at their watches to get a comparison to what their watch has.

[ManInBlue]

I announce "game time is...and it starts now" as we break up the plate meeting. We've been instructed to start the time at that point.

I have a clock/timer on my indicator so I have it with me at all times (put it in my pocket when on the bases).

I have the official time and announce that time has expired when my timer reaches 0:00 (or real close). Trust me, they're keeping track and will raise Cane if you short them 1 minute.

At one park they have a timer on the score board - everyone knows how much time is left.

[ozzy6900]

Interesting points from all of you. Let me say that I do not agree with Rich Ives for a timed game as going by Rule Book Game Start allows the home team to perform their warm up off the clock. I don't care if you limit the pitcher to 8 pitches, he his still off the clock if you do it this way.

Remember, baseball is a non-timed sport, so if you are going to set a clock to it, everything that the teams do must be timed. Therefore, I agree with starting the clock at the end of the plate meeting is the only fair way for both teams. Now if it is a cold morning and the home coach wants a couple of more warm up throws for his prize pitcher, its all on the clock!

[Blue37]

I was passing through a small town last weekend and went past a ball field where it looked like they were playing little kids softball. The scoreboard had a football-like clock and was counting down. I figured it was the game time. First time I had seen anything like that.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by ozzy6900

Interesting points from all of you. Let me say that I do not agree with Rich Ives for a timed game as going by Rule Book Game Start allows the home team to perform their warm up off the clock. I don't care if you limit the pitcher to 8 pitches, he his still off the clock if you do it this way.

Remember, baseball is a non-timed sport, so if you are going to set a clock to it, everything that the teams do must be timed. Therefore, I agree with starting the clock at the end of the plate meeting is the only fair way for both teams. Now if it is a cold morning and the home coach wants a couple of more warm up throws for his prize pitcher, its all on the clock!

I don't work time limit games often, but when I do, I treat them just the same as any other game. I don't hurry people up any more, I don't limit trips to the mound (or break them up any earlier), etc. It's just a game with an un-natural condition attached to it and I do not entertain requests from other teams to speed things along just so that team can bat again.

I compromise. I give a minute after the plate conference for the home pitcher's warmup on the mound. I'm not pulling my watch out on the first pitch, so I move it ahead a minute from the end of the conference and that's the time it starts. If the home pitcher takes a bit longer, well, that part is on the clock.

[njdevs00cup]

When I work tournament ball over the summer, I do review the speed up rules and encourage both managers to appropriately plan to warm up their pitchers in between innings if the catcher is not ready.

One of the challenges I have encountered during timed tournament games is unitnentional, intentional stalling. For example a legal substitution for the catcher during the middle of an inning. How do you handle situations like that?

[cardinalfan]

Originally Posted by njdevs00cup

When I work tournament ball over the summer, I do review the speed up rules and encourage both managers to appropriately plan to warm up their pitchers in between innings if the catcher is not ready.

One of the challenges I have encountered during timed tournament games is unitnentional, intentional stalling. For example a legal substitution for the catcher during the middle of an inning. How do you handle situations like that?

I don't work timed games, but I occasionally go out to watch Jr. & Sr. Babe Ruth games at the local park during the summer.
What you described drives me insane. This is big boy baseball - 14 yr olds & up. I constantly see coaches make fools of themselves and the game by some of the silliest stall methods they can think of.

As an umpire, I don't see anything you can do unless your local assoc. has rules guarding against this unsportsmanlike coaching.

[Rich Ives]

Originally Posted by ozzy6900

Interesting points from all of you. Let me say that I do not agree with Rich Ives for a timed game as going by Rule Book Game Start allows the home team to perform their warm up off the clock. I don't care if you limit the pitcher to 8 pitches, he his still off the clock if you do it this way.

Remember, baseball is a non-timed sport, so if you are going to set a clock to it, everything that the teams do must be timed. Therefore, I agree with starting the clock at the end of the plate meeting is the only fair way for both teams. Now if it is a cold morning and the home coach wants a couple of more warm up throws for his prize pitcher, its all on the clock!

Ozzy, I said the league should determine the start time but if they don't then go to the rule book.

You can't let each individual umpire make up his own definition.

[ozzy6900]

Originally Posted by Rich Ives

Ozzy, I said the league should determine the start time but if they don't then go to the rule book.

You can't let each individual umpire make up his own definition.

Rich, did you read my post? I specifically addressed why going by the book is unfair by allowing one team to preform a function off the clock when the other team will be doing the same thing on the clock! You above all the others are a proponent of fair play with your connection to youth sports so think about what I am saying.

[Rich Ives]

Originally Posted by ozzy6900

Rich, did you read my post? I specifically addressed why going by the book is unfair by allowing one team to preform a function off the clock when the other team will be doing the same thing on the clock! You above all the others are a proponent of fair play with your connection to youth sports so think about what I am saying.

Yes I read your post. You said you disagreed with using the rule to determine the start time.

It's nice to know why, but your approach does fall into the category of making up a rule to suit your personal belief. You can't apply 9.01(c) or its equivalents because it's already covered in the rules.

"Fair" is applying the same rules to both teams. Unless the schedule is strange, each team will be home half the time and visitor half the time and subject to the same rules. The official start time affects the teams equally. That's "fair".

[ozzy6900]

Originally Posted by Rich Ives

Yes I read your post. You said you disagreed with using the rule to determine the start time.

It's nice to know why, but your approach does fall into the category of making up a rule to suit your personal belief. You can't apply 9.01(c) or its equivalents because it's already covered in the rules.

"Fair" is applying the same rules to both teams. Unless the schedule is strange, each team will be home half the time and visitor half the time and subject to the same rules. The official start time affects the teams equally. That's "fair".

On the same accord, baseball was never designed to be a timed game, either so no matter how you work it, there is going to be some form of "making it up as you go along". The rules of baseball (OBR,FED & NCAA) have nothing to give the umpire crew a clue when to start a clock. When to start the game, yes! I say that the warm up of the home team is part of the clock because it just makes sense. Every other inning has a warm up and they are part of the clock so why not the home team's in the 1st inning?

This is why I hate dealing with anything outside the rules and "League rules".

Baseball is not timed - if you want to time it, then you have to time EVERYTHING.

Peace!

[JPaco54]

My issue with times games is not what the official start time is but when does the game end. All tournament youth competitive games that I have umped are timed, except for the final championship game. The bigger issue to me is when does the game officially end. Rules state: "1 hour and 40 mins. or 6 innings which ever comes first. Complete game after 4."
Example - Home team is winning after 5 innings, third out made by home team with 30 seconds remaining. Do you start another half inning with the visiting team coming up to bat? This will push the game time well past the 1hr. 40 mins. If VT ties the game then you have another half inning to play giving the HT another at bat. So, does the game end before the VT takes the field. Some tournaments state, if there is any time left after the third out is made by the HT and HT is winning you must continue play with the VT coming to bat. So, if there is 30 seconds or 1 minute left after the third out, you know the next pitch will not start until another 2 -3 minutes have past so now you have passed the 1 hour 40min time frame to start another inning. This is where many of the coaches start playing games as you know, to either stall or speed up the game so another inning will not start or forces you to start another inning. Are there any less complicated ways to handle this and being fair to both teams?

[johnnyg08]

In exhibition tournaments I've seen "slow pitch" related rules where you put a runner on second base, 1 out, modify the beginning count...these are good rules, esp for keeping the tournament on schedule.

[HokieUmp]

Originally Posted by JPaco54

Are there any less complicated ways to handle this and being fair to both teams?

Yeah, by using the phrase "no new inning," which you didn't mention, so I'll assume that's not in effect in the games you're discussing.

Around here, all the rec leagues, including AAU, are timed, and so are the adult games. Maybe another of our guys will correct me if I'm wrong - I know they're out there - but to my recollection, nearly all of them say "no new inning after X:XX" Some also include a drop-dead time, and some completely bollock-up the wording with other clauses that introduce confusion, but it's mostly the no new inning thing.

Me, if the HT is winning when we hit that time-limit, then we're done. I've known others to say you should still play that out, but to me, it's the same as the winning run being scored in bottom-7, or bottom-9 - the VT can't come back to win, since they can't start the next inning, so we're done.

My main b--ch about time limit games is the complete lack of reality by the leagues. If they have 2, 3, whatever, 2:00 games they want played, can you guess how they schedule them? Right - at 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, etc. (Remember, it's "no new inning after 2:00") It'd be one thing if they were new umpire crews every game, so he could "change lines" like hockey, but you just get behind. Which puts pressure on the umpires to get the next game rolling, but we're trying to get back to the cars to change. Oy.....

[johnnyg08]

Then I think when your assigner works w/ the tournament director, he needs to tell them to schedule a transition time for the umpires. Around here, they always schedule time between games to at least drag the field. I don't think the umps should ever be pressured to "hurry" because a game ran long...I think they need to respect the fact that they're running late but I think it probably end there.