Time limit games

[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!

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by ozzy6900

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!

What's the basis for the "time of game" listing in the box socre? Is it the end of warm-ups, the time of the first pitch, something else?

[Rich Ives]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

What's the basis for the "time of game" listing in the box socre? Is it the end of warm-ups, the time of the first pitch, something else?

Per an official scorer (Atlanta Blue):

We have had this very debate in the press box!

MLB has instructed scorers to use the time of the first pitch. I argue that this is a mistake, that it should be the time that the umpire puts the ball in play, as that is the point that the game "starts". But MLB didn't really care about my disagreement.

Suppose the pitcher licks his fingers while on the mound before the first pitch. A ball is added to the count, BUT THE GAME HASN'T STARTED YET according to MLB.

Despite my logic, MLB uses first pitch.

But when I'm in charge .......

[ozzy6900]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

What's the basis for the "time of game" listing in the box socre? Is it the end of warm-ups, the time of the first pitch, something else?

MLB wants the Start Time and the End Time of the game for the records. This has no bearing on the game itself, it is simply used as statistics. This thread is about TIMED GAMES meaning you have a certain amount of time to either complete the game or you live with the results. Timed games use clocks to tick off the time alloted as in a 15 minute clock for a football quarter.

Baseball was never designed to be run by a clock, that is why there are so many discussions and disagreements (such as the one between Rich & I). There will never be an agreement on this as he wants to go by a rule book that was never designed nor designated to be used with a clock. I on the other hand want all action of both teams as part of the timed action. Would it really make a difference? Probably not, but I stand on my conviction of all action of the teams being put under the clock.

Better yet, tell the TD to stick the clock where the sun don't shine and let's play a leisurely game of baseball the way it was designed!

[DG]

I work one league that has timed games, this year, but not last year or in year's past. Umpires in this league have been lobbying for timed games for some time, because without it the teams have no incentive to hussle on and off and keep things moving along. I worked a game last year that lasted over3 hours, a seven inning game.

Most of the games are worked within the time limit. I had one last week that the 2 hour time limit was up after only 4 innings, but league rule says you must play 5 regardless of time limit so we played another. Final score was same as it was after 4, 28-14.

Time starts when PU says "play" so that is why I give the coaches a "projected" start time at the end of the plate meeting, to give pitcher his warmups. I have forgotten to do this before and when that happens I pull my little watch out of my ball bag just before the first pitch and tell them game time start after the first half inning. It's never a big deal, at the beginning of a game, it's only a big deal as time is running out.