The clock

[Guest Eastside Coach]

I'm looking through league records from the last few years and found this one. I always like to get the opinions of the guys who get paid to make the calls. 

 

In a number of tournaments and youth leagues the game is 7 innings or two hours. The field we often use for many league games has a scoreboard that is multi-purpose, used for football and baseball and as such has a game clock. We use it during baseball games putting up 2:00 on the clock and letting it count down, starting when the umpire gives the command to "play ball" before the first pitch. 

 

Problem: 

 

It's a 3 PM Saturday game. The umpires are running late; as there is no other game scheduled after this one. Both teams agree to wait for the crew. (League rule also says umpires more than 10 minutes late can, at the discretion of the site director, be dismissed from the game, not paid, and coaches will call the game — never something we want to do). Game begins at 3:25 and things are going well, crew is average if not better. 5 pm arrives. It's a 6-5 ball game in the 5th inning. Umpires insist the game is over as it has reached the scheduled two hour limit and begin heading off the field. Crowd, players, and coaches are fully expecting 20 more minutes of baseball. I believe there was a very brief conversation with umps and site director and the game was played to completion. 

 

Question: For you as an umpire, does a timed game begin on your command to play ball, or when it is scheduled? What circumstances do you take into account. Or, do you put these questions in the hands of the league, tournament, or site director.

[kylehutson]

Hate it when game ends early, i.e., before all innings are played.  

Me, too. I've gotten better in the last couple of years of speeding things along (e.g., asking coaches to get pitchers warmed up between innings, having batters keep a foot in the batters box, saying "lets go, batter" when they're slowly walking to the plate.) I don't have many over the time limit these days.

[Tksjewelry]

Hate it when game ends early, i.e., before all innings are played.

Me, too. I've gotten better in the last couple of years of speeding things along (e.g., asking coaches to get pitchers warmed up between innings, having batters keep a foot in the batters box, saying "lets go, batter" when they're slowly walking to the plate.) I don't have many over the time limit these days.

I don't either since I learned some game management. Tonight, 7 in 1:20. Partner, a newish guy, commented on how fast I move the game along. I haven't gone time limit but a few times all year. Knock on wood, that it continues that way.

[ZebraStripes]

On Wednesday, we tried to do a full 7 inning game.  The field had no lights and we started at 6:00.  We were in the bottom of the 3rd just after 7:00.  We got 5.5 innings in right at 2 hours.  Getting too dark to continue so we ended the game VT 12 HT 14.  The only half inning that did not have a run in it was the bottom of the 5th.  Only 2 half innings, the top of the 2nd and the top of the 6th had only 1 run.

[MObetterBlue]

USSSA is first pitch.  With Triple Crown the clock starts when the plate meeting ends.

It's amazing how coaches will still leave the meeting knowing that and still take 4-5 minutes to get their team on the field...???