Rule 8.04. The limit is 12 seconds. It's at the umpire's discretion, and it only applies after the pitcher has the ball and the batter is in the batter's box. But the umpire can call it any time he feels there is a delay of game and award either a ball or a balk if runners are on base.
Baseball Clock
- Thread starter cyowan
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Rule 8.04. The limit is 12 seconds. It's at the umpire's discretion, and it only applies after the pitcher has the ball and the batter is in the batter's box. But the umpire can call it any time he feels there is a delay of game and award either a ball or a balk if runners are on base.
It was a welcome change in the high school ranks when they limited the times that the batter could leave the box. Take a pitch, and you had to keep one foot in while getting the next sign from 3B. Leave the box in that situation, instant strike. I called strikes on a few kids for doing that, and the coach was perfectly fine with it.
Swing at a pitch, though, and you could step out for a couple of seconds to reset.
That put an abrupt end to the 'take a pitch, step out, take two or three cuts, get the sign, put one foot in, dig around, bring in the second foot, annnnnnnnd get set' routine.
I coach and I would say 60 minutes minimum is necessary for my team. Granted, it isn't a little league team, but the players swing for at minimum 20 minutes because if you just jump in and swing, you won't only look stupid, but it actually hurts like hell to just swing hard without warming up your swinging.
20 minutes stretching out the arm is important because most athletes use different muscles for short, easy throws like you normally see (ground ball to first, outfield to cut off) and quick, long throws (outfield to home, hurried plays in the infield) which is why you go from throwing about 10 feet away to 200 feet in baseball.
10 minutes actually stretching
10 minutes taking infield/outfield. If you've never played the sport, you'd be shocked how different every single infield and outfield is, from running on to fielding on.
20 minutes stretching out the arm is important because most athletes use different muscles for short, easy throws like you normally see (ground ball to first, outfield to cut off) and quick, long throws (outfield to home, hurried plays in the infield) which is why you go from throwing about 10 feet away to 200 feet in baseball.
10 minutes actually stretching
10 minutes taking infield/outfield. If you've never played the sport, you'd be shocked how different every single infield and outfield is, from running on to fielding on.
Also, I played HS baseball a few years ago. In Spring games, we had an ump that was a stickler about the rules. As soon as the last out was made, he said there is a HS rule that teams have 1 minute to get on/off the field and batter needs to be in the box ready to go. Not sure if he was right or not, but as a player, it had a worse affect on the game. My teammates and I felt way too hurried and had to rush our normal routine.
Baseball and football games last about the same length of time. Every college football game is 3hrs. A baseball game can be anywhere from 2 hours long to 3 1/2 hours long.
Baseball is a time killing sport to play in the dead heat of summer. Hence why 8 of the 9 players just stand around and chew. Also why they play all summer long-- just killin time man.
Can't look around, too busy drinking and shooting the ****. Isn't this what the live baseball experience is about? Basketball games are stressful, football games are for yelling, and baseball games are for relaxing. I go to a baseball game to drink, socialize, and keep an occasional eye on the action. When I watch baseball on TV, then I'm a lot more into it (stats, strategy, etc).
"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time.
This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again. Oh people will come, Ray.
People will most definitely come"
[video=youtube;7SB16il97yw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SB16il97yw[/video]
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100x yes. Please speed this boring and slow game up. Mainly it is the time between pitches that kills me. There are existing rules on the books that, if enforced, would greatly benefit the game. Baseball "purists" who don't like the rule already on the book aren't baseball purists, because baseball 50-75 years ago was played at a much faster pace than it is being played today simply because pitchers had to pitch faster. There's a reason baseball is unwatchable now as a pure sport (people already mention that it is more a social event than a sport).
Just finished my senior year of high school baseball a couple weeks ago. I wasn't one to waste too much time on the mound as I liked to keep things moving. Pitchers that took forever on the mound are annoying but I feel like a clock would just kinda ruin the sport. I also think 7 innings is the perfect length of a game but I know that would completely change MLB
1 minute, or a max of 5 warm-up pitches.
One team I umped for was coached by a real old-school guy. If you weren't in the dugout in 10 seconds after the third out (including the outfielders!), he'd put in someone who would hustle. Needless to say, I liked working those games. No ******** about calls, hustle back to the dugout after making an out, sprinting in/out between innings.
I thought it was a minute or 8 warm-up pitches, not five. Maybe that's just for a new pitcher.
Oh yeah, I'm definitely a fan of that stuff. I have my players sprint out there.
That being said, I don't want to be the third out and playing on the opposite side of the field as my dugout and not get any sort of ball to have any type of warm up.
So why not cut down on football games? Watching the Browns Redskins pre season game and no joke there has been 5 flags thrown on the last 6 plays.
They are the same length as baseball games. And yes I'm a bigger fan of football than I am of baseball but I just found this on google. An average professional football game lasts 3 hours and 12 minutes, but if you tally up the time when the ball is actually in play, the action amounts to a mere 11 minutes. Compared to baseball, 18 minutes of action in an average 3 hour game
yeah but 2/3s of a baseball game you just stand. Idk I really like playing baseball but I cant watch a MLB game for more then 10 minutes.
Games are getting longer and longer each year, and it has just as much to do with commercials between innings then it does batter and pitchers taking too long. If you ever go to a game in person, it is ridiculous how much time is wasted between innings. Its just as annoying as the guy with the bright orange glove standing on the sidelines at Jack Trice while the offense and defense stare each other down for a few minutes.
If baseball wants to speed the game up, they need to look in the mirror just as much as they need to look at way to speed batters and pitchers up.
If baseball wants to speed the game up, they need to look in the mirror just as much as they need to look at way to speed batters and pitchers up.
If you want to draw that comparison that is fine. The first NFL preseason game this year drew higher ratings than most of MLB's playoffs last year, excluding the WS.
Oh yeah because I forgot we were arguing about ratings? I'm saying that statistically there is more actual gameplay in baseball compared to football.
So the baseball haters out there that complain that there isn't enough action and that the players mostly just stand around really see less action in more time in football. Some people don't like to watch baseball, I understand that. I grew up watching the sport and I love it so I find it ironic when the baseball haters complain about it
