Time of Games

[mrakbaseball]

Thursday's game between Tampa Bay and Boston lasted over 4 hours. It was decided in the bottom of the ninth. Postseason or not, a 4 hour 9 inning game is way too long. There really needs to be some action taken to reduce the time between pitches. I understand during the postseason the time between innings is a little longer but 4 hours is too long to commit to one game. It is getting to the point that an actual pitch clock may need to be introduced. Pick up the pace of the game already. Batters need to stay in the box and pitchers stay in the vicinity of the mound. I can't imagine that the television executives are thrilled with these extra long 9 inning games regardless of the finish.

[spark240]

I would hate to see a pitch clock myself. In general, my feeling is that the pitcher should be able to control the pace of the game when he has the ball. I think the simplest thing that could and should be done is direct the umpires to not routinely grant time to batters after they have stepped into the box. If something exceptional happens, a genuine distraction beyond the batter's control, fine, call time--but let that be the exception.

That being said, Thursday's game had 31 base runners and 15 runs scored between the teams. That's going to take a while under any circumstances. I do wish they were starting the games an hour earlier, though.

[Captain Cold Nose]

I'm sure Rays fans would have loved to have had that game a bit shorter. RSN wouldn't have had it any other way than what it was.
Thursday's game was unique, and should not be used as a legit starting point that the games are too long.

[Evangelion]

Shorten the game? Shorten the commercials, but that will never happen.

[gman5431]

I have a huge problem with the start time of these games and the time they take. Dont start the games at 8:30 PM Eastern time. How bout 7:00 or 7:30 for god sake. Also, you are right, 4 hours for a 9 inning game is a joke. I can understand why people dont want to watch these games. You have to stay up into the AM to see the end. Some people actually have jobs they have to get up for. We end up missing some of the best post season games because they end around 2 AM. Not only cut back on the BS between pitches but cut back the dam commercials.

G Man

[Evangelion]

I have a huge problem with the start time of these games and the time they take. Dont start the games at 8:30 PM Eastern time. How bout 7:00 or 7:30 for god sake. Also, you are right, 4 hours for a 9 inning game is a joke. I can understand why people dont want to watch these games. You have to stay up into the AM to see the end. Some people actually have jobs they have to get up for. We end up missing some of the best post season games because they end around 2 AM. Not only cut back on the BS between pitches but cut back the dam commercials.

G Man
Haven't games been starting this late for years?

Personally, I place the majority of blame upon the absurd amount of time on commercials. While games have started at 8 PM or later for a long time, it might be time to change due to all the ridiculous time dedicated to commercials.

Guess what? World Series game was pushed all the way to 8:35 P.M., because of an ad campaign. Seriously, what's up with that?

[Lafferty Daniel]

I have a huge problem with the start time of these games and the time they take. Dont start the games at 8:30 PM Eastern time. How bout 7:00 or 7:30 for god sake. Also, you are right, 4 hours for a 9 inning game is a joke. I can understand why people dont want to watch these games. You have to stay up into the AM to see the end. Some people actually have jobs they have to get up for. We end up missing some of the best post season games because they end around 2 AM. Not only cut back on the BS between pitches but cut back the dam commercials.

G Man

That's not going to fly out here on the West Coast. It's bad enough that I have to start watching a game in my office at 5:00, or Tivo it so I can watch it when I get home around 7:00. (I hate recording live sporting events)

[gman5431]

I understand that problem, the West Coast thing and there really is no good solution for that. If we have to start t 8:30 then the commericals are the killer. No way a 9 inning game should last 4 hours. Its ridiculous and it sucks some of the life and drama out of the game itself.

G Man

[ipitch]

That's not going to fly out here on the West Coast. It's bad enough that I have to start watching a game in my office at 5:00, or Tivo it so I can watch it when I get home around 7:00. (I hate recording live sporting events)

That's way better than what an East coaster has to do. An East coaster either has to stay up until 12:00-1:00am, or tape it and watch it the next morning or after work. Plus, when both teams are from the East, 75%(?) of people watching are in the East.

[Lafferty Daniel]

That's way better than what an East coaster has to do. An East coaster either has to stay up until 12:00-1:00am, or tape it and watch it the next morning or after work. Plus, when both teams are from the East, 75%(?) of people watching are in the East.

It's tough to compare the two time zones. Personally, I would rather stay up late to watch the entire game, rather than risk missing the start of a game because it airs when I'm at work or driving in rush hour traffic.

Just remember that more people watch network television at 9:00, not 8:00. Assuming more viewers are from the East Coast, the advertisers, and therefore the networks, certainly want to stick with the late start times.

[gman5431]

And i always leave work early to watch games, so i would rather they start at 5 haha. Anyone will like what they dont have. The main point is these playoff games are absurdly long and it shouldnt have to be that way. Once again baseball just like everything is about the money.

G Man

[mrakbaseball]

The starting times aren't going to change. MLB needs to have their games played at a quicker pace, longer commercial breaks or not. A 4 hour 9 inning game is unacceptable.

[Scoops]

The starting times aren't going to change. MLB needs to have their games played at a quicker pace, longer commercial breaks or not. A 4 hour 9 inning game is unacceptable.
Is it?

Very rarely do I look at a game as it is being played and think about how slowly it is progressing, within itself. Sometimes I look at a clock and realize how long it's taking "in the real world". How long the pitcher is taking almost never occurs to me. To me, two things cause long games: advertising and offense. One of those is within the control of MLB, but not really something they want to change as they like the money.

Ultimately, part of the reason I like baseball is the pace of it. It's not about speed, it never has been. I don't want baseball to have a forced tempo, though I don't mind an encouraged tempo (which it has).

[Michael Green]

I love baseball and don't care how long a game is ... if the players are actually doing something. But take Papelbon last night. He was taking at least 25 seconds between pitches--I started timing him--with no one on base. No. The pitcher can and should control the flow, but that is just too long. It isn't bad just for the fan, it's bad for baseball. Any fielder will tell you that he begins to lose a step going after a ball from sort of rocking back when the pitcher takes too long.

The commercials are an issue, and it would seem to me that fewer ads might lead to higher rates, but I don't know. I do know that I honor John Shulock, the former umpire, who once got mad at NBC, I believe, and started innings early. He was fined, but it apparently made him feel good, and I have to admit, I wouldn't have enjoyed it if I had been watching the game--but the TV people deserved it.

[Imgran]

Baseball is a slow game. The modern science of the game and the rise of OBP as a stat means in principle that more pitches will be thhrown and the tempo of the game will become a weapon in the hands of whichever team can control it better.

When patience is such a virtue for players, surely the fans can display a little as well.

[spark240]

So maybe earlier starts don't always work with your schedule, but they are better for other people--especially kids. I even think one World Series game each year could be a straight up day game. I really think kids should be able to watch a World Series game once in a while. Besides that, if some postseason games start before you're home, so what? Listen on the radio if you're not around a TV.

[efin98]

Four hours for a nine inning game that had 15 runs scored, 19 hits, 11 walks, seven pitching changes, and 24 men left on base?

Yeah, that's about right amount of time it would take. You only get a 2.5-3 hour game when it's low scoring and low hitting game- that game was neither.

[ipitch]

Four hours for a nine inning game that had 15 runs scored, 19 hits, 11 walks, seven pitching changes, and 24 men left on base?

Yeah, that's about right amount of time it would take. You only get a 2.5-3 hour game when it's low scoring and low hitting game- that game was neither.

Here's 18 runs, 27 hits, and 7 pitchers...
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA200606210.shtml
It only lasted 2:20.

26 runs, 34 hits, 8 pitchers...
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN200607020.shtml
2:53.

About all you need for a fast game are fast pitchers. And, it helps if they don't walk too many guys.

[THE OX]

Just a few thoughts:

1) Stupid, too-late starting times for games
2) Too many ill-advised and unnecessary pitching changes
3) Must be 10 minutes/game wasted by batters re-attaching Velcro on batting gloves. BTW, why the need for batting gloves, anyway?
4) Pitchers of (IMO) limited talent nibbling at the plate (too many pitches/batter)
5) Idiot fans bringing beach balls which get loose and end up on field
6) Rowdy or pig fans throwing garbage & debris on field, necessitating hold-ups to remove the garbage / debris
7) Failure by umps to enforce time limit between pitches
8) Too many pointless throws to first base by pitchers. Many of the runners can't steal a base anyway, so why the need to throw over?
9) Too much time allocated for repetitive advertisements between innings, pitching changes, etc.

There. That ought to shorten the average game by about an hour.

Just a few thoughts. Flame away........

[Berkman#17]

Shorten the game? Shorten the commercials, but that will never happen.

No kidding. How many times have you heard of the pitcher just standing on the mound after his warm up pitches waiting around so that the commercials can get over just so he can resume pitching.

As much as I hate soccer, they do a good job of sneaking advertisements in during the game. They will say "this game is brought to you by so and so", and have their icon in the corner of the screen or something. What's wrong with having the score box on top of the screen have a Mastercard logo or something? Cut 30 seconds to a minute off every commercial break and just think of how much time could be shaved off games.

[redlegsfan21]

Sen. Barack Obama wants them to start later :eek:

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=472908

[mrakbaseball]

Sen. Barack Obama wants them to start later :eek:

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=472908

This thread isn't about what time games start but the amount of time it takes to complete them. Once again, a 4 hour 9 inning game is too long. It's not a positive. A game that has 15 runs scored,19 hits, 11 walks, 7 pitching changes and 24 men left on, still shouldn't take over 4 hours. The amount of time between pitches needs to shortened.

[ipitch]

I watched part of a game from 1978 this morning. When the pitcher caught the ball from the catcher, I started counting. A few times it was just *4* seconds before the pitcher started his wind-up. Even when a runner was on base, it was sometimes just 5 or 6 seconds.

[redlegsfan21]

This thread isn't about what time games start but the amount of time it takes to complete them. Once again, a 4 hour 9 inning game is too long. It's not a positive. A game that has 15 runs scored,19 hits, 11 walks, 7 pitching changes and 24 men left on, still shouldn't take over 4 hours. The amount of time between pitches needs to shortened.

Well, a late start can be just as exhausting as a long game. Every game seems like 4 hours even if it's only 3 considering I'm used to 7:05 PM start times and games don't usually start til 8:07 PM. The combination of a late start and a long game is a deadly combination.

[brewcrew82]

Four hours for a nine inning game that had 15 runs scored, 19 hits, 11 walks, seven pitching changes, and 24 men left on base?

Yeah, that's about right amount of time it would take. You only get a 2.5-3 hour game when it's low scoring and low hitting game- that game was neither.

Even game seven, which featured a grand total of four runs on nine hits went for a shade over three and a half hours. Now I will concede it was an important game and quite tense in points, but tension does not have to equal slow.

I'm not complaining. I had all the time in the world to watch the game but I can see how frustrating and offputting it can be for someone who knows they don't have a chance of watching the whole game because it moves at a snail's pace and they have a life outside of watching baseball.

[gman5431]

Of course i had to stay up for the game last nite, which i believe ended after midnight (i was drunk so i dont remember exact time). Those two factors, lateness of game and jack daniels has be having a rough Monday morning at work.

G Man

[SamtheBravesFan]

Of course i had to stay up for the game last nite, which i believe ended after midnight (i was drunk so i dont remember exact time). Those two factors, lateness of game and jack daniels has be having a rough Monday morning at work.

G Man

It was only just after midnight.

[gman5431]

Why start the game so late on a Sunday? Start time is bad but its the pace of the game - LONG commercials, etc that is the real problem.

G Man

[SamtheBravesFan]

I can't answer that question. On the other hand, I have never been concerned about the length of games. Never.