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Online now: 1 member: Crazylegs46; 11 anonymousDiscussion: What Would You Change - Play More Innings per Game
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| Jan. 10 Sisavic 190 posts | Play More Innings per Game (Hopefully 7) Most of us are peeved about paying lots of money for fees and travel and then playing less than 7 innings. Some associations have enough time and fields to accommodate 7 innings for every game, but these are few and far between. Most associations, including the biggest (SS USA), have too many teams and just don’t have the fields, time and umpires to allow unlimited time per game. Then again, there are some games that will never have 7 innings. Men’s 50 and 55 M+ Divisions have no 5-run limit per inning rule in SS USA, but do have mercy rules. These games often end in 5 innings with 30+ runs per team. (Just for kicks, I looked at my team’s scorebooks and was surprised at the results: We played 75 national/regional tournaments in SS USA and St George, and 70% of our games went 7 innings: 52 games went 7 innings, 20 games went 6-innings, and 1 game went only 5 innings - at St George.) The 1 – 1 count was the most discussed and argued item in these posts. My opinion: the 1 – 1 count is suggested as a way to speed-up the game. There are passionate forces on both sides of this argument and changing would be a fiasco. The 1 – 1 count has been brought up at every Summit with little consensus, so I’m confident it won’t happen. There are other, less controversial, ways to get more innings. We need about 10 more minutes to get to 7 innings for almost all games. So, we need to speed up the game only a bit. There were lots of very good ideas to speed up the game without changing the essence of game. Here’s the list: (1) Add 10 minutes to game time and start games 5 to 10 minutes after the end of preceding game. This is my personal favorite recommendation. I get frosted when forced to end a game due to time restrictions only to see the field empty for 15 to 20 minutes thereafter. I also get frosted when we arrive early for a game at an empty field, wait 15 to 20 minutes to start, and then be forced to end the game due to time restrictions. Ugh! (2) Quicker courtesy runner entry. Some suggestions: CR must be in coach’s box at the time the batter gets to the base, must be at base in 15 seconds, and/or must be inserted before the first pitch to next batter. (3) Guarantee 6 innings minimum (assuming no delays by the leading team – umps judgment). (4) Three-pitch warm-up and no infield warm-up after first inning. Warm-up on sideline instead. Rush on and off the field. (5) Change to 4 runs per inning maximum. (6) Increase the strike mat size and make it consistent across associations. There were various posted recommendations from eliminating the mat to making it triangular. The proponents believe this would make the game go faster because batters will swing for more pitches. Mike Sisavic fsisavic@hotmail.com |
| Jan. 10 taits Men's 65 4548 posts | All but 5 & 6 I agree with. But I still believe we should get the 7 in. adding 10-15 min should do it with the other speed it up things. 5. Keep 5 run rule, too many have been complaining about not getting enough anyway. 6. So-so. works both ways for pitcher and batter. at least it would fall under the "Other" section. |
