If Softball HAS to Have Time Limits…

[Ken Krause]

I’m pretty sure I’ve made my feelings about time limits for fastpitch softball games pretty clear. You can read all about them in this post. Or this one. The short version is I don’t like them. Never have, never will. The reason is fastpitch softball wasn’t designed to have time limits. It’s supposed to have […]

More...

 

[Northball]

I was agreeing with you with this as a possibility, but then I started thinking the defense will stall to kill an offensive rally. Could happen several times during a game. Or did I miss something?

 

[The Man In Blue]

I would definitely support the reduced innings aspect of tournaments, but I have to say that I still don't think that is the problem. Time limits aren't about limiting play (though they can have that effect), they are about keeping things on schedule for the bigger picture.

When you go to a tournament and see your games are averaging 3 or 4 innings while other teams are playing 6 or 7 innings in that same time limit, you need to look at your team and see what you are doing wrong. Sometimes that is the result of a long, high-scoring inning (or two), but if it is a consistent pattern you are doing something wrong.

I have written in multiple threads on the many, many ways poor coaching manifests itself during a game. That is not something that is fixed by time limits or fewer innings, but it is something that is mitigated by a tournament which needs to to stay on some semblance of a schedule for the sake of the hundreds of other people impacted by that one coach's shortcomings. You can complain that you were down 22-0 and didn't get one more at bat, but the tournament staff, umpires, concession staff, grounds crew, and four other teams that are waiting for your game to finish ... all of them want to get on about their day, not stand around and watch while you give up five more runs. Truth is, the only people who are ever offended by time limits are the coaches who failed and the parents who want to blame somebody (anybody) else.

Here is another umpire perspective: MONEY. You can say this is greedy or selfish, but I would disagree whole-heartedly because it isn't just me. Most of those people I mentioned above ... tournament staff, grounds crews, concession staff, etc. are being paid hourly. If you want to hold things up to keep carrying on with your antics, pony up and pay all the people that are waiting on you.

I have said before that my time is not worthless. I know not every umpire is like me, but I spend a lot of money every year on registrations, training and camps, and equipment. When I call a high school varsity softball game, there is no time limit. We play 7 innings (barring a run rule) and are typically done in 1:30 to 1:45. For that, I am paid about $75 per game. When I go work a tournament, I make about $45 per game. No offense, but I am not working non-time limit games for about half of my standard fee.

My comments may seem a bit harsh, but they are meant to. The sad reality is that this whole endeavor is not about just you and your team. Youth sports is a business and a business has costs it needs to control. If you want to play full games and not worry about "getting screwed by the clock" then take control of your team and your game: be prepared and hustle.

 

[Traps71]

We once played I think it was USA Softball Eastern Nationals (not sure why they called a regional tournament a nationals, but that's another question) and I like how they managed the time to prevent or at least dissuade stalling. Think it was a 80 or 90 minute game finish the inning+1 inning. Seemed to run pretty smoothly and we got 6 or a full 7 innings in every game.

 

[_MIA_]

DD played 7 innnings games in the Alliance Championships this past week. It was 104 the first 2 days..I am not quite sure but I think the time limit on those games was 2005 minutes.

 

[canyonjoe]

I get what we have to have time limits in tournaments. Since the rules of softball don't have time limits in mind I would like to see rules to govern the times to prevent the nonsense that occurs at the end but not sure that will ever happen.

 

[_MIA_]

I get what we have to have time limits in tournaments. Since the rules of softball don't have time limits in mind I would like to see rules to govern the times to prevent the nonsense that occurs at the end but not sure that will ever happen.

I get it but don't get behind in the first place is my view on that.

 

[canyonjoe]

I get it but don't get behind in the first place is my view on that.

I get what you are saying, but still think if you introduce a rule there should be a way to apply it. I do agree with not getting behind and with all the other comments about playing faster to start.

 

[CrazyNani]

I’m pretty sure I’ve made my feelings about time limits for fastpitch softball games pretty clear. You can read all about them in this post. Or this one. The short version is I don’t like them. Never have, never will. The reason is fastpitch softball wasn’t designed to have time limits. It’s supposed to have […]

More...

Why not just stop the clock for all of the tomfoolery in the last 5 minutes so that there's no reason to do it? Seems simple.

 

[CoachJD]

I think no matter what people come up with, there will always be some way to game the system; however, that doesn't mean we shouldn't limit the ways they can game the system.

Laws won't prevent every single instance of every possible crime, but they do prevent some crimes! It would be silly to argue we shouldn't have laws because sometimes people still break them (or, worse, get away with breaking them).

We could pretty easily come up with a couple simple rules that could eliminate most of the stalling. Let's do that and deal with whatever new tricks people come up with when necessary.