A Quick Glance…
The duration of a baseball game can vary depending on numerous factors such as the level of play, the teams involved, and the pace of the game. Typically, professional baseball games in Major League Baseball (MLB) last around three hours, but they can extend if extra innings are required. On the other hand, amateur or Little League games generally take around one to two hours. It’s important to note that unexpected delays, weather conditions, and the flow of the game itself can all influence the overall length of a baseball game.
Baseball game duration
If you are planning on intending a major league baseball game, their games usually take around 3 hours to complete. A baseball game is usually nine innings.
However, this number can vary on a lot of different factors. If the two teams playing are tied at the end of nine innings, the game will go into extra innings and be played until there is a winner.
The longest game in baseball history is from 1981, the game between two triple A teams that lasted 33 innings for a grand total of nearly 8.5 hours. If there is bad weather, a game can be cut short. If the game has made it through 5 innings and the weather continues to be bad, the league can call it and the game is over.
The league has made changes to the rules to try and help the games move faster since how long the games take is a huge complaint with viewers. They have put timers for in between pitches so there is not as much time between pitches. They now even have a rule that will hopefully make extra innings go by quicker too.
What is an inning, and how long is it?
A baseball inning lasts for a total of six outs, three per team. Innings are broken into two halves. The away team bats during the “top” half of the inning and the home team bats during the “bottom” half.
This rule doesn’t change throughout all levels of baseball—except for Tee-Ball, which doesn’t count outs and requires that every player on a team get an at-bat in each inning.
It’s possible that half an inning could take only three pitches for three quick outs. However, there is no definitive time limit. The exact duration depends on the number of at-bats, the pace of the pitcher and number of pitching changes.
Technically, an inning could go on forever if the fielding team fails to record three outs.
How long do baseball games last in major league, minor league, collegiate, high school, youth?
Baseball games at lower levels vary when it comes to their length.
- Minor league baseball has been able to shorten their games by 12 minutes with some of the rules they have implemented.
- Collegiate baseball is 9 innings as well, and they usually take around the same amount of time as a major league game does.
- High school baseball is only 7 innings, so that means the games take a little less time. Usually anywhere from 2 -2.5 hours. The lower in level will go, the less time a baseball game will take.
- If you are going to a little league game, more likely than not, you will only be there for around 2 hours. So those are much easier to plan around.
References:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extra_innings
- https://www.sportsrec.com/long-pro-football-game-last-5406588.html
