Does Baseball Have Overtime?

Baseball, unlike most other sports, cannot end in a tie. You may see in soccer, even once they get through an overtime sudden death period, the game is over and it may end in the score being tied. Same with football, hockey and many other professional sporting events.

Baseball is very unique and unlike any other sport. There is no time limit. As long as a team has outs left, the game goes on! 

Is there overtime in Baseball? 

Technically, NO… Since there is no time limit in baseball there is no ‘overtime’ however if a game is tied they will play ‘extra innings’ to determine the winner of the game. 

Extra innings is when each team gets another at bat to try to score runs.

Recently MLB has started each innings with a runner on second base, in order to help speed up the game.

Is baseball overtime sudden death?

NO! Each team will get a chance at bat to score runs. The away team will start on the top half of the inning, followed by the home team.

The home team has a slight advantage since they bat second, and know how many runs they need to score in order to tie or win the game. 

In my opinion, this is what makes baseball so beautiful and unlike any sport. One could argue in football the team who receives the kick off in overtime has an advantage to win the game.

Or in soccer a lucky goal could be scored in overtime and the team who played a better game did not win. 

Baseball winners are ultimately the team who limited mistakes on defense and executed when they had to on offense. There is no luck of a coin flip to give a team an unfair advantage. Its all about how many runs you can score before you record 3 outs!

How does overtime or extra innings work in baseball?

MLB recently started a new overtime rule in 2021. Each team will start with a runner on second base to start the innings with 0 outs. They have 3 outs to get that run home.

Many people who are baseball fundamentalists don’t like the new rule.

The runner on second didn’t earn the base, and it really gives an unfair advantage to the offense.

The new rule was put into effect to speed up the game and determine a winner sooner. MLB has put different rules and regulations in place to help speed up the game and be more fan friendly.

Ultimately the new rule is still technically fair since each team has the same chance and is put in the same scenario to start the extra inning.

There is some discussion that the rule may go back to the old way of doing things as some fans have complained about the new extra innings rule.

Before the new rule was put in place, each team still had a chance to score in extra innings, however, the play started just like any other inning in baseball, with the bases empty. Each team then had 3 outs to score as many runs as they could, followed by the other team having a shot to beat or tie the number of runs in that inning.

At the end of the completed inning, whoever had the most runs, wins the game.

If the runner on second scores in extra innings, does it count against the pitcher’s ERA?

This is a great question! The answer is NO! 

The pitcher is not credited with an earned run. HOWEVER, the hitter who bats the run in will get credited an RBI, and if the runner scores, he is credited with a run scored for his stats in the game.

How many innings was the longest baseball game?

This is kind of a trick question. 

The longest game in terms of time was 8 hours and 6 minutes. It was May 8th, 1984 between the Brewers and White Sox. In the 17th inning, the game was suspended at 1 am.

They started the game the next day and it went an extra 8 innings for a total of 25 innings! 

The longest game in terms of innings was the Brooklyn Robins vs Boston Braves on May 1st, 1920. The game took 26 innings. 

Year	Game	Length
1920	Brooklyn Robins 1 vs Boston Braves 1	26 Innings
1984	White Sox 7 vs. Brewers 6	25 Innings
1974	Cardinals 4 vs. Mets 3	25 Innings
1968	Astros 1 vs. Mets 0	24 Innings
1945	Tigers 1 vs. Athletics 1	24 Innings
1906	Athletics 4 vs Americans 1	24 Innings
1964	Giants 8 vs. Mets 6	23 Innings
1939	Dodgers 2 vs Bees 2	23 Innings
2008	Rockies 2 vs Padres 1	22 Innings

Here is a link to read up on the list of the longest games in MLB history.

What is the fastest game in History?

The fastest 9 innings baseball game in MLB history was in 1919. The New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-1.

The game took just 51 minutes to play.

I have to imagine someone didn’t start the clock on time! 51 minutes to play 9 innings is just 5 mins 66 seconds per inning!

There must not have been that many commercial breaks during that game, and players must have hustled on and off the field between innings! 

What has baseball done to help shorten the game of baseball?

MLB has had some influence from the fans to shorten the overall time of the game.

Below is a list of things they have done to help speed up the game. 

Extra inning rule – Extra innings now start with a runner on 2nd base to help give the advantage to the offense to score a run and end the game faster.

Time limit between pitches – Each pitcher has a time limit to throw their next pitch

Pitcher batter limit – Each pitcher must face a mandatory 3 batters if they enter the game.

This is speeding up the game because a pitcher used to come in the game to just face 1 hitter sometimes. Coaches would use a left handed specialist to get 1 out and make another pitching change. These pitching changes really slow down the game.

Limited Mound visits – Each team can only call timeout to visit the mound 5 times per game. There used to be unlimited, meaning the catcher could call time at any time, and go talk to his pitcher. Now they can only do it 5 times per game. 

Some say these rules have been taken away from the game, some think making the game faster is better for the fans. I think baseball is pretty great for the fact that there is no time limit, and lets beef up our attention span, and go enjoy a day of baseball, no matter how long it takes!

How many innings are in baseball?

There are 9 innings in a regular MLB baseball game. However, if the game is tied, they will enter ‘extra innings’ until a winner is determined. 

In high school, or little league they may play 6 or 7-inning baseball games.

However, most leagues will also call for extra innings to determine a winner if the game is tied at the end of regulation. 

How many innings are in overtime or extra innings?

There is no set time limit in baseball and no set number of innings to play before the game is over.

At the end of regulation, if the scores are tied, they will keep playing extra innings until there is a winner.

For example, after the 9th inning, if the game is tied 1-1, each team will get a chance to bat in the 10th inning.

If the visiting team scores 2 runs in the top of the 10th, the home team still gets a chance to beat or tie.

Entering the bottom half of the 10th the score would be 3-1.

If the home team scores 2 runs and tied the game 3-3 after they get all 3 outs the game will move to the 11th inning.

This will continue until there is a winner at the end of a full inning.

Summary

Once again, there is no overtime in baseball. Since there is no time limit in the game of baseball, there is no such thing as overtime. There is however extra innings!

If the game is tied at the end of regulation, which is 9 innings in the MLB, then each team will have an extra inning to try to win the game. 

Baseball is such a perfect sport. Each team has the same amount of outs to try to produce runs for their team!

There is no time limit, no running out the clock on your opponent, and no closing out the game without facing your opponent 1 on 1! 

The pitcher HAS to throw the ball over the plate and get all 3 outs before the game is over. As long as the offense has an out left, they have a chance to win the game, no matter what the score is! 

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