Run rules, time limits and drop-dead times
A typical tournament might have no new inning after 1:45, a drop-dead at 2:00 and a run rule of 15 after three or 10 after four. They're different, they interact, and I'd want to know all three before the first pitch.
If you’ve coached tournament baseball, you know the clock is part of the game. Youth tournament games have time limits, while high school games and above don’t. That one difference creates a whole set of rules no one teaches you, and they decide games. Let’s walk through them…
The most common is no new inning after 1:45. When the clock hits 1:45, you finish the inning you’re in, and if it hits between innings, the game is over. The umpire’s watch is the official one. Depending on the event, the clock may start at the first pitch or at the pregame meeting at the plate. Ask.
Drop-dead at 2:00 is a different animal. When the clock hits, the game ends right where it stands — even in the middle of an inning. Most events then revert the score to the last completed inning if the home team is batting and behind. Some don’t, though.
This is the rule I’d read twice.
Then there are the run rules. It’s usually 15 runs after three innings and 10 after four (sometimes 8 after five). The game ends when a team is ahead by that much after a completed inning, or in the middle of one if the home team gets there.
But the time limit and the run rule interact, and that’s where it gets interesting. A team up 12 in the fourth might play for the clock instead of the run rule, or vice versa. And with a drop-dead clock, being the home team and trailing with two minutes left is a very different game than being the visitor. Which would you rather be?
Ties are their own wrinkle. Some events play a tiebreaker inning with a runner on second. Some let pool games end tied. Some don’t allow ties in bracket play but still have a clock, which means a tiebreaker is coming.
We need to read the rule sheet the night before. Then confirm the clock with the umpire before the first pitch. Do you know how your next tournament handles a tie?
Which rulebook? None of this is in the Official Baseball Rules. Every tournament and league sets its own. Read the event rules the night before, and confirm the clock and the run rule with the umpire at the plate meeting. If the umpire and the rule sheet disagree, get the tournament director.
Runner on third, one out. A wild pitch goes to the backstop. The batter steps out of the box and gets tangled up with the catcher as he chases the ball. The runner scores. What’s the ruling?
Still have a question? Ask Coach Fungo.
“Know when the clock started, and know what happens when it runs out.”
When is time actually out?
Time is out when the umpire grants it, and not one second before. A runner who steps off the base because his coach yelled "time" is still a runner off his base, and he can be tagged.
“Coaches and players can ask for time. Only the umpire can give it.”
The transfer rule: when is it an out?
If he had it secured in the glove and dropped it pulling it out to throw, the out stands. If it came out before he ever had control, there's no catch.
“Watch the glove close and the ball stop. After that, a drop on the transfer doesn't save the runner.”
The rules quiz
Ten questions, two minutes. Would you have gotten the call right?
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