8:30 Baseball + Extra Innings = Cranky Kids (and Dads)

We arrived at the ball field about 7:45, met up with the rest of the team and began warming up for the games. We took infield practice, then outfield practice, while the pitcher got ready. The coach huddled the kids together and gave them their pep talk, went over positions and the batting order, and gave out final instructions. When the umpires were ready, our first batter stepped into the box and took the first pitch for a strike at 8:29 p.m. We were behind 3-1 after the first inning, but bounced back for an 8-4 lead at the end of two. We battled back and forth, letting the other team cut into our lead before building it back up. At the end of the sixth-inning, we were up 15-12. We were able to tack on three runs in the top of the seventh, to go up by six, and it really looked like were we going to win only our third game of the year. Then the wheels fell off. We allowed six runs in the bottom of the seventh and were tied 18-18. The time was roughly 10:45 and we were facing extra-innings. Both teams failed to score in the eighth, so the game went into the ninth. We managed to scratch out a run in the top of the ninth, but after a couple questionable calls and some defensive miscues, we gave up two runs in the bottom of the ninth to fall 20-19.

If you haven’t guessed, I really love baseball and I love helping coach my oldest son’s team. What I don’t love are 8:30 baseball games, especially ones that go into extra-innings. I think it is ridiculous to have 9, 10, and 11 year-old boys play a baseball game at 8:30 at night. My nine-year-old son goes to bed between 8:30 and 9:00 so asking him to start a baseball game at bedtime is asking a little much. Kids this age should not be expected to play these late games, and they shouldn’t be expected to play extra-innings on top of it. The other thing I have a problem with is the seven-innings or two-hour rule. This rule states that each game will be seven-innings or two-hours long. This would be a great rule if they meant that the game would end after two-hours, but what it really means is that you will start and then finish an inning if it begins within the two-hour time limit. During our extra-inning game, we completed the sixth-inning at 10:22, only seven minutes before the two hours was up. Now there is no way any team can play an entire inning in only seven minutes, so they should have called the game then and there. Because we were still within the two-hours though, the umpires went ahead and started the seventh-inning. As the visitors, we got to bat first and put up three more runs to take a six run lead. With the home team behind, they got their final chance to bat, and tied the game up, forcing the extra-innings. We shouldn’t have been playing that late in the evening in the first place, we should have ended the game after the sixth instead of trying to squeeze in another inning (and I am not just saying that because we would have won at the end of the sixth) and we certainly shouldn’t have played extra-innings. Let the game end in a tie.

As it played out, the game went until almost 11:30. By the time my son had all his equipment packed up and we made it to the car, it was 11:45. It was after midnight by the time we got home, which is a lot to ask of a nine-year-old and is exactly why my wife elected to stay home with our seven- and three-year old. Needless to say, my son was asleep before his head hit the pillow. Although he was exhausted, his younger brother and sister were not and they woke up at their usual time and were making so much noise that they woke their brother and their father up before 8:00 a.m. Needless to say, both my son and I have been pretty tired and cranky today. Although I have managed to remain fairly patient today, my son has not. He has been yelling at his brother and sister all day. I know he is just tired, but I can’t just excuse his behavior. Then again it isn’t his fault he was up past midnight, but I can’t send the baseball league to time out.

All I can do is question the logic of having 9 and 10 year-olds play baseball so late into the night and make sure my son gets to bed early tonight.