Are tie games allowed in Little League?

[sdix00]

Yes, I know they happen all the time. My questions is, are they technically legal?

Per 4.10(b) and 4.11(e ), games must continue if they are tied. I see
no provision for regulation tie games other than 4.10(c)(3), and it reads like stereo instructions. I know a lot of leagues allow this. Is there a provision in the rules for a Tie game to be a regulation game?


4.10-
(a) A regulation game consists of six innings (Junior/Senior/Big League -
seven innings), unless extended because of a tie score, or shortened
(1) because the home team needs none of its half of the sixth inning
(Junior/Senior/Big League seventh) or only a fraction of it; or (2)
because the umpire calls the game.
(b) If the score is tied after six complete innings (Junior/Senior/Big League
- seven innings), play shall continue until (1) the visiting team has scored
more total runs than the home team at the end of a completed inning;
or (2) the home team scores the winning run in an uncompleted inning.
(c) If a game is called, it is a regulation game -
(1) if four innings have been completed (Junior/Senior/Big League
- five innings);
(2) if the home team has scored more runs in three and a half innings
than the visiting team has scored in four completed half-innings;
(Junior/Senior/Big League - four and a half innings)
(3) if the home team scores one or more runs in its half ofthe fourth
inning (Junior/Senior/Big league fifth inning) to tie the score.

4.11-
(e) A regulation game that is tied after four (Junior/Senior/Big League
five) or more completed innings and halted by the umpire, shall be
resumed from the exact point that play was halted. The game shall
continue in accordance with Rule 4.10 (a) and 4.10 (b).

[ukce1861]

This is typically a local rule, implemented by the League or District. All of our BB and SB teams, except for BB Majors, play with time limits, but they're spelled out in our Supplemental Rules which are agreed upon by all the League President's at the District Level. There are no time limits to our BB Majors games in the Spring - trust me, I had the plate for a 9 inning game a couple of weeks ago. Wasn't too bad though, at 2:23.

[sdix00]

Yep. I get that local leagues put this in their bylaws.

My fundamental question is, is it legal to allow tie games? We know that ground rules and bylaws cannot supersede or contradict an official rule. Seems that a local rule allowing tie games, contradicts the letter of the rule.

[Rich_Ives]

LL allows time limits in minor league games via Reg VII(h) which can effectively create a tie (can't continue).

Ties can also result from not being able to schedule the resumption of the suspended game.

Do you have a particular beef or are you just too locked in to the rule book? Some battles aren't worth fighting.

[richo_aust]

Something from Australia here, bylaws are supplementary to the Rules, yes, sometimes they are in conflict with them, however, if you have a bylaw, use it.

In Australia, for the pitchers around 16 and younger, they can only throw fast balls or change ups, nothing else. WHY you ask? (We do not have the population that other countries have, and our baseball competes with alot of other sports, therefore, we don't the numbers of kids playing baseball like other countries. We are saving their arms for the future if they wish to continue playing.) When our National LL teams goes off to the Asian Conference to play, they have not seen the amount of different pitchers that the other countries in our Conference throw.

Time limit bylaws are created to all the other games on the same diamond don't get put to far behind.

thanks for listening, or is that reading.

[kyle_jt]

In Australia, for the pitchers around 16 and younger, they can only throw fast balls or change ups, nothing else. WHY you ask?

Who is judging whether a pitch is a fastball, or a splitfinger? Change up, or knuckle-curve? Is that the umpire's job? If so, my fee's going up.

Back on point. Major and above, no ties, just suspended games at curfew (or darkness, weather, etc). The BoD decides what to do with those games. But they wouldn't properly be recorded as a tie. Just suspended.