If you’re not an ardent baseball fan, the rules of this game may seem complicated. While baseball rules do take time to understand, they’re not as complex as it looks at first glance.
Learning the rules, including how many innings baseball has, will enhance your experience of the game, but also is necessary if you’re planning to bet on baseball games, to make sure you practice responsible betting.
How Many Innings Are There In Baseball?
A standard game of baseball consists of nine innings. An inning is a basic unit of a game that is divided into top (first) and bottom (second) halves, or frames. In the top half, players on one of the teams take turns to bat and score runs, while the other team plays in defense. In the bottom half, the teams swap places. Each half lasts until the batting team gets three outs.
However, there are certain conditions that affect how many innings in baseball will be played. This includes a tie, extreme weather conditions, and the “mercy rule” when the number of innings is reduced to seven.
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What Happens After the Ninth Inning?
Once the nine innings are completed, the game ends, with the team who has more runs winning the match. But a tie in the score can change how many innings are in a baseball game. As baseball is one of those games that can’t end in a tie, extra innings are added to the match. Their number isn’t limited and will last until one team gains advantage in runs over the other.
Many bookmakers offer various betting markets related to innings, that’s why knowing what to expect from a game of baseball and how it unfolds is essential before placing bets.
Why is Baseball Nine Innings?
The rules of modern baseball dictate how many innings in MLB (Major League Baseball) and other regulation matches will be played. However, when the game was just invented, the teams would play until one of them scored 21 runs (back then called “aces”).
However, this system would later be deemed flawed as the skill level would increase and the duration of the game would take too long. Therefore, it was decided to change the rules and establish that each game will last nine innings and have nine players on each side. The modern day baseball rules were first disputed in 1856 at the meeting of the Knickerbocker Baseball Club in New York. While the rules were formalized by William R. Wheaton and William H. Tucker, one of the founding fathers of baseball, Alexander Cartwright, is believed to have played a significant role in the process.
But how long are innings in baseball? While technically they can be indefinite, in the modern game an average inning lasts between 16 and 20 minutes. In 2023, the so-called pitch clock was introduced to impose additional time limits on the players.
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