Alright, so the other day I was watching a baseball game, and it got me thinking, how long does an inning actually last? I mean, sometimes it feels like they go on forever, and other times they’re over in a flash. So, I decided to do a little digging of my own to figure it out.
First, I grabbed my phone and started looking for some info online. I checked a bunch of different baseball websites to see if I could find some average times. I saw that people were saying an inning usually takes around 20 minutes. Hmmm, sounds about right, I thought, based on what I’ve seen.
Checking the Numbers
Then I got curious about the actual numbers. How did people get to this 20-minute thing? I figured there had to be some data behind it. So, I looked up some official stuff from Major League Baseball. They keep track of all kinds of stats, so I figured they’d have something on this. Turns out I was right!
I found out that last season, the average time for an inning was a little over 20 minutes. They called it 20.56 minutes to be exact. That makes sense because an average game takes a little over 3 hours, and there are nine innings. So, if you just divide the total game time by the number of innings, you end up around that number.
Putting It to the Test
- I grabbed a stopwatch and timed a few innings in some games I watched.
- Most of the innings clocked in around 18-20 minutes. Just like I found online!
- But then there were those long innings. Man, some of them seemed to drag on forever, taking way longer than 20 minutes. One even went over 30!
So, from my little experiment, I found that the average time of around 20 minutes per inning seems pretty accurate. But, like anything, there are always exceptions. Some innings are quick, and some…well, not so much! It’s all part of the fun of watching baseball, I guess. You never really know what you’re gonna get.
I also learned that some things during a game can make the innings longer. Like when pitchers change, or if there are a lot of hits or runs. Those things obviously add more time. So, I think it is fair to say that there is no definitive time an inning lasts. It is all about the situations that happen in the game.
It was a fun thing to figure out, though. Now, when I watch a game, I have a better idea of how long each part might take. And I can impress my friends with my newfound baseball knowledge! Pretty cool, right?
