Baseball Shorts: Time Limits in Baseball

When it comes to time limits in baseball, it is a common thing in the lower (recreational) leagues in Dutch baseball. Games in lower leagues in the Netherlands have a time limit of two hours. Games can end in a tie because of the time frame.

But also in US baseball time limits were a common thing back in the day. Especially during WWII, time limits or curfews were part of baseball throughout the US, to make sure no electricity was spoiled with night games.

But back in the 1910s and 1920s, local authorities could impose a curfew to assure the peace and quiet of residents of neighbourhoods where ballparks were located.

In 1912, during a game between the Oakland Oaks and the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League,  Bill Malarkey of the Oakland Oaks did not allow any hits for nine innings before being touched for a single in the 10th. The game ended in a scoreless tie because of a time limit/curfew.

The word curfew comes from the French “couvre-feu”, which literally means “cover your fire”, or in other words, turn out the lights.


Back in 2021, I wrote a blog post about curfews in MLB.