Curfew

A curfew is a set time after which a baseball game must end. Curfews are normally imposed by local authorities (i.e. the municipality) to ensure the peace and quiet of residents in neighborhoods that host a ballpark. On rarer occasion, a curfew can be imposed at the national or state or provincial level, in times of war, civil unrest, or due to a health pandemic.

Typically, when a curfew is in order, no inning can start after a certain time (typically Midnight or 1:00 AM, but it varies). That inning is played to completion and at that point, either the game is called if it has become an official game and one team is ahead, or it is either suspended, to be completed at a later date, or declared a tie and then replayed in its entirety if necessary.

Curfews were common in the early days of night games or when Sunday baseball was still considered somewhat controversial, but rarely come into play in the 21st century.

A curfew can also be imposed by a team on its players, especially on the road: players must be back in their rooms by a certain time, or face possible disciplinary consequences.

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