The new extra innings rule will do more harm than good and the Cleveland Indians found that out first hand.
The Cleveland Indians on Saturday fell victim to the asinine new rule change implemented by MLB for the 2020 season. The rule will see a runner start on second base when the game goes into the 10th inning and beyond.
"MLB implemented the rule, which puts a runner at second base to start each extra half-inning, to help speed the game along this season. The league doesn’t want games going deep into extra innings during the COVID-19 pandemic."
This isn’t true, even if the folks at MLB really believe that’s why this measure was implemented. After all, if it was about protecting players from the pandemic, why aren’t they in a bubble and mandating masks to be worn?
Baseball is also a very different game when it comes to scoring things. It’s a game where every movement of sorts counts towards something. Throw a runner out before he reaches first? That’s a “putout”. Fail to field a ball and the runner is safe? That’s an error. Feel that your 300lbs DH isn’t the best guy to have running your bases? That’s a pinch-runner. There is no action a team can do to automatically put a guy on second base without him having earned it.
So how do you randomly insert a player onto second base? Per CBS again;
"For official scoring purposes the automatic runner at second base is said to have reached on an error, though no fielder is charged with an error. Also, the automatic runner goes into the books as an unearned run when he comes around to score, so it does not hurt the pitcher’s ERA. The pitcher is responsible for any runners he allows, however."
Great. So this is Whose Line Is It Anyway? Because apparently nothing matters and the points are made up. By the way, the likely hood that a team scores in this scenario is expected to be over 60% of the time. So have fun with that.
These are the three reasons why this rule makes no sense.
Who’s this rule for?
Is this rule supposed to make new fans? What? Why? It shortens a game by giving teams handicaps to have to deal with. The best non-continual play is the overtime set up in college football. It’s anxiety-driven. You have to do the same thing your opponent does but you don’t get to just start at the five-yard line. You still have to play the game traditionally, however, it’s just truncated. It also brings the aspect of a “shoot out” to the sport.
The NHL has a decent overtime measure but it’s not great for playoffs and that’s their shootout. The NBA just keeps playing but with a shorter game clock for the period.
So MLB’s great plan is to start a runner at second, who doesn’t have to earn that base, and then a single can end a game? Imagine if you set up a football team on the 20-yard line, but told them they only needed to get six yards to score a touchdown. That’s the nonsense we got going on with this rule.
If the league really wanted to do a fun and exciting post-nine-innings gameplay, why not just do a home run derby? Send your three best hitters up against a pitching machine, give each guy ten whacks, and whoever has the most home runs after both teams are done wins. If there’s a tie, you do it again, only with three different guys per team.
You wouldn’t count the home runs the players hit, you would just give the winning team an unearned run.
The problem with starting a runner-on-second rule is that you’re attempting to hasten a game that isn’t designed to be fast-paced. Imagine if for every penalty minute earned in a game, the game clock lessened by that amount. Two minutes for high sticking? Welp, two minutes less on the game clock for the period! Why? Why are you attempting to hasten the game?
At least by changing the format completely you’re tapping into something familiar, a homerun derby, and not trying to pretend that you’re keeping the same at its corp. Because you’re not. Keep in mind, this isn’t a rule being implemented to “protect players” either, as it’s been going on in the minors for years. It’s being done to quicken the pace of the game. A pace of the game that fans love, mind you. Those who don’t are going to be checking in because a game is suddenly fifteen minutes faster.
Don’t expect it to go anywhere either. This rule will be here to stay. It’s what the Majors have been wanting to do for a while. Now they can.
Doesn’t protect players
The extra-inning rule isn’t for player safety. Don’t believe it. Don’t listen to anyone who says it. The facts are this, this virus is spread through the air a majority of the time. Yet, the MLB doesn’t mandate masks. CDC guidelines say you should be at least six feet apart. You’re at least ten times that from any base on the field when you’re the pitcher. The CDC says the virus doesn’t transfer that well from surface contact, so again, there’s very little issue with catching and throwing balls; especially if you have to wear a mask.
So what’s this about the new rule is “safer” for players? Would a reliever be more at risk if he throws one inning compared to two? No. The risk factor isn’t going up at that point. Not compared to how much more at risk he is in the dugout, on the team bus, at the team hotel, etc.
If safety was the priority, why didn’t the MLB just move all 30 teams to Montana or North Dakota where there’s next to no population to worry about and build some makeshift stadiums? Unlike a basketball court, a baseball field is relatively cheap to build. Instead the league is having players travel around various states and cities, sleeping in countless hotel rooms and interacting with people every day who aren’t being tested or quarantined.
So how is this extra inning’s rule about safety?
Now also keep in mind that despite all of its claims for “safety”, they added extra games to the playoffs by adding even more teams. How is traveling more helping keep players safe? Eduardo Rodriguez now has a heart condition because he got COVID-19. Traveling and exposing players is fine but god forbid a pitcher has to stand on a mound by himself for too long?
If this rule were in place while the league was inside of a bubble as the NBA currently is, ok, at least that’s defensible. Overreactive maybe, sure, but at least it’s a small measure against a larger list of safety procedures. It’d be like putting an adhesive bandage on top of gauze that’s covering up 40 stitches. It’s not needed, but ok, at least it makes fundamental sense.
Trying to impose this rule outside of a bubble? Like putting a small adhesive bandage on a missing limb. I’m pretty sure you’re going to need more than one Band-Aid on that missing leg.
Extra Innings add a battle of attrition
Eli Manning didn’t become a household name because he was Peyton Manning’s brother. No, it was because in November of 2001 he led Ole Miss to a win over Arkansas after seven overtime periods. Eli was a household name after that game and became a legend on campus. Why? Because despite being exhausted and at the end of his rope he still found a way to win. Fans love watching athletes do the unimaginable. They love watching a man make folklore with a swing of a ball, a toss of a ball, or a single tackle.
Hitting a single can now end a game. Why? There’s no honor in that. There’s nothing star-making in that. There’s nothing even exciting about that. You can’t reduplicate Bill Selby’s walk-off grand slam in 2002. You can’t earn that beautiful moment from 2014 when the Indians won on a walk-off balk in the 13th inning. Putting a runner in scoring position negates so much opportunity to make moments and capture new fans by making every ending a cookie-cutter finale.
Sports are supposed to be exciting. Complaining about more sports only shows someone that you’re not a fan of the sport. So why would making it quicker make more fans want to tune in? Sure, there might be some fans who only want to see the results or other fans who get bored watching anything after an hour. Those fans aren’t going to the games though. Fans who watch most of the game, or never change the channel until it’s over, are the ones more likely to show up and pay for tickets. They’re the ones who want to see legends born. Not just take Instagram selfies for the first three innings before heading to a bar downtown.
You should be catering to the fans who love the game. Not the ones who won’t even pay to see your product. So stop catering the game to the type of people who have no interest in your sport.
It’s like catering to vegans when you run a steakhouse. Why?