http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/18648532/mlb-test-rule-change-minor-leagues-focusing-extra-innings

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Yahoo! Sports, citing sources, reported Wednesday that MLB will test a rule change in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League and the Arizona League this summer that will automatically place a runner on second base at the start of extra innings.

A similar rule has been used internationally and will be in place for next month's World Baseball Classic.

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Not a fan of that idea at all. They need to get rid of dead time issues. Like speeding up pitching changes.

Frok said:

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Not a fan of that idea at all. They need to get rid of dead time issues. Like speeding up pitching changes.

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Agree that something needs to be done with pitching changes. Speed them up, limit them, etc. I'm fine with the late inning 1 inning guys, they don't delay the game since they come in between innings. But some of the situational one at bat outings really drag things out, especially when this happens multiple times within the same inning.

MLB is being stubborn. The 2 no-brainer ways to speed up the game are:

(1) no more visits to the mound by the pitching coach. Pitcher is removed on the first visit.

(2) all pitchers must face at least 2 batters of record (or the end of the inning). And this mean that <shudder> left-handed relievers will have to learn to get out right-handed hitters. No more coming in for 1 batter and then leaving the game.

need to implement one or the other

That extra inning baserunner does nothing. The complaint is 9 inning games taking over 3 hours.

I'm too lazy to read the article but is it the guy leading off the inning or a special pinch runner?

The strategy of that is weird.

So... a home team would get a walk every time.

As the Away team, you start with a guy on 2nd. You can't walk a guy out of concern for a big inning.

If the Away team doesn't score... putting a guy on 1st and going for a double play... or force at 3rd increases you percentage of winning. A big inning doesn't hurt, because the 1st run to score would win the game.

That would seem to put a big tilt towards the visiting team.

Which pitcher would the runner be charged to?

Mr.Ackar07 said:

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Which pitcher would the runner be charged to?

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Good point. And would the Run be Earned, or Unearned?!

I would look at it slightly different.

there would be tremendous pressure on the visiting team to score in their half of the inning. If they don't then the home team has a mega-advantage strategy-wise.

as the home team manager (in that scenario) I would gladly accept the walk to start the inning and give my team 1st & 2nd with no outs. That means the visiting team's only hope is the GiDP (or strike out the side). The home manager then has multiple options available to avoid the GiDP. (bunt, steal, pinchhit, pinchrun, etc..,)

if the home team has their 3-4-5 hitters up...then swing away with 3 chances to drive in the game-winner. If the home team has 7-8-9 or 9-1-2, then play small ball to score the game-winner.

as is always the case in extra frames...when the visiting team doesn't score in their half of the inning, the home team manager knows that whatever he does in the bottom half...he can't lose the game

This definitely sounds like a low level minor league rule at best

the Billy Hamilton and Willie Mays Hayes speed-that-can't-hit types would get a huge boost in value just to win extra inning games if they were guaranteed to get on base like that...

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Use a home run derby to settle it

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Ridiculous, the bat boys, ball girls, coaches, and unused players should do a bat spin relay race.

Extra innings idea

DallasAg 94 said:

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Mr.Ackar07 said:

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Which pitcher would the runner be charged to?

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Good point. And would the Run be Earned, or Unearned?!

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I saw one hypothetical where Madison Bumgarner throws 9 perfect innings, then comes out for the 10th.

Leadoff hitter - Grounds out softly to 2B. Runner moves to 3rd. 1 out.
Second hitter - fly ball to deep center. Runner tags and scores. 2 outs.
Third hitter - strikes out. 3 outs.

Giants lose 1-0, but does Bumgarner get credit for the perfect game? He didn't allow a single baserunner, yet still loses.

That would be the most hilarious thing ever and hi-light what an idiotic idea it is in the first place.

The rule in the Japanese leagues that ends the game in a tie after 15 innings is better than this.