They’re baaaack! Ghost runners in extras.

[stringer bell]

MLB will have the ghost runner rule for extra innings again in 2022. It wasn’t stated whether the free base runner will be instituted for the tenth inning or whether in comes in play later in the game. 
 

Also of note, 28 players will be on the active roster until May 1. 

[jctwins]

Manfred Mann's Earth Band needs to go.

[wsnydes]

I need a sarcasm font to reply to this...

[Brock Beauchamp]

I don’t like the zombie runner but I also don’t understand the outrage over it. I think using it in the tenth us a mistake but really have little issue using it for the eleventh or twelfth. 

[MMMordabito]

[DocBauer]

I'm 100% with Brock that the ghost runner is fine, but not the 10th inning. It should be the 11th at the earliest. Baseball at the ML level should maintain it's form. But every once in a while, we get those 13-15 inning games that just drag on. I'd go with the ghost runner in the 12th inning.

I'm also 100% on board for the 28 man roster to begin the season. My only complaint is I think the 28 man roster was a good thing in 2020. With the way the game has changed, I've been advocating a 27 or 28 man roster. And now that restrictions have been placed on the number of times a player can be sent down and brought back up in a year, we're going to probably see things like phantom injuries in order to manipulate that new rule. Why not just also move to a 27-28 man roster?

Just a curiosity question to everyone, the elimination of 7 inning double headers....good thing or bad thing?

[Unwinder]

I don't really mind the ghost runner except that it makes contact more important than power, and the high-power Twins lineup couldn't adjust. If it didn't put my team at a disadvantage I don't think I'd have any problem with it at all.

[h2oface]

I hate the ghost runner. Cheapens the game big time. Manfraud baseball. They should at least try moving it to the 12th inning, and give the game the 10th and 11th to be real baseball. I was really surprised to read that the players like it. Lazy.

Time for every runner to learn how to get the jump and steal 3rd base. And Bunt. I hate free runners. I hate no pitches and they get a walk.

At least they aren't playing 7 inning games on purpose. 

[Squirrel]

From what I can tell, it sounds like the players are okay with this. I recall Morneau talking about it last year and the rationale for it seems pretty good. However, what everyone has already said, not in the 10th. If it were me, I’d have no ghost running in the 10th, a ghost runner starting on 1st in the 11th and a ghost running on 2nd the rest of the innings. 

[Muppet]

How about next they let people hit off the tee after four balls instead of walk?

[tony&rodney]

1 hour ago, DocBauer said:

 

Just a curiosity question to everyone, the elimination of 7 inning double headers....good thing or bad thing?

Well, it is good idea if it also includes a pinch runner for the catcher, re-entry for any player, a 10 run rule, and games called after 3 hours. The games would be go faster if  the batter started with a 1-1 count and only was allowed one foul ball too. There are a ton of changes to make as long as Manfredball received a couple of opportunities already. Why not?

[a-wan]

Why stop with ghost runners? 11th inning and on, teams must only use position players to pitch. 

[Aichiman]

How about this?
10th inning, empty basses.
11th inning, a runner at 1st base.
12th inning, a runner at 2nd.
13th inning, a runner at 3rd.
14th inning, a runner at first and a runner at 2nd.
15th inning, bases loaded
16th inning, bases loaded and a run scored
17th inning, bases loaded and two runs scored.  And so on , and so on.

[Richmond Dude]

50 minutes ago, Aichiman said:

How about this?
10th inning, empty basses.
11th inning, a runner at 1st base.
12th inning, a runner at 2nd.
13th inning, a runner at 3rd.
14th inning, a runner at first and a runner at 2nd.
15th inning, bases loaded
16th inning, bases loaded and a run scored
17th inning, bases loaded and two runs scored.  And so on , and so on.

If you're serious, starting with runs scored is pointless, since both teams would get them at the start of their half-inning and it would still come down to what runners or batters scored after the granted run.

[bighat]

Imagine the PGA saying "let's move the tee boxes 90 yards closer to the hole. That way, it'll be easier for most players to hit the fairways and greens, everyone can go home and our tournaments will get finished quicker".

What's the point of competition and professional sports if you're going to water down the challenges?

I'm preaching to the choir here, obviously. Just venting. Anyway, I'm guessing that since they are "squeezing" 162 games into a smaller time frame this year, that was enough of an excuse to get the ghost-runner rule back. My question is this: who's pushing for the ghosties? Is it the players or the league? Who exactly keeps trying to shove this into rule book every chance the get?

[lukeduke1980]

I could almost get on board with the ghost runner rule if it were for double header games only..

[wsnydes]

11 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I don’t like the zombie runner but I also don’t understand the outrage over it. I think using it in the tenth us a mistake but really have little issue using it for the eleventh or twelfth. 

I hate ghost runners, but I can at least understand their use after a few extra innings.  Having them right away in the 10th seems excessive.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

The game needs to speed up every day, not just the outliers. Not a fan of the ghost runners and frustrated that MLB hasn’t installed more rules that would actually speed up every game.

limiting or eliminating player timeouts and shortening the bump I could really get behind

[tony&rodney]

13 minutes ago, Sconnie said:

The game needs to speed up every day

Almost everyone can agree that pace of play should be picked up. Thing is, there are already rules that cover this. For whatever reason, umpires are seeing their authority to patrol the game increasingly reduced. An umpire is allowed to order a pitcher to pitch and a batter to stay in the box. Last week a Twins rookie (Palacios) asked for time out and stepped out of the box. The umpire shook his head no and the pitcher threw the ball right down the middle for strike three. It's Spring Training and the batter is not Bryce Harper late in a tight game with the winning runs on base. Baseball could communicate to the players that umpires will be graded on keeping the game moving and pace of play/ shorter average game times could easily be accomplished without any rule changes. The players will comply. Baseball has reduced the role of umpires and refuses to allow them to do their job in favor of words and goofing around with inane ideas in the Atlantic League. 

There are other changes that impact pace of play as well. Teams (many writers, fans,etc.) want 28-30 player rosters. A team of 25 forces the manager to use his players judiciously. Pitchers must back off the max effort on every single pitch or face certain injury. This max out on every pitch is already an issue that threatens so many careers. I can get people out for for two or three innings and give up a couple of runs or pitch one scoreless inning. Tampa Bay used 41 pitchers last year, Forty-one. How is that in the best interest of the those pitchers or the game? They did get to say they were MLB pitchers, I guess. Baseball has allowed teams to manipulate players and the rules already in place for a long time now. Manfredball is not the cure. I would suggest that baseball read its own rule book and do some serious reflection.

[Trov]

As for the ghost runner, I have no issue with it, but agree it should be after the 10th.  It does provide shorter extra inning games and less overuse of pitchers because of it.  If they want to add excitement to extra inning games say after the 12th, under normal rules, if no team has won, we go to a HR derby style, similar to shootouts in NHL.  You pick 3 players to get 5 total pitches each.  Not swings but pitches.  The team pitches to themselves like in a HR derby.  Most HR between the 3 guys win.  To make it more interesting, each player on the active roster, must participate before you can repeat.  For example, say first time this happens Twins pick Buck, Sano, and Correa to hit, and have pitchers x to throw to them, then none of them can do it again until every other player has done it once. 

Similar to runner, many will not like it, but I think many fans will enjoy it.  You know the game will not go on forever, and fans in the OF will have that much more of a chance leaving with a ball.  It will not take long.  Sure it is not real baseball, but neither is the runner on 2nd. 

In terms of the 7 inning double header rule, I hated it. 

[chinmusic]

Surprised and disappointed that it's being reinstated. 

I'd rather see the game called a draw after 9 innings. At least that's not fake.

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 hour ago, Sconnie said:

The game needs to speed up every day, not just the outliers. Not a fan of the ghost runners and frustrated that MLB hasn’t installed more rules that would actually speed up every game.

limiting or eliminating player timeouts and shortening the bump I could really get behind

This season will be frustrating but baseball actually addressed its issues pretty well with the new CBA. The fact that MLB will be able to implement new rules in 2023 and only have a 45 day window (formerly a full 12 months) to implement rules changes is quite promising for the sport as a whole. 

[Squirrel]

I've never looked it up, and maybe I should before I ask my questions ... how many games last year ended in a tie at the end of the 9th inning? Comparing previous years to last year ... how many games went beyond the 12th inning?

[AlwaysinModeration]

Wow, there are a lot of grumpy posters around here.  Are y’all really that upset about not having “pure” five hour extra inning games?  It’s not really that big of a deal.

[Gingernsnap25]

I agree with most. Put it in during the 11th inning and beyond. 

[tony&rodney]

1 hour ago, AlwaysinModeration said:

there are a lot of grumpy posters around here.  Are y’all really that upset

Not grumpy and not upset. There are a million actually serious problems in the world to be concerned about more than anything related to baseball or any entertainment. Fans just have different opinions, that's all. Life goes on ... for the lucky.

[Puckett34]