Goodbye Dumb Rules

There was one piece of information that came out of Rob Manfred's All*Star Game press conference that I think most baseball fans were waiting for.  The common reaction to that news was one word: "Finally!"  So what was this news that drew such a response?  That extra innings and doubleheaders will be returning to normal next season.

Both changes, of course, were introduced last year because of the pandemic.  With the sheer number of games they were trying to cram into such a short amount of time, they knew there were likely going to be a lot of doubleheaders in 2020.  Especially when you consider the fact that there would be COVID pauses, as well as the standard weather-related reasons.  So, as a way of making it so teams didn't completely kill their entire pitching staff, they reduced doubleheaders to seven-inning games, meaning they'd only have to play 14 innings in a day instead of 18.

The free runner at second base was the other controversial change introduced last season.  The thought process there was similar.  By starting each extra inning with a runner on second, that made it more likely that a team would score.  More scoring would then, theoretically, eliminate those long extra inning games that take all night.  They wanted games to end quicker so that teams wouldn't spend as much time at the ballpark, and this was their way of doing it.

Even the people who didn't like these rule changes accepted them as a necessary way of navigating through a baseball season during a pandemic.  Especially since it was "only going to be one year."  We could deal with it for 60 games.  We were just happy that there was a baseball season at all.

So, needless to say it was more than a little disappointing to find out that these one-year-only changes were coming back in 2021.  Meanwhile, the universal DH, the rule change that virtually nobody had a problem with and seemed like was inevitably coming within the next few years anyway actually was a one-and-done.  Pitchers were back to batting for themselves, but we still had seven-inning games and free runners.  For a full season this time.

Yes, I do understand that some people actually do like these rules and wanted to see them implemented permanently.  They were a vast minority, however.  Most fans hate them with a passion and many wish they'd never been implemented in the first place.  It was change for the sake of change, and change that was too drastic at that.

Manfred's main rationale for keeping those rules in place this season was the state of the pandemic.  Things hadn't improved enough that he felt comfortable pulling back the COVID restrictions, which included the doubleheader and extra inning rules.  Things, of course, are much different now than they were at the start of the season, but he said that he can't simply change it back in the middle of the year.  Hence having to wait until 2022 for the return to normal. 

While I don't like either rule, I definitely have a bigger problem with the doubleheaders.  As I said at the start of the season, it's simply not necessary during a full season, when teams are only going to play a handful of twinbills over the course of six months.  This isn't last year, when the Cardinals and Marlins were seemingly playing one every other day in an attempt to make up all the games they missed during their long COVID pauses.

Likewise, last year, when you were playing in empty stadiums, it really didn't matter.  You weren't losing ticket revenue by playing a straight doubleheader, so what was the difference?  And playing two games back-to-back is definitely easier than playing a split, which involves spending pretty much the entire day at the ballpark.  They were trying to keep players and coaches at the ballpark for the shortest amount of time possible, too, so that all but ruled out split doubleheaders.

This year, however, fans are back in the stands.  Which means we're back to having split doubleheaders, which are two separate admissions.  Except the price of the ticket is the same.  So fans had to pay 100 percent of the ticket price to see 78 percent of a game.  (The counterargument is that with a straight doubleheader you'd see 14 innings for the price of nine.  That's true.  But it's also true that a straight doubleheader was 18 innings for the price of nine until 2019, so it's still a net loss of four.)

And, sorry, but I don't by the argument about "saving the pitching staff."  Again, it made sense last year when there was no Minor League season, so teams were shuffling guys back and forth from their alternate site every day.  That's not the case this season, however.  And, again, navigating a handful of doubleheaders over the course of six months is significantly easier, especially when you consider how many relievers teams carry!  Simply put, it doesn't put any extra "burden" on your pitching staff to play a doubleheader.

Some people argue that the seven-inning games put more of an emphasis on starting pitching, but I don't agree with that assessment either.  If anything, knowing they can go to the bullpen two innings earlier makes mangers less likely to stick with their starter.  Case in point, the Tampa Bay Rays' no-hitter (that doesn't count) last week, when they used five pitchers in seven innings!

Don't get me started on Madison Bumgarner either!  The no-hitter that wasn't is further proof that the seven-inning games are stupid!  He doesn't get credit for a no-hitter because he didn't go nine innings, even though the game was only scheduled for seven?  How does that make any sense at all?  It's somehow his fault that the game was two innings shorter.

As for extra innings, it's a gimmicky tournament rule.  That's where it should stay.  In those tournament-type situations, it's absolutely necessary to have some sort of tiebreaker so that they can stay on schedule.  It's always felt out of place in the Majors, though.  Worse than that, it felt forced.  The Majors aren't a tournament!

Beyond that, though, how many long extra inning games are there in a given season?  People always freak out when a game goes 14 or 15 innings, but, on the average, there's probably no more than 15 a year.  And that estimate's probably high.  (Those are also the fun ones where crazy things happen like position players pitching and pitchers pinch-hitting.)  Most extra inning games are usually over in either the 10th or 11th anyway.  And this is without a free base runner that completely changes your extra-innings strategy!

When Manfred kept these two dumb rules in place for this season, I was actually worried they were on their way to becoming permanent.  Fortunately, that's not the case.  Once the 2022 season starts, they'll be nothing more than a part of baseball history.  And all I have to say about that is: "Good riddance!"