For the last two MLB seasons, extra innings games have seen some changes, with each half-inning from the 10th inning on starting with a “ghost runner” on second base. That rule was initially brought in during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season as a health and safety measure to avoid long extra innings games, especially important considering the compressed schedule and many postponements that season. It was retained for 2021, a season that also saw some COVID impacts, but commissioner Rob Manfred (seen above last October) said last summer he didn’t think this or the seven-inning games in doubleheaders rule (brought in for similar reasons) would remain long term. However, Jayson Stark and Matt Gelb of The Athletic reported Monday that the extra innings ghost runner rule may well stick around, but perhaps not starting in the 10th:
As part of their negotiations on health and safety protocols, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association are discussing restoring the rule that placed a runner on second to begin extra innings, sources on both sides told The Athletic on Monday. No agreement has been reached. But several players said they expect the rule to be enacted once the protocols are announced in the next 24 to 48 hours.
…One question, even if the rule is enacted, is what inning it would go into effect. It is possible that, rather than using it in all extra innings, the ghost runner wouldn’t be used until the 11th inning or even the 12th.
Stark and Gelb note that there’s significant player support for extending this rule. It means less really long games that often wind up impacting a team’s roster for its next game, and there’s certainly injury risk in those long games as well. And this rule has accomplished that; 2021 saw 16 games over 11 innings, versus 60 in 2019 (the last 162-game regular season before 2021), and just one over 15 innings versus 16 that hit that mark in 2019.
However, this change has been unpopular with many fans. Here’s more from a Seton Hall Sports Poll last March (1,538 adult respondents across the U.S., with a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percent) on fan reaction to this:
Starting extra innings with a runner on second base was met by only 17 percent approval of the general population, 28 percent of sports fans and 41 percent of avid fans. Among those who disagreed were 33 percent of the general population, 40 percent of sports fans, and 34 percent of avid fans. Fifty percent of the general population neither agreed, disagreed, or had no opinion.
So there’s potentially a tough line to walk here. On one hand, if players want to push for this, this probably isn’t something the league will fight hard against. Extra innings games that end more quickly have value to the league on a few fronts as well; for one, there’s less affecting ensuing games (and less roster transactions to bring in fresh bodies for those next games), and for two, this keeps down average game length (always something they’re concerned with). And while the really long extra innings games generate some value above the average game in terms of buzz (social media discussion, articles, etc), it’s unclear that that’s enough to make up for the challenges they bring.
Still, this rule isn’t popular with many fans, and MLB’s handling of the lockout already has many fans aggrieved. If the extra innings ghost runner rule does in fact return in its current form in 2022, that’s going to lead to yet more criticism for MLB. An 11th- or 12th-inning start to it might alleviate that somewhat, but it wouldn’t entirely. So the question for MLB is if they’ll stick with Manfred’s previous comments that this was “much less likely” to become a permanent rule post-pandemic, or if they’ll make this a regular rule anyway and take the criticism for doing so.
