All-star Game will start extra innings with runner at second
CLEVELAND — We’ve seen Reggie hit the light tower, Pete Rose crush a catcher to score the winning run, and a tribute to Ted Williams that sent shivers through Fenway Park.
But come the All-star Game on tonight, baseball fans might witness something they’ve never seen before. Automatic runners. Already employed in the minor leagues, the World Baseball Classic and Olympic softball, a new rule will take effect in front of a major league audience: Every extra inning in All-star play— top half and bottom — begins with a free runner at second base.
“They’re doing that? Really?” Houston Astros reliever Ryan Pressly asked Monday. “I did not know that.”
The crowd at Progressive Field got a glimpse of the future, maybe, on Sunday night when the Futures Game tried the rule for an inning. No one scored, and the showcase for young talent wound up in a tie.
Jeff Mcneil, the top hitter in the majors this year, saw the scenario a lot last season in tripleA. There, the goal is to shorten games and save wear and tear on pitching staffs.
“Kind of weird,” Mcneil said.
Still, it could be real timely. The last two All-star Games both went extra innings— Robinson Cano hit a leadoff homer in the 10th in Miami in 2017, and Alex Bregman did the same last year in Washington.
Plus, there was the 15-inning affair at Yankee Stadium in 2008 and the dreaded 2002 game in Milwaukee that was declared a very unpopular tie after the 11th.
Naturally, in a sport where change comes slowly, not everyone is thrilled with this experiment. To many, instant intentional walks, constant shifts and talk about robot umpires has skewed the game enough.
If it’s any consolation, commissioner Rob Manfred says there are no foreseeable plans to put free runners on base in the regular season.
“I know how people are against it, especially players in the game,” Baltimore Orioles pitcher John Means said. “Yeah, the tradition is big in this sport, just like a lot of top-tier sports.”
American League manager Alex Cora of the Boston Red Sox has a mixed view.
“I’ve seen the rule play before internationally, and it’s kind of like the coolest, more tougher thing ever in baseball, to be honest with you,” he said Monday.
National League manager Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers was firm.
“I’d rather not see it in play tomorrow,” he said. “I’d rather see nine innings of baseball. And going forward ... I don’t know, probably the wrong thing to say, but I kind of like it the way it is right now.”
Oakland Athletics right-hander Liam Hendriks realizes he could be on the spot Tuesday night.
“It’s not an ideal scenario for a reliever because we’re the ones that get stuck with it,” he said. “You’re coming into a situation already with the guy on base in a tie game. There’s so many possibilities that can happen.”
The automatic runner will be the player who made the last out of the previous inning. But in a caveat, players who have left the All-star Game can re-enter to run.