It’s time to stop complaining about the extra inning runner
18 inning games sounds cool as long as you are not in attendance
The NFL and NHL used to have ties. Fans want to have the game decided one way or the other so tie breakers were created in the form of ‘sudden death’ overtime in the NFL and ‘shootouts’ in the NHL. The NBA has overtime and has always had overtime to decide games and the league does not limit the number of overtimes and neither does the NHL in the playoffs when the ‘shootout’ is not in play.
MLB always had always prided itself that baseball is a game without clocks. Until it didn’t in 2023. The pitch clock, however, does not limit how long a baseball game can endure, or be endured. Starting a baserunner on second base with nobody out in the 10th inning has put a stop to seemingly endless extra inning contests and in my opinion baseball and its fans are the better for it.
Extra-inning contests are edgier with the ‘free-runner’, ghost runner, ‘automatic runner’, or “Manfred man”, or whatever you want to call it all of which came about because of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. MLB did a bad job never coming up with a name/description that felt natural or right. Six seasons later, and MLB still has it in place and fans are still complaining about it. I truly don’t understand why.
A description of game two of a May 23rd, 2026, doubleheader (not scheduled) between St. Louis and Cincinnati from fellow writer Tom Stone:
· STL 6, CIN 7 (11) (Gm 2) - In game two, the Cardinals scored first with a run in the second inning, but then the Reds finally got to STL SP Kyle Leahy in the fifth (5 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 8 K), with Elly De La Cruz hitting a 3-run HR, and Nathaniel Lowe hitting a 2-run HR. St. Louis came back with a 3-run HR by Jordan Walker in the sixth, his now 15th of the season. Still down 6-4, José Fermín hit a 2-run HR in the top of the ninth to tie it up and force extras. Neither team scored in the 10th, and Pierce Johnson came back out and kept the Cardinals off the board a second time in the 11th as well. St. Louis closer Riley O’Brien attempted to do the same but came up short, as P.J. Higgins successfully bunted the automatic runner over to third, and then a grounder by Blake Dunn drove him in.
Did that not entertain you? It was fun just to read it even though I didn’t watch the game. But I wish I’d seen it. This game did not need to go fifteen innings to be a memorable one. And BTW think of the pitchers’ arms that were saved!
The pitch clock (instituted in 2023) generally has favorable reviews. Games move more quickly and both players and fans don’t miss the wasted time. If time is money, and at a premium why do fans want MLB players to play 15-inning baseball games, or for as long as it takes to get a result? The likelihood of longer extra-inning games rose when the game was played straight up the same way in extra innings.
In 2019, before the rule change in 2020, 223 out of 2,430 games went to extra innings (9.2%). Of those 37 games (9.2%) lasted at least 13 innings.
In 2025, six (or seven) games lasted 13 innings (0.2-0.3%). I was not willing to go to Retrosheet to map every extra inning game for the 2025 season that went beyond 12 innings and the fact that there are so few now will not exactly shock anyone.
Pitchers are a fragile bunch. Taxing arms by having pitchers throw extra innings decimates the relief corps. It’s typical today to see a relief pitcher throw two innings only to be optioned to Triple A the next day to bring up a fresh arm that could contribute immediately.
Even shorter extra-inning games as they are today screw up a manager’s bullpen for days if not a week or longer. Having the ability to set down Major League hitters is at a premium!
My mom was not a baseball fan at all. Somehow my dad once talked her into going to a Met-Giants doubleheader on May 31, 1964. The second game of that doubleheader went 23 innings, and it took seven hours and 23 minutes. Mom never went to a baseball game ever again. And yes, it was 1964 so of course the Mets were swept.
Does anyone really want to sit through a 15-inning game? C’mon really? Maybe because it was once called America’s pastime, extra-inning games felt like fans were getting ‘free baseball’ which was cool since there was not much to do after the game anyway. Note: this was the era before mobile phones.
It’s not that I am non-traditional about baseball. But some changes are good even if they dramatically upset the status quo. Baseball fans are going through that again with the adoption of robots and ABS (automatic balls and strikes). Change is upsetting and it takes time to acclimate to change.
Would I add a modification to the current rule? Yes, play the 10th inning straight up or have a runner start on first base, not second. Thereafter starting each inning with a runner on second base is fine. While there never were all that many 18-inning games, I will be just fine without them in the future and so will you!
About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.
I detest this rule. It's an arbitrary gimmick that has turned these games into a carnival. Why not have the players compete in a dunk tank or balloon darts to decide it, speed up the whole affair, "save arms" and allow fans to get back to Candy Crush?
BTW, wasn't that the reason we draped the stadiums in netting that now regularly interferes with foul balls despite assurances to the contrary? No more Jeter into the stands in these enlightened times. Some fan glued to their phone might get hurt. Problem solved. Thanks Uncle Rob.
How about teams build cell phone lots so you don't have to go to the game at all...just sit in a lot near your home and watch on your phone with the kids for as long as your diminished attention span can take it? Can leave anytime you desire...just like at the stadium in the old days. Let's make baseball the new drive-in movie for a night out with the kids. Fan-tastic!
Or, how about this. Why not use the same "logic" as this rule and employ a 5-run rule after 7 innings? Just like softball. That would shorten things up too...right? I mean, if that's your goal, let's go all in.
Oh, and have all these shortened extra innings really saved arms? I've seen no data to suggest even a correlation and arm injuries continue to rise. Thus, one of the largest excuses for this abomination - player safety - is entirely vaporus it turns out.
The fact that this is not used in the postseason says it all. "Well, we certainly don't want to use THIS arbitrary gimmick when the games really matter...right? I mean, we"ll leave the zero impact shift ban in place, but a runner on 2nd is simply a bridge too far!"
Look, this was ostensibly introduced as a temporary risk reduction mechanism during the pandemic. It's expiration date has expired and it's time to rid this blight from the game and employ a new mission statement moving forward... leave-the-game-alone.
Harvey Haddix pitched 9 perfect innings against the Braves in 1959. The game was a 0-0 tie. So, he came out and pitched the 10th. The 11th. The 12th. All perfect. He lost his no-hitter, and the game, in the 13th.
You wanted him to start the 10th with a man on 2nd, and maybe lose the game on 2 fly outs. Bah!!!