"Ghost runner" vs "Swing off"

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

Which abomination is worse? I would be horrified but not shocked if MLB tries using "swing offs" after ties in the minor leagues next year or not too far down the line after seeing what happened at the All-Star Game. And we know from history that MLB tries ideas in the minors first before brining them to the majors. The ABS challenge system has been used at some levels this year and was used Tuesday. I think it's coming soon.





Newsday's David Lennon wants to nip the "swing off" talk this in the bud.

But for all the unmatched entertainment value that homer-hitting contest supplied, it still feels like a bridge too far for the regular season. When the question was pitched Tuesday night to NL manager Dave Roberts, he seemed taken aback that somebody would even suggest the possibility of going to a “swing-off” tiebreaker during the 162 that count for real. “Oh, no,” Roberts said. “I think that it was great for this exhibition. But in the regular season, I don't mind how it plays out with the man on second base.” MLB is on a roll lately with remarkably successful innovations. The pitch clock didn't make the games rushed — just returned the pace to how it should be. The ghost-runner for extra innings doesn't alter the fundamentals of the game — merely helps create action quicker, for a more expedient resolution, like any other sport's overtime.

But check out what Logan Webb told him:

“I have a group text with other players around baseball,” the Giants' Logan Webb told reporters in the postgame NL clubhouse, “and they said we should never play an extra-inning game again. We should always end games just like that. It should be just straight Home Run Derby.”

And even Pete:

Not a shocker that Alonso was firmly on board with the idea, but maybe not until the 13th inning — once the ghost-runner at second had failed to decide the game by then. That would make the “swing-off” concept a very rare occurrence. On Tuesday, it took four years and the AL rallying from a 6-0 deficit, the biggest comeback in All-Star Game history to tie or win the game (per Elias), for the “swing-off” to finally happen.

[Gwreck]

The swing off is worse. It isn't a baseball game at that point with the offense and defense involved.



The ghost runner of course is still an abomination.

[Fman99]

=Gwreck post_id=198382 time=1752752156 user_id=56]
The swing off is worse. It isn't a baseball game at that point with the offense and defense involved.



The ghost runner of course is still an abomination.

[Centerfield]

I'd be fine with instituting the swing off if the game remains tied after the 75th inning.

[Edgy MD]

=Gwreck post_id=198382 time=1752752156 user_id=56]
The swing off is worse. It isn't a baseball game at that point with the offense and defense involved.



The ghost runner of course is still an abomination.

[Frayed Knot]

The 'Ghost Runner' is a perverted form of baseball.

The 'Swing Off' is a clown show that merely uses a baseball.





Both suck, but the first isn't even in the same stratosphere of sukkkkkk as the second.

[ashie62]

I've long supported a spirited game of Jacks to settle the issue

[MFS62]

I personally hate it. my theory is "let 'em play". B'sides, the game will probably be decided with a ghost runner involved anyhow.(ech)

And if the manager burns his pitching and players and comes up short if the game goes to extra innings, tough beans.

Later

[Edgy MD]

The good news is that, had they gone to extras, it was the Mets All-Star closer who would be left holding the bag.

[Lefty Specialist]

Fine for a meaningless exhibition game. But that's it.