PHOENIX — The ghost runner is back for 2022. And even if it accomplishes its goal, it stinks.
It's clear that MLB and its players don't want to have endless, marathon games anymore. That's the main reason why the "ghost runner" — runner on second to start every extra inning — is sticking around, as Joel Sherman reported Tuesday for the New York Post.
But if we aren't just going to keep playing baseball normally, there's a better solution than the half-measure. It's the brainchild of the Giants' Double-A affiliate in Richmond's manager, Dennis Pelfrey.
It's time for Sudden Death Baseball.
Here's the premise, as designed by Pelfrey: When a game's tied after nine, there's one single half-inning of extras. A runner will be placed on first with nobody out. The home team then gets to choose to play offense or defense.
Pick offense, and it's simple: You win if you bring the runner in. But if you can't score the runner, then the team in the field wins the game, even without scoring a run or coming up to bat.
From a competitive standpoint, runners on first with no outs score around 42% of the time, which is far closer to 50-50 than the ghost runner's current 62% from second. Pitchers should also love avoiding the current setup, where a pitcher can pitch a 1-2-3 inning but still give up a run.
And for all the talk about how the "ghost runner" cut down on the seemingly endless extra-inning games, they can still run deep into the night. Anyone remember that Dodgers-Padres game from last August? Sure, it "only" went 16 innings — and took five hours and 49 minutes to complete, so the game that started at 7:10 p.m. local time Aug. 25 ended at almost 1 a.m. on Aug. 26.
Sudden Death Baseball? The maximum number of hitters is FIVE. If two runners reach base and the defense gets two outs ... suddenly, it's bases loaded, two outs and the guy at the plate is making the winning play or the final out. You think fans that otherwise would filter out in the 10th, 11th or 12th won't get fired up, knowing the game is going to end that quickly — one way or the other?
It also brings all the attention directly to the home manager's decision. Imagine Gabe Kapler having to make this choice on a given night where he has Jake McGee ready to pitch the 10th ... but he also has his 2-3-4 hitters due up. Whichever he picks will look right or wrong rather quickly.
"There's not a clock on it, but when fans know this is it — top of 10th, that's going to be it," Pelfrey said. "If I'm managing, they get to say, 'Oh Pelfrey, he made the wrong decision last week, let's see what he does here.' You create some buzz that way and conversations."
As a member of the media, let me speak for all of my fellow writers, radio hosts and television commentators to say we will absolutely sign up for the chance to second guess each and every single one of these decisions, whenever they happen.
Pelfrey thought up the Sudden Death Baseball idea back in 2019 as a manager for the independent Florence (Ky.) Freedom of the Frontier League. As his team played an exhibition game, their opponent wanted to use a pitcher for an extra half-inning beyond the ninth, leading Pelfrey to think about how valuable a "shootout-style" extra-inning rule would be for an independent league team to help save arms.
"In indy ball, our rosters are very small. If we blow out a couple of guys in extra innings, we have to release them or 'phantom IL,' so to speak," Pelfrey said. "[We] bring in a couple of arms that think they're getting an opportunity, but they fill in a couple of innings and they're gone because those guys come back."
That's also how roster management works in the big leagues, too. After that Dodgers-Padres game from last August, the Dodgers shuffled pitchers on and off of their roster for seven straight days.
Pelfrey was hired by the Giants to manage their High-A affiliate, then in San Jose, in 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic killed the minor league season. But his former independent team in Florence got together with the ownership team in Lexington to create a pop-up independent league, the Battle of the Bourbon Trail, and the Giants gave Pelfrey permission to go back and manage one of the four teams in the league (two in each city).
It was the perfect testing ground to implement Sudden Death Baseball. I at Baseball Prospectus in 2020, after hearing about it from a family friend who played in the league. It sparked my interest then, and Pelfrey had converted everyone involved back then — including myself.
Pelfrey went back to the Giants in 2021 and managed their High-A affiliate, now in Eugene as the San Jose Giants moved to Low-A. He had seven extra-inning games then, going as deep as the 13th inning even with the "ghost runner" rule. And every time it happened, he thought back to Sudden Death Baseball.
And those in the Frontier League thought about it, too. The league Pelfrey used to manage in is adopting the rule, albeit after one more traditional extra inning with the "ghost runner". So after 10 innings, it's on to Sudden Death Baseball.
In the press release announcing the rule, fellow Frontier League manager Andy McCauley said: "Short of playing traditional extra innings, the sudden death tiebreaker is the best option for determining the outcome of a game. With regard to game time, injury prevention and a baseball strategic outcome, I feel the new sudden death rule could be an innovative solution."
Pelfrey said it was "awesome" to see the Frontier League implement it. But he strongly believes that once the whole baseball world gets to see it used there, they'll also be on board.
"They're going to come to find out, once they see how it progresses throughout the season, how it's a really good idea for the game itself," Pelfrey said. "It will protect guys and make sure you're getting the best product on the field, as a fan. I'm excited to see how it goes and I'm sure, by the end of this year, I'll have some more conversations about it."
