Spitballing: Extra Innings

Here we are, midnight or later, where you can pretty much get Taco Bell or Wendy's if you're out looking for fast food.  ...or how about the concessions at yet another Pittsburgh Pirates extra inning / way into the night game? That's right folks, we're headed to the 14th inning! It's a tight race in the standings to close the gap on the first place St. Louis Cardinals. And I'm not upset at all. It's all about getting the most out of your ticket stub price if you're attending, right?

But, I got to thinking tonight (I know... "oh no, here we go..." Yeah, you're right, this is gonna be a fun stream of consciousness blog) about what would keep the seats filled throughout these late extra inning showdowns.

What if (I know this is a stretch...) MLB decided to adopt some of the overtime rules of other sports?

Take for instance the lesser of my favorite, the NFL rule. If you score a touchdown on your first touch after the kickoff play or including the kickoff play, you win, but if it is on the second play or you score a field goal the other team gets to try. ...but you can end in a tie. No, I would never encourage a baseball game to end in a tie, but if the rule were modified to "if you hit a home run with less than two outs the game is over, but if you score in any other fashion the other team has a chance to retaliate."  I know, that would suck. but you'd have your lead-off hitters swinging to end the game. Not that they aren't already, but the incentive would be even higher, especially since it alleviates the home-field advantage in theory. Especially if a tie game were a threat. BUT I don't like the thought of a tie at all.

I am much more amused considering an NHL adaptation. Imagine a ballgame where after the bottom of the 9th goes into a tie, you drop your Center Fielder and Shortstop and two spots in the lineup that are not necessarily those two players. This would be much more relieving in the National League, as they wouldn't need to hit for the pitcher spot. But it would be interesting if the DH would be dropped in the American League version of this rule and only one position player. Then, in the next inning in the NL drop the entire outfield and two more spots, and the same in the AL, except they would still have their shortstop (or whatever, I'm just spitballing some serious fictitious what-ifs right now).

[PS: McCutchen has ended the game with a 2-run blast to center in the 14th inning #LetsGoBucs ].

An even more amusing turn in the extra innings would be, say, if there's an 11th inning, they go to a "Shoot Out" / "home run derby." Factor in this year's bizarre home run derby outline, the game could get way out of line in terms of seriousness but boy oh boy would it be entertaining. And like I said, for me a lot of the extra innings play is all about it making the ticket stub worth what you paid for it. Everybody likes getting more than they paid for. [Sidebar: I've been to four games this season. Three of them had rain delays and some even had extra innings on top of that. So worth the money for extra baseball / extra time at PNC Park. I tell everybody there isn't a bad seat in the house. Beautiful park.]

Anyways, I appreciate you letting me spitball here. I'm obviously sort of excited about the framework of my idea here, but by no means is it anything more than a plea from a baseball fan solely in terms of entertainment. Plus it's like some sort of sport fantasy type ordeal combining all three of my favorite sports. If I haven't made it clear, ultimately my thought process is solely based on fans getting at least their money's worth [...I don't care if I never get back...]. I love the game, and I am excited for the All-Star events, but even more excited to see if the Buccos can end the first half of the season closing that gap with the Cards.  

Let's Go Bucs, Let's Go Tigers, Let's Go Baseball.

Defeated

We've rolled into the start of the 2015 MLB season and things could not seem to be going much better.  The Detroit Tigers have come roaring out of the gate and up until this afternoon in Pittsburgh were a whopping 6-0 to start things off. When these kind of things happen I become more nervous than excited I think. What I mean is, when you get to games 5 - 6 - 7 of an undefeated start the pressure isn't so much to keep it up because the likelihood of an undefeated season seems impossible, improbable, and unrealistic but "who's going to be the one to pitch the first loss?"  In the opener, David Price threw a gem and it took three games for the Minnesota Twins to even put a run on the board. Game two was a beautiful start for Anibal Sanchez and an amazing day for the offense. The bottom of the lineup bringing in the RBIs and a HOT top of the lineup makes them a serious force to be reckoned with.

Naturally, life goes on and I've had a hard time keeping up with the last few games but I caught most of today's radio broadcast of the Pirates home opener vs. the Tigers.  The Pirates, who have brought their record up to 3-4, scored very early in the game which put a damper on an otherwise stellar sounding start for Sanchez. The 9th inning was an exciting way to close the game out, though, after the offense seemed to be rather shut down. Cole had an amazing start, plenty of strikeouts doled out for both pitchers actually, Kinsler boldly started with a double, Miggy doubled him in, and JD Martinez made it a very interesting game before the first out of the 9th was even recorded but that didn't stop the Buccos from holding on for the victory, striking out Victor Martinez for the final out of the game.

But back to what I was musing about to start this off. I think the first loss is an important one - not to show any sort of weakness, or vulnerability, ultimately the only negative thing being that the other team scored more runs than the losing team - only to take the pressure off and stop the worry of "who's gonna be the choker?" I think the Pirates are looking (well, sounding. I won't have seen them play a regular season game until tomorrow when I go in person) like they're off to a great start, even if their record isn't reflecting that. They're scoring runs, their pitchers are strong, and they got Burnett back, which I could not be any more excited about, and it's still really early.

Ultimately, I'm very pleased with the starts for both teams, and amped to see them playing each other so early in the season, especially since I can go TO the game. So just because they've had losses doesn't mean anything at all. Just because you've been defeated doesn't mean you've been deflated, it just means you've found a standard to set yourself on path with. You don't have to think about superstition, ritual, or making sure you set a routine to keep unreasonable goals. Don't get me wrong, obviously winning is important, but without a team dynamic that can handle the unavoidable occasional defeat, you can't gel completely.

It's going to be a very exciting season, I think. And I can't wait to see where things go from here.