Olympic Tie-breaker

I know everyone is going to say this is the stupidest thing ever imagined, and that is what I thought at first. It is probably the most un-baseball rule I've ever heard; it's probably one of the worst ideas in sports history. But it would be entertaining (haha). Imagine having your fastest two base runners on first and second in top of the 11th with your best hitter up to bat. You give up two runs, but you know there is still a chance to make it up in the bottom of the 11th.

But I obviously think it's a terrible rule. Why don't they just have a hit off while they are at it? Each player up gets one swing that decides the game, because that's pretty much what they are doing.

Wow, sounds like college football. Well, at least they aren't going back to the record in the previous Olympics like the foolish inter-league tiebreaker! But this one sounds even worse.

It's not the rule itself that has Hoshino-kantoku and others up in arms. It's the timing of the announcement (so soon before the actual games), how the rule was arrived at (none of the participating teams were part of the process), and the fact that there are already other tie breaking rules in common use that have been ignored.

Starting in around 1987, softball adopted the following rules for breaking a tie after 7 complete innings:

• Play starts with a runner at second base and nobody out.
• The batting order continues as normal from the previous inning.
• The runner placed at second base is the last batter from the previous inning.

I first saw this being used for softball in the last Olympics, so it has already been used in international competition - the Olympics nonetheless.

Starting in 2003, amateur baseball in Japan adopted the following tie breaker rule after 12 innings or 4 hours (which ever comes first):

• Play starts with the bases loaded and one out
• The batting order continues as normal from the previous inning.
• The runners on the bases are the three previous batters from the previous inning, in order from third to first as the batting order.

So it comes down to, why create yet another tie breaking rule? And one that deviates so greatly from the norm in terms of the batting order? And finally, who appointed themselves in charge of creating such a rule without first talking with the participants who have to abide by such a rule?

I hope it's a Beijing only thing and won't be applied to all future IBAF events.

Softball is so pitching heavy that they need to move the mound (pitching circle thingy) back instead of introducing their tie breaking rule way back when.

But the discrepancies between the tie breaking rules in softball, Japanese amateur baseball, and now IBAF really doesn't make sense if they want any sense of cohesion.

I think they should go into a hot dog eating contest, or maybe a sausage race. Maybe an egg tossing event can help with tie-breakers, or perhaps players run the bases and fastest time wins. I've got it, the longest to balance their bat on a pinky wins.

Sorry if my sarcastic lil' devil offends anyone, but this is ridiculous. Tiebreaker in baseball?!? That kills the beauty of this sport. No time limits and truly anything in this game can happen; regardless of what the opponent's lead is. There is no time limit and that is the way it should play.

Our only hope is that all games end prior to this tie-breaker. I, for one, will most likely shut off the TV or change the channel. I'd rather see the results on the news than suffer through this Olympic ridicule. This is disrespectful to the sport I most love.

You don't see tie-breakers for a basketball games that go into triple over-time. If this is the case, I really hope baseball ceases to exist as an Olympic event. I consider this a slap in the face to the nations involved, all the participating teams' entire staff and, above all, the fans.

I apologize for the continuous rant; I just find this tie-breaker ruling hideous.

If I were a team manager I would officially protest this ruling. And if it weren't changed by the start of the Olympics, and my team was involved in a game that eventually needed a tie-breaker; I would walk off the field with the entire team in support of the protest.

I know there would be consequences and perhaps penalties as to participation in the Olympics. But I'd rather stand up for what I believe in than succumb to this obnoxious ruling.

Maybe the other nations would follow suit and make the Olympic Committee think twice before they change the rules for any Olympic sport.

As I mentioned over in another Olympic related topic over at East Windup Chronicle, I could care less anymore about the IOC. As for the new rule, all the teams ought to just boycott the Olympics or show up and refuse to play. What next will the IOC try to sell us? Where will their madness end?

-It was introduced without consultation and one wonders about the mentality of the people devising the rule.

It's the IOC in their infinite wisdom. It's ruining what is exciting about an extra inning game. Not to mention it deviates from the rules of baseball. If you ask me it's just another slap in the face for baseball by IOC president Jacques Rogge. What I would like to know is, what gave the IOC the task of creating new rules to baseball?

The rule was not created by the IOC but by the International Baseball Federation in order to integrate baseball into the Olympic program and get it reinstated for 2016.

Interesting. Thanks for the heads up. All in all though the IBAF sold out if you ask me. I can understand that they changed the rule to better integrate it back into the Olympics, but these rules are madness. There still has to be a better way.

Our softball league does じゃんけん (rock, paper, scissors) with the final 9 in the lineup of each team facing off by position.

Is that the better solution you're looking for?

Well, NPB's 12 inning limit rule is stupid as well. So is the DH rule in the American League, Pacific League, as well as all over the world. Any rule that changes the original concept of the game will be met with criticism.

- Is that the better solution you're looking for?

Chuckle; it can't be any worse that this new rule.

Though seriously, my beef with the rule change is, one, that it takes away from why baseball is exciting to watch, or at least in my opinion. Two, I don't understand why they would pull this rule out of nowhere.

Finally, I've read that IBAF president, Harvey Schiller, proposed it to save time. I mean how much time is it going to hurt the Olympics, and for that matter NBC here in the States (I can't speak for what the Olympic coverage is on NHK in Japan), if they can't televise boring sports such as badminton, canoeing, handball, rowing/sailing, etc.?

I excuse anyone if I come off negatively on the IBAF, but this rule is the one of the dumbest things I've ever heard in my years of watching baseball. I was very excited for Olympic baseball in 2008, but this has killed any interest in me watching it. Change is good if implemented right, but change for change sake is plain asinine.

Is Orix's front office members of the IBAF rules committee? They know how to screw everything up, so it only makes sense that they would have their hands in this one as well.

I think that they should have a bat spin relay race to decide the winner. At least the fans could get a good laugh out of spending a small fortune on the tickets that they bought.

That's even worst; we get "betrayed" by the people that should be looking out for the sports' best interest.

What's next? Give up our stadiums for collage marching bands to practice or because there will be a football game that needs to take place.

The IBAF should be pushing baseball to every country and try to achieve the global status that Futbol (soccer) has. Not making way and/or accommodate other entities, especially when it's a matter of not being able to perform at the purest rulings that were implemented centuries ago.

Why would I have to stop being me just to please you (figure of speech)? IBAF and IOC came up with this stupid-endous idea of let's not be just baseball, let's mix it with soccer. We'll call it base-soc-ball and it will be an Olympic sport.

I have one word to describe this idiocy; KROOMBALAFATOOFA!