San Francisco Giants: Samardzija Wants Ties and a Point System in MLB
By Manny Gómez
San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija thinks extra innings aren’t needed in baseball. Instead, he thinks games should end in a tie.
MLB thinks it has a pace-of-play issue and San Francisco Giants pitcher Jeff Samardzija believes he has a solution. His plan: end extra-inning games and implement a point system.
“I just think you can change to a point system,” Samardzija said to MLB’s Maria Guardado:
"“I don’t think we need to play extra-inning games. You want to keep the game times down. Just end them in a tie. Everyone gets one point like in the Premier League. Winning gets three points and just end it at nine. We’re playing 162 games. Over that course of games, you should be able to tell who the best team is. It makes the ninth inning exciting all the time.”"
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Last season, MLB saw 216 extra-inning games. CBS Sports’ Mike Axisa went as far as to break down the 2018 standings using Samardzija’s points system and to my surprise, the AL standings went virtually unchanged.
The NL standings, however, was a different story altogether. Per Axisa:
"Wild Card Game: Dodgers at Cubs (instead of Rockies at Cubs)NLDS1: Wild Card Game winner at Brewers (same)NLDS2: Braves at Rockies (instead of Braves at Dodgers)"
Let’s give Samardzija some credit here, folks. Using this system would completely change the game. Game times and pace-of-play would be the last of baseball’s worries since managers would have to work aggressively to earn a win.
However, as San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy told Guardado, “I think some of the greatest games have been extra-inning games… That’s, I think, part of baseball. I’m not into the tie deal. I want to play until we finish it.”
Samardzija admits that his idea is “a little wild.” He gets an “A” for effort and creativity, however.
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Baseball has a problem – as I outline here – but pace-of-play and extra-innings are not one of them.