Tom Gatto takes aim at the WBC extra inning rule that decided the 4-3 Puerto Rico win over the Netherlands. In the 11th both teams started with men on first and second, followed by a sacrifice and an intentional walk. The Dutch hit into a double play, while Puerto won on a sacrifice fly (emphasis added):
Formulaic. Inorganic. Ugly.
Team Puerto Rico celebrated because it was an important victory for the island commonwealth. It will now face the winner of Tuesday’s other semifinal between the U.S. and Japan. But the whole ending felt cheap, forced and rushed after 3 1/2 hours of highlight-reel plays and intensity that almost led to a brawl.
Suddenly, the drama was no longer steadily building. No longer was it a true test of wills. The teams had to wrap up this thing — never mind that of the 27 nine-inning games in this tournament, only three have been played in under three hours, which is to say, pace-of-play dictates have been largely ignored.
The game is moving away from the sacrifice, but let’s create a situation where teams are going to use it. Teams are moving away from the intentional walks, but let’s create a situation where teams are going to use it.
I attended boring, extra-inning games. I remember one where Mike Smithson came in and tossed to first about a million times. I would gladly suffer through those to get the 1986 NLCS Game six.
from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2nhNsap
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