The Lunatic Fringe

One tie, once in a long while, is a weird little quirk of spring.  It reminds us that this is a friendly, and these things don’t really count.  Not really.

Two ties is frustrating.  Two ties in a row is unforgivable.  One of those ties being against the Dodgers?

…

There’s got to be an answer to ties, kind of like what the NHL has pulled off with shootouts.  Now, I’m not saying that baseball should replace the concept of extra innings by any means in the regular season.  Extra innings are amazing, but they aren’t for Spring Training.  There’s got to be something fun that can fix this.

I just don’t know what it is.

I get why you don’t want extra innings to go on forever in Spring Training, so there needs to be something better than regular extra innings.

The obvious answer is a home run derby, but there’s legitimate health concerns there.  Who pitches?  You can’t just bring back the starters, or anyone else who has thrown already that day.  But you also don’t want to hold someone back just in case.  After all, Spring Training is about getting guys time to work out and prepare for the season.

Sure, you could use some minor league scrub, and that sure would lead to the exciting home runs, but would you want to see a game decided by guys like that?

So, yeah, I don’t have other suggestions.  Not very helpful, I know.

A lot of people might say, “Who cares?  It’s just preseason?”  Or, “It’s for the players to warm up, not games that count.”

The thing is, Spring Training has gone beyond preseason and all the negative vibes that gives fans.  The difference is that Spring Training has become a destination vacation.  A fan travels not just to see one team, but to visit multiple stadiums and see many games, and to be with lots of other fans.

Spring Training is no longer just a warmup for the players, it’s become a serious place for fans, and a major revenue stream for baseball and all the industries around it in Arizona and Florida.

Maybe it’s just from coming up in an Apple-dominated culture, but well-enough isn’t.  If you’re putting a product out there for people to consume, they deserve it to get something that leaves them satisfied.

And ties satisfy no one.