How new Major League Baseball All-Star Game home run derby tiebreaker will work
By golly, Rob Manfred did something that baseball fans like.
Manfred is the commissioner of Major League Baseball, which changed the rules of the All-Star Game, beginning with Tuesday night’s contest at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
If the game is tied after nine innings, the winning team will be decided by a home run derby.
Call it the official All-Star Tiebreaker, as a story on MLB.com noted. Here is how it will work, via the league website.
- The game will be paused to allow the groundscrew to set up for the derby.
- Each manager will choose three players (and an alternate, if there is an injury) to participate and three coaches to throw batting practice.
- Each player in the derby will get three swings to hit as many home runs as possible. They can take an unlimited number of pitches and it will not count against their swing total.
- The two teams will alternate with the visiting team going first.
- The team with the most total home runs will be the All-Star Game winner. If there is a home-run derby tie, each manager will pick one of the three to take three swings to break the tie.
The Pioneer League, which is home to the Idaho Falls Chukars, a former Royals affiliate, used a home run derby in extra innings to determine a winner last year.
Many baseball fans loved the new idea. Here is a sampling of what was being shared on Twitter.
Pete Grathoff
The Kansas City Star