The swing-off stole the show at the All-Star Game. Should MLB go further than that?
As the National League's lead evaporated in the late innings, not even the players in the dugout knew this Midsummer Classic might turn into a miniature Home Run Derby. Marlins outfielder Kyle Stowers only found out when National League manager Dave Roberts asked him to lead off in the three-on-three swing-off.
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'I had no clue this was a thing!' Stowers said from the on-deck circle to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal on Fox's broadcast.
The swing-off was included in the latest MLB/MLBPA collective bargaining agreement to end a tied All-Star Game in thrilling fashion. And, boy, did it deliver. With both All-Star teams gathered on the dirt outside their dugouts and with two-time Home Run Derby champ Pete Alonso waiting in the batting cage, ready to be the closing act, NL teammate Kyle Schwarber blasted three homers on three pitches to win the event and capture the All-Star Game MVP trophy.
In the celebratory aftermath, Giants starter Logan Webb said the feedback he'd gotten via text from other players was: We should never play an extra-inning game again. In the American League clubhouse, Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. advocated for adding the swing-off in the regular season. 'Especially if we're playing at Yankee Stadium,' he said, mimicking a long blast toward the right-field porch. 'Hello!' (It was unclear how seriously he meant his support of the swing-off.)
Among the significant rule changes floated or implemented by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred in recent years, bringing a swing-off to regular-season games has never seemed like an eventuality. Manfred has already made his mark on extra-inning games, introducing a rule in 2020 that places a runner on second base to start each extra inning. It has had its intended effect: avoiding marathon games.
The question that's being raised after the All-Star Game: Would the swing-off be a better way to end regular-season ties?
The extra-innings runner rule is already a significant gameplay intervention. How much less Mickey Mouse is a ghost runner than the overtime rules in other sports — hockey shootouts, soccer penalty kicks, college football's shortened fields and mandatory two-point attempts?
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If Manfred ever hoped to show the incredible possibility of a swing-off, this All-Star Game was the perfect image: Schwarber dropped to a knee as his third consecutive homer sailed through the air; his teammates celebrating; his opponents rallying one last attempt to force Alonso to the plate; and the fans who stayed all on their feet.
American League manager Aaron Boone acknowledged that 'there's probably a world' where the swing-off could come to the regular season.
'I wouldn't be surprised if people start talking about it like that,' Boone said. 'Obviously, I don't think that should happen, necessarily, or would at any time in the near future. But I got to say, you know, it was pretty exciting. Like all of a sudden, here we go.'
Roberts said he doesn't want to see the swing-off in regular-season games: 'I think that it was great for this exhibition, but in the regular season? I don't mind how it plays out in the regular season with the man on second base. But this was the first time in history we got to do this, and I think it played pretty well tonight.'
In clubhouses and comment sections, the swing-off will spawn many more debates than any other aspect of this year's All-Star Game. So let's ask you, readers, what you think.
(Top photo of the National League team celebrating: Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
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