clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Baseball fans aren’t digging the rule changes

The extra-inning rules and seven-inning games are not going over well with fans.

By Kyle Thele and Brady Klopfer

If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

San Francisco Giants’ Pablo Sandoval (48) returns to the dugout dejected after being thrown out at second base on a double play against the St. Louis Cardinals in the fourth inning of Game 5 of the National League baseball championship series at AT&T Park Photo by MediaNews Group/Bay Area News via Getty Images

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Each week, we send out questions to the most plugged in Giants fans, and fans across the country. Sign up here to join Reacts.

You probably don’t need me to tell you that the 2020 MLB season looks quite a bit different than every other season in baseball history. The list of things different about this season is quite literally too long to remember. And it’s not just masks, cutouts, and fewer games, either — there have been changes to the actual rules of the game.

According to the most recent SB Nation Reacts survey, baseball fans aren’t enjoying the rule changes, which isn’t surprising considering the sport is steeped in tradition. Fewer than 50 percent of fans said they like the extra-inning rule and only about one-quarter of fans hope the rule stays beyond this season.

The San Francisco Giants have only had one game go to extra innings, and they did not fare very well.

Results were similar when fans were asked about the doubleheader change. Only 42 percent of fans are in favor of having a pair of seven-inning games, something the Giants currently don’t have on their schedule.

There’s a good reason for the shortened doubleheaders: MLB is trying to squeeze as many games in, due to the fact that coronavirus outbreaks across the league have postponed many games. The Giants have already played 14 games, but the St. Louis Cardinals have only played five.

That’s a lot of games to make up, and there’s certainly a chance that they don’t all happen. Some teams may have to play fewer than 60 games, at which point postseason seeding would be determined by winning percentage. But in a year that’s already lost 102 games, fans aren’t big on the legitimacy of a season that loses even more.

When asked how many games are needed from a team to enter the playoffs, a plurality of fans said each team needs to complete all 60 games. Good luck with that.

To vote in the Reacts surveys and have your voice heard each week, sign up here.

More From McCovey Chronicles