That would have to be restricted. I would say a player could only go back in, in case of injury or extra innings and only once.
It was already suggested upthread, but you could simply adopt the “once back in” rule used by slo-pitch leagues; a player can be reinserted, but only once, and it must be in the same batting order position he was in before.
I can’t help but think of what would have happened if the game had gone another inning or two and the position players started to pitch. Not only would it have been a joke - can you imagine what would have happened if one of them hurt himself while acting as an emergency reliever in the All-Star game? If Wright had blown out his arm a la Canseco, Selig never would have made it out of New York.
I would hope at that point the managers would have instead did the correct thing and told Selig the game was over, you figure out home field some other way this year.
It’s a kids game fer crying out loud. I go crazy when I hear all of this “poor well-conditioned athlete had to pitch three innings so he might not live through the night” nonsense.
It is what made people mad in 2002 when they called the game a tie. How many blue collar workers literally bust their asses every day in hard jobs to have enough disposable income to watch these multi-millionaires play a kids game for a living? Then have to hear them whine about playing a full game?
Cy Young used to pitch both ends of a double header. Harvey Haddix pitched 12 perfect innings. Today he would have been yanked after 9, if he didn’t exceed his pitch count before that.
Yes, and I know, they blew their arms out a lot sooner, but that was their job. Coal miners have back problems later in life.
Thirty years ago, the league minimum salary was $30k/yr. The average fan could relate to those guys because they were average guys living a dream. Today they are pampered rich kids who are afraid they will get a hang nail if they slide into second.
For the most part it’s not the pitchers who don’t want to keep pitching, you realize.
Want to tell us how many miles you walked to school in the snow?
What’s your point, exactly? That the players are wrong not to want to blow their arms out, particularly in a meaningless game? That the teams are wrong to protect their investments - although I agree that they go much too far?
Yes, okay, too much was made of the whole ‘what might happen to Scott Kazmir if he throws 50 pitches’ thing. But the issue was more about how his team would be affected, not his health.
Wait, giving the winning team bonus money is gambling? Doesn’t pretty much every professional league give extra money to the championship team? (isn’t dividing up World Series Shares a hallowed part of baseball?)
I think that kind of counts as overtime pay, though I suppose that doesn’t allow for winners and losers to get different amounts.
No, having the players put up their own money is gambling.
I see your point, however, I think this kind of arrangement is typically legal if the players putting up the money and winning the prize are competing in a true test of skill. Otherwise every local golf tournament with an entry fee and a prize would be illegal.