Stompers to use international tiebreaker rule for extra innings

The Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs, which includes the Sonoma Stompers, has adopted the international tiebreaker rule for the 2017 season.

“Baseball experimentation is as part of baseball as the game itself,” league commissioner Jonathan Stone stated. “Traditions make us move cautiously. It’s now time to try something different. This extra-inning play is the same format as the World Baseball Classic. MLB is considering using this in some of its minor leagues this year. We will gather our findings and present a report at the end of the season.”

The Pacific Association’s version of the rule states: “For any inning - beginning with the 10th inning - the team at bat shall begin the inning with runners on first and second base. The batter who leads off an inning shall continue to be the batter who would lead off the inning in the absence of this extra-innings rule. The runner on first base shall be the player (or a substitute for such player) in the batting order immediately preceding the batter who leads off the inning. The runner on second base shall be the player (or a substitute for such player) in the batting order immediately preceding the runner on first base.

Major League Baseball is trying out the international tiebreaker at the rookie level in the Gulf Coast and Arizona leagues in 2017. Each GCL team is scheduled to play 56 or 60 games - depending on its division - and there were 46 extra-inning contests last year. In the AZL, where teams play 56 games, there were 29 contests that went to extra innings.

The Can-Am League is going into its fourth season of using the tiebreaker format beginning in the 11th inning. League officials claim it has reduced the wear and tear on pitching staffs and has led to only 13 percent of extra-inning games going past the 11th inning.

The American Association gave the tiebreaker rule a try in 2015, and the Frontier League has adopted it as well.

Most baseball fans got to see the international tiebreaker rule on display in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, in one of the most popular editions of the international tournament.

The Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs is entering its fifth season, and it already has proven to be a very forward-thinking league.

The San Rafael Pacifics have experimented with using PITCHf/x to call balls and strikes - with former big leaguer Eric Byrnes making the calls - and played two timed games against the Vallejo Admirals last season. The second of those timed games used the international tiebreaker in the 10th inning.

The Sonoma Stompers have had two Team USA Women’s Baseball players on their roster, have the first active, openly gay player pitch for them, and let two baseball writers use sabermetrics to make their personnel decisions and write a best-selling book on their experience.