Possible Changes of Tiebreaker Rule in World Baseball Classic

The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) introduced a tiebreaker rule last summer at the World Junior Championships in Edmonton and the Olympics in Beijing to the Baseball community. Tomorrow the World Baseball Classic Steering Committee will meet in New York and according to IBAF president Harvey Schiller’s latest blog entry they’ll also discuss modifications of the extra inning tiebreaker rule.

“For any inning beginning with the 13th inning, the Team at bat shall begin the inning with runners on first and second base. The batter who would lead off the inning shall continue to be the batter. The runner on first base shall be the player (or substitute) who immediately precedes the batter who leads off the inning and the player on second base shall be the player (or substitute) who immediately precedes the player on first base. Any player removed for a substitute shall be ineligible to return to the game.”

In difference to the original IBAF rule regarding extra innings, the tiebreaker rule would be used in the 13th frame instead of the 11th. Also the teams cannot choose their upcoming batter or the runners on first on second, as this will be determined due to the continuation of the batting order. These are only recommendation and no decision has been made yet. We’ll expect to hear more at the end of the week.