It’s time to modify Rob Manfred’s placed runner in extra innings rule

Brad Penner-Imagn ImagesAl Yellon created Bleed Cubbie Blue and has been its managing editor since 2005. His latest book about the Cubs is "Chicago Cubs Firsts." Find him on Bluesky at @bleedcubbieblue.bsky.social

The placed runner in extra innings, sometimes jocularly called the “Manfred man,” was instituted for the shortened 2020 pandemic season. The reasoning was sound then — it was designed to make games shorter so players didn’t have to spend extra time around each other, potentially spreading covid around (and that wound up happening anyway).

When baseball went back to a normal-length season in 2021, unfortunately, the placed runner was continued and it was enshrined in the rules at the…