The 5 best things about long extra-inning games

Tap here to access our MLB Trade Tracker which includes all trades and rumors leading up to the July 31 trade deadline.

Tuesday night was a good night for baseball. It featured three separate extra innings games, two of which reached 14 innings. As any game that reaches this length, there was no lack of goofy fun.

There is something weird and wonderful about baseball’s tie-breaking system. Extra innings add such an interesting wrinkle, creating drama and weirdness in pursuit of one of the best quirks of professional baseball - there are no ties.

The resulting overtime structure doesn’t create the same kind of ceaseless terror of the extra periods in playoff hockey, but extra innings weirdness is not limited to the second season. The relatively low stakes of mid-July bonus baseball makes for a wacky time.

Here are the five best features of regular season extra inning baseball.

Guys playing out of position

In some ways, longer extra innings games are not unlike blowouts - circumstances dictate that some guys need to play new positions.

But an outfielder playing third base is one thing, it’s when we get relief pitchers batting the real fun begins.

Specific kinds of extra innings fun include:

• Starters relieving - Tim Lincecum picked up his first big league save last night, rescuing the Giants spent bullpen with a somewhat shaky but still effective inning of relief.

• Pitchers in the field - as the bullpens get thin, managers get cute as they attempt to save a pitcher, moving a reliever to a position for a batter or two before returning him to the mound. Roy Oswalt of the Phillies ticked two of our boxes in one game during the 2012 season, producing a smug grin for the ages.

• Position players pitching - the sweetest of all extra innings fruit. Not just pitching in a blowout, bringing position players in with the game on the line might be one of the rarest sights in the game.
  
  The Orioles used Chris Davis in just such a role a few years back, as the slugger picked up a win with two innings of relief.

Empty Stadiums

There is nothing like the intimacy of an empty baseball stadium. Turns out most fans don’t have six hours of baseball in them on a weeknight.

The weird calm and sporadic yelps of a few diehards completely changes the viewing experience. Plus, it gives rise to dedicated fans of the away team seizing opportunities.

Plus everybody gets to sit in a good seat! Big time value available in an interminable game.

The 14th inning stretch

This seems like a minor thing but few songs lift the spirits quite like Take Me Out to the Ballgame at midnight local time.

Everybody is a little punchy so the song comes off with a little extra gusto.

The palpable feeling that everyone just wants the game to end

All of the above is true but, at the same time, everybody really just wants to go home. Strike zones expand and dedicated professionals make calls seemingly against their better judgement.

When he came in last night, Tim Lincecum had a hard time finding the zone. Luckily, poor home plate umpire Chad Fairchild had already called nearly 500 pitches, so we can forgive him if he went looking for strikes to call.

He called three strikes for Lincecum, only one of which was anywhere close to the strike zone.

From Baseball Savant:

Everybody’s dinner plans are ruined. They’re tired and hungry. Let’s just get this show on the road.

Unlikely heros

The war of attrition often pushes unexpected players into starring roles during the marathon games. While Chase Headley isn’t an “unexpected” player, coming through with the walkoff single in his first game as a member of the Yankees.

Even more unlikely heroes? Guys who draw a game-winning walk! Of the 97 walkoff walks issued since the year 2000, more than half came in extra innings. Mike Cameron is one of the most underrated stars of the last 15 years and he leads the way with three extra innings walkoff walks.