Olympic ruling makes mockery of baseball rules

If this is the last Olympics for baseball - and signs certainly point that way - then good riddance. Because they're meddling with the game, and not in a good way.

A ruling came down from the International Baseball Federation last week that will be adopted in time for the Beijing Games next month. And it practically ruins any game that extends into an 11th inning.

Each team's at-bat in the 11th inning and beyond will begin with runners on first and second. And if that isn't bad enough, then teams will start the 11th at any point in their batting order.

So if this rule were applied to major league baseball against the Yankees, you'd be facing Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez in every inning from then on, and with Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera on base already. No, that wouldn't affect the game's outcome at all.

Extra innings is one of the best facets of baseball, when one swing could end it, or it could go on indefinitely. Federation president Harvey Schiller told the AP that the extra-innings change was adopted to save time.

"Extra-inning contests can bring about the most exciting results for players and fans, but such circumstances also make it difficult in the context of the Olympic program," Schiller said. "We must demonstrate to the International Olympic Committee [that] not only does our game belong alongside the other great sports of the world, but our sport is manageable from a television and operational standpoint."

Maybe we could play home run derby in the 12th? How about playing pickle in the 13th and wiffle ball in the 14th before we truly decide in the 15th by flipping a coin?

If this is the future, then let's let the Olympics go on without baseball.