MLB NEWS

Turner: Settle games with HR derby after 10th

Field Level Media

April 03, 2020 at 2:41 am.

Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner has a radical plan for keeping games from running too long.

Speaking Thursday with Spectrum SportsNet, Turner proposed having games be decided by a home run derby should the score still be level after the 10th inning.

He brought up the suggestion as part of a discussion about how the baseball season will look once play starts after the coronavirus pandemic eases.

“Everyone’s on board — and I mean players and owners — and the goal is to play as many games as possible,” Turner said from his Southern California home. “There’s nothing off limits right now, as far as I understand. … It could be multiple doubleheaders a week, it could be seven-inning doubleheaders.

“There could be some new extra-inning rules being implemented. That’s all conversations that will be had when we get a better idea of when the season is going to start. Roster expansion, (injured-list) stints … it’s all on the table right now. This is my opportunity to push for a home run derby in extra innings.”

Turner explained his plan: “Instead of playing 17 innings, you get one extra inning, you play the 10th inning, and no one scores, then you go to a home run derby. You take each team’s three best hitters and you give them all five outs and see who hits the most homers.”

“You want to keep fans in the stands until the end of the game. I know when I go to hockey games, I actually enjoy watching shootouts. That keeps me in my seat, so maybe a home run derby will do that as well.”

Turner’s Dodgers would have strong options if the home run derby formula is implemented. He hit 27 homers last year but wound up just fourth on the team behind National League MVP Cody Bellinger (47), Joc Pederson (36) and Max Muncy (35). And in the offseason, the Dodgers added Mookie Betts, who hit 29 homers in 2019.

Turner, 35, was the MVP of the 2017 National League Championship Series and made the All-Star Game that same season. He has 120 homers in 1,072 career games with the Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets and Los Angeles.