ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - JULY 27: MLB umpire Andy Fletcher #49 is looked at by medical staff after being hit by a baseball during the eighth inning of the game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field on July 27, 2021 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
When Major League Baseball first instituted its “extra-inning” rule, it was met with much derision and decrying from the fans, especially older ones who had matured during baseball’s “golden” decades in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
Social media was rife with negative comments from fans from the start.