The ghost runner

What is the ghost runner rule?

In extra innings, each half-inning starts with a runner already on second base. Officially this is the automatic runner or the placed runner; in practice everybody calls it the ghost runner. The runner is normally the player who made the last out of the previous inning.

The purpose is to end long games. A runner in scoring position with nobody out converts a large share of the time, so extra innings resolve in one or two rather than dragging on for six.

The scoring detail that catches people out is that the run does not count as earned against the pitcher, because the runner reached base without a hit or an error. For a recreational league scoreboard this rarely matters; for a league that tracks pitching statistics, it does.

Slow pitch softball and youth leagues often go further, starting extra innings with a runner on second and a count already on the batter. Score All has the extra-inning runner as a switch and lets you cap how many extra innings are played before a tie stands.

Where it applies

Related: Baseball and softball scoring

This rule is a switch when you set up a game, so the scoreboard applies it for you. All scoring rules →