Hello, folks. Be honest—how many of you felt like you were watching a high-stakes soccer game during the 2025 MLB All-Star Game? Two teams, tied after nine innings, everything on the line, and then everything is settled by penalty kicks? Perhaps, we might just have entered a new era of baseball.

Yes, you heard that right. The 2025 MLB All-Star Game didn’t just entertain; it electrified. It might have even outshone some of the fiercest rivalries from the regular season. Think about it: how many games have you seen this year where you thought you knew the winner right up until the final pitch, only for everything to flip dramatically?

So, when the NL finally clinched victory over the AL, it wasn’t just the end of a thrilling night. But it felt like the beginning of something new. It was, in a sense, an MLB evolution. And while these fresh changes might seem strange now, don’t be surprised if they become the new normal in a few years. Still, for many players, the adjustment is weird. Giants pitcher Robbie Ray is one of them, and he’s not shy about saying so.

“It’s a weird feeling when you see the (grounds-crew) guy running out from center field with the L screen (for the pitcher)… It was a little weird, a little wild. But we ended up winning, so it was great,” Ray said, via Jayson Stark of The Athletic.

Well, for the soccer fanatics, you know how a tie game gets decided by a penalty shootout, where selected players from both teams take shots to decide the winner. However, in MLB, we were accustomed to adding innings after nine until the tie was broken. But neither the fans nor the players would play until 3 in the morning to decide the game. And here comes the revolutionary step!

For the first time, the MLB All-Star Game ended in a swing-off. The league’s own version of a penalty shootout. As nine innings couldn’t decide a winner, each league picked three batters to take three swings apiece against coaches throwing to them. And that’s when Kyle Schwarber stepped up and stole the show. The Phillies slugger, down 3-1, crushed all three of his swings out of the park to give the NL the win. This may be the next new normal.

Even though Schwarber went 0-for-2 with a walk during the game itself, his clutch performance in the swing-off earned him All-Star MVP honors. A new home run king was crowned. So, an MVP went scoreless in the actual game. Weird to say the least. However, amid all the chaos, we might have found a fix to make MLB more fan-friendly.

MLB might found a great fix

How many of you will enjoy if the Mets repeat their 1974 game against the Cardinals? A cool seven-hour game with 25 innings being played. While that’s doubtful, what MLB needs is a quick fix to its tiebreaking issue as global expansion is on the table. And, guess what? They might just have found it.

In this era, adding extra innings for breaking the tie would be overwhelming for the fans. Especially those outside the American market. Moreover, with players, especially the pitchers, struggling to sustain a complete 162-game season, it would be unlikely that they can serve beyond 9 innings. So, let’s just stick with the home run swing off to decide the winner. It’s fast, unbiased, and entertaining!

“I’ve got a group text going with a couple of other players around baseball … and they said that we should never play an extra-inning game again. Just do it like that,” Giants pitcher Logan Webb is all for the newfound solution.

Well, a swing-off also offers a quicker, more definitive ending. Unlike extra innings, which can drag on for an hour or more with dwindling action, a swing-off wraps things up in minutes. It keeps the game within a predictable time frame, which benefits TV broadcasts, stadium operations, and fans with tight schedules.

And then the entertainment value is undeniable. Home runs are the most thrilling part of MLB for many fans. And turning the game’s climax into a dramatic swing-off taps into that excitement. It’s fast-paced, emotionally charged, and perfect for highlight reels and social media, much like soccer’s penalty shootouts or hockey’s shootouts.

Hence, we might be entering a new era of MLB, which would be faster and more thrilling to watch. And for the Gen-Z fans, it offers just the right level of entertainment.