Baseball likely to ban home plate collisions

[rsmath]

MLB is looking at passing a rule to make home plate collisions illegal, antoher blow in professional sports that is in effect like castrating men.

I think they should keep them - it's an essential part of the game - will of the runner to score, will of the catcher to get runner out. If you get hurt, oh well, it's supposed to be the game to play hard.

It's the stupidification of baseball like the other night with Andre Ethier in a double play situation. Second baseman or shortstop was in the basepath with the ball and I was hoping Ethier would pancake the infielder to break up the double play but I found out later than it would have been obstruction on Ethier had he done that so Ethier had to give up and the double play was turned. Why not let Ethier break up the double play by any means possible as long as Ethier stays in the basepath?

 

[brian26]

MLB is looking at passing a rule to make home plate collisions illegal, antoher blow in professional sports that is in effect like castrating men.

I think they should keep them - it's an essential part of the game - will of the runner to score, will of the catcher to get runner out. If you get hurt, oh well, it's supposed to be the game to play hard.

It's the stupidification of baseball like the other night with Andre Ethier in a double play situation. Second baseman or shortstop was in the basepath with the ball and I was hoping Ethier would pancake the infielder to break up the double play but I found out later than it would have been obstruction on Ethier had he done that so Ethier had to give up and the double play was turned. Why not let Ethier break up the double play by any means possible as long as Ethier stays in the basepath?

These are really two different issues though. The Ethier play would have been runner's interference. That's not a new rule at all. Banning collisions at the plate is a totally separate issue.

 

[BBCgalaxee]

Although it's no where near football's problem, maybe mlb is trying to get away from any possible future concussion accusations and payments.

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[olerud363]

The first thing that came to mind when I read the title of this thread was the sig that somebody used to have that pictured the collision in which Buster Posey got run over and hurt. Superimposed on it was Johnny Bench and the line "You're doing it wrong!"

There's an argument to be made that today's players aren't properly taught the fundamentals of the game, and therefore are getting hurt. Stuff like how a catcher should properly block the plate, how a runner should slide to break up a double play, how a hitter should turn away from an inside pitch that rides up and in, etc. Hitters wear armour and don't even flinch on an inside pitch. Catchers and infielders are receiving the ball in awkward positions and thus aren't in good position for the play at the plate/bag.

I personally don't think homeplate collisions should be banned, but maybe just add some rules. Maybe the runner can only contact the catcher's chest protector, rather than get their forearms and elbows up near the face. Change the contact in some way, but doing away with it completely would take away an exciting aspect of the game that fans don't really get to see that often anymore.

 

[P_Manning 18]

The owners are seriously looking into switching to these as to prevent boo-boos and guys from getting hurt.

The pink ball will be used on Mother's Day.

 

[elmalo]

As a catcher, I would have no problem with collisions being banned.

 

[Hawk8]

Catchers can not become the quarter back of MLB

 

[Austin]

When I was in high school in 1990, I collided with a catcher and fractured my wrist.
The catcher cried and I was just happy I scored. (Delayed pain)

So I missed the rest of the season with a cast on my arm.

Did I whine or did my parents complain and urge for new rules?
Of course not.
It's baseball. Sports are physical. There are risks.

Football is already being pussified, and now baseball is facing similar rules.
And it's because of rare injuries to high profile players like Buster *****, I mean Posey.

 

[mmier118]

When I was in high school in 1990, I collided with a catcher and fractured my wrist.
The catcher cried and I was just happy I scored. (Delayed pain)

So I missed the rest of the season with a cast on my arm.

Did I whine or did my parents complain and urge for new rules?
Of course not.
It's baseball. Sports are physical. There are risks.

Football is already being pussified, and now baseball is facing similar rules.
And it's because of rare injuries to high profile players like Buster *****, I mean Posey.

+ 1 to this, sports have risks and I'm pretty sure that most participants are ok with those risks. These are grown men who are being compensated quite well to play a game and I hope that the league keeps letting them play it hard. The league shouldn't let a few freak plays ruin it for the fans. I personally find collisions at the plate exciting and honestly most of those hits aren't nearly as brutal as the hits dished out in the NHL on a nightly basis. I really hope they don't change the rules and I really hope that a playoff isn't decided over the umpires opinion of if a collision was legal or not.

 

[jrinne]

Crap like this is why hockey rules.

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[sportscardtheory]

It's baseball. Some of you are acting like this is like what the NFL is doing to ruin the sport of football. Baseball is a no-contact sport 99% of the time, so even they do go through with this, who really cares. It will barely affect the game.

 

[BiggioBrooks755]

What a bunch of pansies

 

[seitas]

MLB is looking at passing a rule to make home plate collisions illegal, antoher blow in professional sports that is in effect like castrating men.

I think they should keep them - it's an essential part of the game - will of the runner to score, will of the catcher to get runner out. If you get hurt, oh well, it's supposed to be the game to play hard.

It's the stupidification of baseball like the other night with Andre Ethier in a double play situation. Second baseman or shortstop was in the basepath with the ball and I was hoping Ethier would pancake the infielder to break up the double play but I found out later than it would have been obstruction on Ethier had he done that so Ethier had to give up and the double play was turned. Why not let Ethier break up the double play by any means possible as long as Ethier stays in the basepath?

Middle infielders are taught to drop down side arm and throw the ball directly into the chest of a runner that doesn't slide into second base. Baseball can be a brutal game.
I can see an argument being made to ban collisions at home plate. There's is no other play in baseball that resembles a catcher getting run over. It has long been a part of baseball but that doesn't make it right. Catchers take enough of a beating behind the dish without a guy like prince fielder running through them as they are forced to stand still and take it.

 

[rsmath]

The Ethier play would have been runner's interference. That's not a new rule at all. Banning collisions at the plate is a totally separate issue.

yes, on ethier it's not a new rule but rather a stupid rule. If a fielder has the ball and is in the basepath obstructing the runner's path to the next base, it should be legal for the fielder to be pancaked by the runner to try to knock the ball loose or prevent a throw. If a fielder doesn't want to be contacted, step out of the basepath and make the throw.

On the catcher, make it that the catcher can't block the plate or stand in the basepath to obstruct the runner unless the catcher has made a catch of a throw. I'd hate to see this new anti-collision rule get implemented such that you draw a line across the third base basepath 10' from home plate and say if the runner has crossed the line before the catcher has the ball, the runner is automatically safe at home.

 

[seitas]

On the catcher, make it that the catcher can't block the plate or stand in the basepath to obstruct the runner unless the catcher has made a catch of a throw. I'd hate to see this new anti-collision rule get implemented such that you draw a line across the third base basepath 10' from home plate and say if the runner has crossed the line before the catcher has the ball, the runner is automatically safe at home.

i can't see mlb making such as drastic change as you are suggesting. I could however see them changing the rule to allow a collision only if the catcher is in the base path and is not providing the runner an opening to home plate. If the catcher is out in front of home plate preparing for a swipe tag and the runner goes out of his way to make contact the result would be an automatic out. This is the situation that was proposed by Bruce Bochy and supported by many of his colleagues at the winter meetings in 2011.

 

[TBTwinsFan]

Let's just wrap all of the players in bubble wrap and pillows, and coat the field with a Nerf-like substance.

Someone will probably still get hurt though.

 

[digicat]

It's not players who are asking for this. It's managers, executives, owners, etc. In many cases, they're looking to further protect an investment. When a catcher is one of your middle-of-the-order guys who's getting paid the big bucks, the idea of him getting DL'ed for any amount of time becomes a pretty ugly thought.

 

[TBTwinsFan]

Crap like this is why hockey rules.

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Hockey will be next to be child-proofed unfortunately.

I can just see it.

 

[digicat]

Until the 70s, this sort of take-out-slide was legal. It was banned, and baseball moved on. If they ban taking out the catcher, the game will still move on.

 

[MansGame]