Posted on 05/26/2011 11:57:37 AM PDT by ZGuy
[Buster Posey, last year's Rookie of the Year is out for the season with a broken leg sustained on a collision at the plate last night. This is a major loss to the S.F. Giants. This blog post is in response to that hit.]
Barreling into a catcher adds nothing to the game of baseball. It never has. Every time I'd watch Pete Rose barrel into Ray Fosse, I'd think how messed up it was. It never really hit home until now, but it's the only element of contact in a non-contact sport. It's like the NFL using Scrabble to decide games that are tied after regulation -- it's the exact opposite of how the rest of the game is played.
Take-out slides at second can cause an injury, but there's something more organic about sliding a little late or wide. A player putting his head down and leveling a catcher is legal, and it's nonsense. I understand the logistical aspect -- you can't run through second or third base, so you have to slide,and first base is a force out, so there's no reason to knock the ball out of the first baseman's hands.
But there has to be a way to eliminate crazy-violent collisions at home plate. You can't decimate a catcher in college. They're able to enforce that somehow. There's no way to eliminate contact altogether, but there's a way to eliminate the strategy of plowing into a catcher so hard that he drops the ball. We're storming the administration building, folks. We're going to burn bras and draft cards and effigies, and we'll get this fixed.
After we stop openly weeping.
(Excerpt) Read more at mccoveychronicles.com ...
oh that’s just stupid.
:: If the baseman stood where he had no business to be and got hurt, that was his fault.” — Ty Cobb ::
And the baseball congregation says, “Amen!”
I will never forget Kirk Gibson taking out a catcher. When interviewed he said; “All I missed was the crack of the pads” Kirk played Football at MSU and could have played in the NFL
:: Buster Posey, last year’s Rookie of the Year is out for the season with a broken leg sustained on a collision at the plate last night. This is a major loss to the S.F. Giants. ::
Can I call you a “whaaaaaambulance!”?
The fricking Tigers have been mediocre, at best, for quite a few years...yet, I still root for them day-in and day-out. Would that they would be a mite more aggressive on the paths...could spice things up a bit.
While I can’t stand the rule changes in the NFL that will more or less turn it into flag football, if the lockout ever ends, I sort of agree with this.
I never gave it much thought before, but a runner cannot barrel into the first baseman, shortstop, etc., so why should he be allowed to do this to the catcher.
I suppose the fact that catchers wear some protective gear is a factor, but that gear is designed to block baseballs, not fast moving humans.
If they ever do change the rule, they also need to make it illegal for the catcher to block the plate, unless he has the ball in his hand or glove. I thik plate blocking is probably what led to the practice of running over catchers.
Rose laid a legal hit on Ray - its baseball, but poor old Ray was never the same after that ...
I always wondered why they can barrel into the catcher and not the first baseman.
I DID see the play and it wasn’t the collision that hurt him, it was the fact his foot was under his leg and when the collision happened, he rolled over with his foot pinned. Ankles don’t bend backwards.
THAT is why he is out. The collision didn’t do anything to hurt him, it was the position of his leg.
Limp-wristed, dress-wearing, SF girly men writers who know NOTHING about baseball and who probably would LOVE for the teams to look more like the Village People than ball players need to STFU.
Hit in chest by line drive. Lost breathe for lo-o-ng time. case of wrong place, wrong time. Suggest author read more Tom Boswell:
“Time Begins on Opening Day” or “How Life Resembles the World Series”
Hit in chest by line drive. Lost breathe for lo-o-ng time. case of wrong place, wrong time. Suggest author read more Tom Boswell:
“Time Begins on Opening Day” or “How Life Resembles the World Series”
“It never really hit home until now”....
No kidding. Maybe I'm "old school", but I recall that the best way to keep someone from barreling you over at the plate was to shove your glove, preferably with the ball in it, right into the face of the guy trying to knock you down. It's amazing how often they didn't do it again.
I'll never forget Pete Rose leveling the now Giant manager at the plate in the 1980 NLCS. I'm sure Bruce will never forget it either.
If first basemen stood in front of the bag we would see more collisions at first.
Freegards
And maybe let Danica just win the indy just once
No people are more pathetic than SF Bay Area liberals - absolutely none.
Because it’s a force out.
There is already a rule in place concerning this situation.
“BASE PATH - The base path belongs to the runner EXCEPT when a fielder is in the path attempting to field a batted ball or when a fielder is in the path and in possession of the ball. After a runner has been put out (typically on a force play at second) he has NO rights to the base path. If R1 is put out at second by a long distance, he must duck or get out of the path. If he is hit with the throw while in the path, or makes contact with the fielder who is in the act of throwing, while on his feet, he is guilty. Since he is already out, the runner being played upon is called out. Rule 7.08(b), 7.09(L)”
The catcher does not belong on the base path.
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