Home Plate Collisions to be banned

[John_Havok]

the actual issue is society trying to nanny people even when they are adults. at some point the protective state has to leave people alone and let them live. there are already rules that actually stop most collisions. taking all "dangerous" play out of of baseball will kill the sport.

 

I'm tired of people trying to bubble wrap the world to protect us from ourselves. so this picture is perfect.

 

politically correct is sucking the living out of life.

 

Political correctness has nothing to do with this. Baseball is a non-contact sport with no need for intentional collisions. Accidents will always happen, and plenty of players will continue to be injured in other unintentional ways while playing the game. Removing one way of having career threatening injuries on intentional collisions is just good business for everyone involved.

[o2cui2i]

Political correctness has nothing to do with this. Baseball is a non-contact sport with no need for intentional collisions. Accidents will always happen, and plenty of players will continue to be injured in other unintentional ways while playing the game. Removing one way of having career threatening injuries on intentional collisions is just good business for everyone involved.

 

not sure I agree. it's still one of the most exiting plays in the game only slightly behind and inside the park home run. the risk of taking away the excitement of a close play at home is not a good thing. I understand the need to protect the investment. This has come because of Posey's ankle injury and not because of the concussions. franchise player went down and owners went sour, but the Posey injury was mostly his own fault. his feet were badly positioned and he was blocking the plate without the ball.

 

I agree 100% with saying you cant take the catcher out when you are out by 10 feet, but not a blanket rule to say no collisions. draw a line 10 feet from home and if the catcher is standing on the plate with the ball before you cross the line you cant take him out..... that I could live with.

[Dr Negative]

Serious injuries are bad for players and bad for business so it makes sense for everyone.

[NorthOf49]

The play at the plate is the most exciting play in baseball. You can't get rid of it because a catcher gets hurt every few seasons.

 

If you want to do something, start calling obstruction properly. Adding additional rules to the game is wrong.

[John_Havok]

not sure I agree. it's still one of the most exiting plays in the game only slightly behind and inside the park home run. the risk of taking away the excitement of a close play at home is not a good thing. I understand the need to protect the investment. This has come because of Posey's ankle injury and not because of the concussions. franchise player went down and owners went sour, but the Posey injury was mostly his own fault. his feet were badly positioned and he was blocking the plate without the ball.

 

I agree 100% with saying you cant take the catcher out when you are out by 10 feet, but not a blanket rule to say no collisions. draw a line 10 feet from home and if the catcher is standing on the plate with the ball before you cross the line you cant take him out..... that I could live with.

 

You and I see the Posey collision very differently. He was not blocking the plate, the runner ran inside the base path to hit him when he could have easily slid around him.

 

But that one hit, while awful, is not the sole reason I don't think they should be allowed. To me a close slide is no less exciting than a collision, and when you factor in the types of injuries that might result from sliding versus collisions, it's just a no-brainer for me.

[John_Havok]

The play at the plate is the most exciting play in baseball. You can't get rid of it because a catcher gets hurt every few seasons.

 

If you want to do something, start calling obstruction properly. Adding additional rules to the game is wrong.

 

Plays at the plate are exciting, collisions or not. And to your second point, why do you think the warning track was finally instituted in 1949? Or catchers masks and batting helmets? Silly rule changes for pansy ball players...

[o2cui2i]

if they simply use the rule that is in place for obstruction there wouldn't be many collisions.

 

if they say you have to slide then they MUST call obstruction if the catcher doesn't offer the runner part of the plate. how do they determine if the catcher has given "enough" of the plate to offer the runner room to slide? this is going to be an extra hour of argument and replays for years to come.

 

there are reasons this has not happened before.

[3 Strikes I am Out]

 

there is no need for this

[Boxcar]

so sick and tired of the f***ing pc nanny state running everyone's lives. Can we just tell these *******s to diaff?

 

what are they going to do next, remove the take out play at second or the swipe tag?

 

Like this off season wasn't bad enough already....

 

THIS IS MURKUH

 

for caps since this site's auto formatting is dumn

[NorthOf49]

Plays at the plate are exciting, collisions or not. And to your second point, why do you think the warning track was finally instituted in 1949? Or catchers masks and batting helmets? Silly rule changes for pansy ball players...

I see that stuff as different. Equipment and the warning track may be new changes, but they don't change the aesthetic of the game. This will.

 

Very rarely does a collision at the plate lead to anything. This rule will remove a very real number of exciting plays from a season. If a team is really scared of their catcher getting hurt, they should teach him the swipe tag.

[Boxcar]

 

These do not surprise me.

 

 

And the counter from dirk

 

 

When has Lawrie ever been concerned about his own health? Never mind other players.

[Boxcar]

not sure I agree. it's still one of the most exiting plays in the game only slightly behind and inside the park home run. the risk of taking away the excitement of a close play at home is not a good thing. I understand the need to protect the investment. This has come because of Posey's ankle injury and not because of the concussions. franchise player went down and owners went sour, but the Posey injury was mostly his own fault. his feet were badly positioned and he was blocking the plate without the ball.

 

I agree 100% with saying you cant take the catcher out when you are out by 10 feet, but not a blanket rule to say no collisions. draw a line 10 feet from home and if the catcher is standing on the plate with the ball before you cross the line you cant take him out..... that I could live with.

 

I agree. Personally, I have to feel like someone might get killed in a play before I find it exciting.

[o2cui2i]

Plays at the plate are exciting, collisions or not. And to your second point, why do you think the warning track was finally instituted in 1949? Or catchers masks and batting helmets? Silly rule changes for pansy ball players...

 

more catchers get head injuries taking foul balls. more players get hurt in plays at second than at home. more players end their careers throwing too hard than catcher getting hurt in collisions. Morneau has never been the same after getting a knee in the head at second. should we say that you cant slide into the bases? should we say that players cant slide head first because of the injury risk?

 

i get the protection thing, but there are inherent risks that are accepted in playing the sport that cant all be taken out without changing the sport. comparing this to the warning track or catchers masks is kind of silly

[o2cui2i]

I agree. Personally, I have to feel like someone might get killed in a play before I find it exciting.

 

rollerball

[Abomination]

i get the protection thing, but there are inherent risks that are accepted in playing the sport that cant all be taken out without changing the sport. comparing this to the warning track or catchers masks is kind of silly

 

This doesn't change the sport in any negative way that matters. In fact, in some ways the enforcement of it improves things. I hated how catchers would set up in front of the plate without the ball, or at least without having the ball in a position where they could tag the runner, blocking any possible avenue the runner had. That's just as dangerous for the runner to try to slide through all that equipment to have a chance at the plate they're supposed to have anyway. They have two options, slide into the equipment and risk injury, or bowl over the catcher and risk injury.

 

BTW, for the record I think they should make it a rule that players can not intentionally make contact with a fielder (such as at second) unless the fielder is blocking their path. (Ie, no going out of their way to get a piece of the fielder, especially after they're already technically out)

[John_Havok]

more catchers get head injuries taking foul balls. more players get hurt in plays at second than at home. more players end their careers throwing too hard than catcher getting hurt in collisions. Morneau has never been the same after getting a knee in the head at second. should we say that you cant slide into the bases? should we say that players cant slide head first because of the injury risk?

 

i get the protection thing, but there are inherent risks that are accepted in playing the sport that cant all be taken out without changing the sport. comparing this to the warning track or catchers masks is kind of silly

 

My point of the warning track, catcher's masks and batting helmet was a direct counter to North's post of "adding new rules is silly."

 

Foul balls are not intentional. Throwing is an essential action of the game. Neither is even remotely comparable to an intentional collision at home.

[John_Havok]

This doesn't change the sport in any negative way that matters. In fact, in some ways the enforcement of it improves things. I hated how catchers would set up in front of the plate without the ball, or at least without having the ball in a position where they could tag the runner, blocking any possible avenue the runner had. That's just as dangerous for the runner to try to slide through all that equipment to have a chance at the plate they're supposed to have anyway. They have two options, slide into the equipment and risk injury, or bowl over the catcher and risk injury.

 

BTW, for the record I think they should make it a rule that players can not intentionally make contact with a fielder (such as at second) unless the fielder is blocking their path. (Ie, no going out of their way to get a piece of the fielder, especially after they're already technically out)

 

Agreed.

[KevinGregg]

If you support intentionally running over the catcher, what about running over anyone else on a tag play? Why aren't 2nd and 3rd basemen tackled in the same way catchers are?

[Dick_Pole]

I wonder what Pete Rose thinks about this

[Dick_Pole]

the actual issue is society trying to nanny people even when they are adults. at some point the protective state has to leave people alone and let them live. there are already rules that actually stop most collisions. taking all "dangerous" play out of of baseball will kill the sport.

 

I'm tired of people trying to bubble wrap the world to protect us from ourselves. so this picture is perfect.

 

politically correct is sucking the living out of life.

 

In general I agree with the second statement of yours I put in bold. But for the first one, there's no real nanny state action about this. These are grown adults making a decision from the owners perspective which must be signed off by the union, where presumably the union is the voice of the majority of players. This isn't nannying, this is a conscious decision made by those in baseball.

 

In the NHL and NFL they made a lot of rules and added protection over the years thanks to science having a better understanding of concussions and that players are getting bigger. Collisions at the plate are the closest thing to tackling in baseball and yet not much has been done over the years to address issues with it.

[TheHurl]

In the 47 games of our tournament involving 12 to 16 year olds...we saw two kids running catchers (where it is illegal), another factor in getting rid of it as kids see the pros do it and they nail an unprepared catcher. For me this was a no brainer but then again I feel the same way about escalating suspensions for hockey fighting.

[G-Snarls]

Zaun's reaction to this will be priceless.

 

And, here it is

 

[Dick_Pole]

And, here it is

 

 

Backhanded shot at Posey?

[o2cui2i]

If you support intentionally running over the catcher, what about running over anyone else on a tag play? Why aren't 2nd and 3rd basemen tackled in the same way catchers are?

 

because when you are crossing home plate you are crossing and not stopping. once you touch home you are safe if they drop the ball. guys do get spiked if they position themselves wrong at second and third. SS and second basemen get taken out regularly to try to stop the double play. Rasmus was one of the best in the league last year when it came to taking out the D at second. not dirty at all, just a clean hard slide and that's the way it has to be played.

[AdamGreenwood]

Zaun doesn't seem to understand why you can't just inject steroids up your ass and head back on the field two weeks later.

[G-Snarls]

Ahem, Lawrie on the subject

 

[Anemic0ffense]

My point of the warning track, catcher's masks and batting helmet was a direct counter to North's post of "adding new rules is silly."

 

Foul balls are not intentional. Throwing is an essential action of the game. Neither is even remotely comparable to an intentional collision at home.

 

So every collision is intentional now? Guarantee there will be some questionable suspensions off this new rule, and many of the supporters of it will be the first to bitch. Just look at the NFL today. You can't even touch a big name QB, or you're flagged with a "roughing the passer", and/or a fine. You know what I'm saying is right. This will be a disaster disguised as "caring for players"

[John_Havok]

So every collision is intentional now?QUOTE]

 

You're saying that home plate collisions aren't intentional? Of course they are, the baserunner intentionally runs into the catcher... I'm not sure how else it can be interpreted other than intentional?

[AdamGreenwood]

There are three scenarios:

 

A) The catcher doesn't have the ball, and blocks the incoming runner.

The runner has a clear unobstructed path to home plate, but slams into the catcher, so that he can't catch the ball and make a sweeping tag.

C) The catcher has the ball and blocks home plate.

 

Instance A should be ruled an obstruction.

Instance B should be illegal and result in a multi-game suspension.

Instance C should be the only case where home plate collisions continue to occur.

[Anemic0ffense]

So every collision is intentional now?QUOTE]

 

You're saying that home plate collisions aren't intentional? Of course they are, the baserunner intentionally runs into the catcher... I'm not sure how else it can be interpreted other than intentional?

 

The runners instinct is to score. If the catcher is blocking the plate, how else can he touch the plate without making contact with the catcher? The runner isn't always looking to hurt the guy. It's just part of the game. I actually agree with Zaun. It's actually the runner who has the most to worry about. Like I said, this will lead to a bunch of unnecessary fines/suspensions.