RealGM

Just heard it on the Fan590.
made me look for the video of him breaking his leg at the plate while tagging out TWO (!!!) runners.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBoriyxPTuk[/youtube]

Been listening this morning. They brought up things like breaking up double plays and what not.

While I played, I would hope the catcher would be dumb enough to block the plate when rounding 3rd - still feel bad for the one guy. It was a clean hit though.

Edit: Reminds me..... Playing 2B house league, I used to mound some gravel a couple feet in front of the bag to slow down anyone trying to steal 2nd. Nothing funnier than seeing the frustration on a base runners face when they slid short lol. Unfortunately, the umps caught on eventually.

A lot of purists are against the potential banning of home plate collisions but I think it's a wise move. Players are getting bigger and faster so you're going to see more injuries occurring. It's a bit silly to see a player who is going to be out by a mile decide that he's going to run over the catcher in the hopes of jarring the ball loose.

a caller to the FAN had a great point. imagine that.
said that it's stupid that each base has it's own rules. you can run past first, but not 2nd or 3rd. you can interfere with the runner at home, but not the other bases. you can now possibly slide hard into the player covering 2nd, but not home. it's just weird.

YogiStewart wrote:a caller to the FAN had a great point. imagine that.
said that it's stupid that each base has it's own rules. you can run past first, but not 2nd or 3rd. you can interfere with the runner at home, but not the other bases. you can now possibly slide hard into the player covering 2nd, but not home. it's just weird.

Not sure that is a great point.

Siding to break up a double play isn't the same as dropping a shoulder to hit the catcher in an attempt to dislodge the ball. The plate collisions would be like barreling over the first baseman so they can't catch the ball or to make them drop the ball.

The 2nd base argument has no merit to me. You can still slide hard into home - just there's no point because the guy at home usually isn't throwing the ball anywhere else right after.

In fact, you can slide hard into any base you want. Don't forget, there are still rules when sliding hard into 2nd, let's not act like it's a free for all.

StopitLeo wrote:

YogiStewart wrote:a caller to the FAN had a great point. imagine that.
said that it's stupid that each base has it's own rules. you can run past first, but not 2nd or 3rd. you can interfere with the runner at home, but not the other bases. you can now possibly slide hard into the player covering 2nd, but not home. it's just weird.

Not sure that is a great point.

Siding to break up a double play isn't the same as dropping a shoulder to hit the catcher in an attempt to dislodge the ball. The plate collisions would be like barreling over the first baseman so they can't catch the ball or to make them drop the ball.

spikes on shoes. aiming for ankles/knees.
player's knees are at risk.

MikeM wrote:The 2nd base argument has no merit to me. You can still slide hard into home - just there's no point because the guy at home usually isn't throwing the ball anywhere else right after.

In fact, you can slide hard into any base you want. Don't forget, there are still rules when sliding hard into 2nd, let's not act like it's a free for all.

yep, the only two differences between bases right now are being able to run through first and being able to plow over the catcher, and they are looking to get rid of one of those.

YogiStewart wrote:a caller to the FAN had a great point. imagine that.
said that it's stupid that each base has it's own rules. you can run past first, but not 2nd or 3rd. you can interfere with the runner at home, but not the other bases. you can now possibly slide hard into the player covering 2nd, but not home. it's just weird.

you can still slide hard into home plate for sure, you just can't truck-stick the catcher, just like they weren't allowed to at any of the other bases. baseball's got a ton of nuances in the rule book but they're what make the sport so great. imagine runners not being able to run through first base? it would generate an absurd amount of lame/easy outs and the game would be totally different. the ability to run through first base puts a premium on clean fielding and throwing accuracy. the baserunning rules are perfectly fine as of now and make complete sense imo. don't really care one way or another about outlawing home plate collisions though

YogiStewart wrote:

StopitLeo wrote:

YogiStewart wrote:a caller to the FAN had a great point. imagine that.
said that it's stupid that each base has it's own rules. you can run past first, but not 2nd or 3rd. you can interfere with the runner at home, but not the other bases. you can now possibly slide hard into the player covering 2nd, but not home. it's just weird.

Not sure that is a great point.

Siding to break up a double play isn't the same as dropping a shoulder to hit the catcher in an attempt to dislodge the ball. The plate collisions would be like barreling over the first baseman so they can't catch the ball or to make them drop the ball.

spikes on shoes. aiming for ankles/knees.
player's knees are at risk.

I suppose some players slide at 2B/SS with that intention but I would think most are just sliding as an obstruction to them being able to plant and throw.

Anyway, I think the rule change is a good one.

Meh, I can watch kids' baseball at the park.

Next, pitching inside will be a suspendable offence.

Followed by hand sanitizer dispensers at each base.

(Pro sports leagues becoming increasingly afraid of the lawyers, imho)

Why should we let players use gloves? Or batting helmets? **** pussies!

SharoneWright wrote:Meh, I can watch kids' baseball at the park.

Next, pitching inside will be a suspendable offence.

Followed by hand sanitizer dispensers at each base.

(Pro sports leagues becoming increasingly afraid of the lawyers, imho)

Again with the tort reform talk!

Hoopstarr wrote:Again with the tort reform talk!

lol. well played! i kinda feel like Ray Fosse, tbh...

will take some getting used to if this gets implemented for sure. going to be some awkward plays at the plate

Interessting that Ryan Freel who was the first baseball player diagnosed with CTE wasn't a catcher.

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2013/12/16/former-toronto-blue-jay-ryan-freel-had-brain-disease-cte-when-he-committed-suicide-report/

Ryan Freel was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease, when he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound last December, the former Major League Baseball player’s family told the Florida Times-Union.

Much of the attention on the long-term consequences of concussions has been focused on contact sports such as football and hockey. Freel is the first baseball player to be diagnosed with CTE, according to the Times-Union.