MLB to ban home-plate collisions....

Not sure how I feel about this....

New rules state:
• Catchers will not be allowed to block home plate.

• Runners will not be permitted to target the catchers.

• The question of whether or not the plate was blocked or the runner targeted the catcher will be reviewable, with an immediate remedy available to the umpires.

• Catchers or runners who violate the new rules will be subject to disciplinary action.


I see issues arising with determining who is at fault in the inevitable collision, especially as catchers change their position to get the best possible tag down on the runner.

The reduction in injuries is a welcome change, but historically these freight-train collisions have been some of the most electrifying occurrences in a sport that has become slower and slower over the years.......

 

Didn't Pete Rose head spear a catcher during an all star game that ended the catchers career?

 

They should ban pitching too. 100+ mph baseballs are dangerous. Everyone should just hit from a tee. Oh, and they should ban infielders too. Nobody past the grass.

 

Pussifying baseball too. Just another nail in the coffin of one of the most boring spectator sports. We are turning into a world of whimps. I don't like injuries but that is one of the only exciting parts of baseball.

 

The most boring, least athletic sport (besides golf) to have the most cheaters, drug abusers, gets more boring.




meh.

 

did I mention boring and overpaid?

 

Remember Doc Gooden...as he was getting ready to toss a 100 mph heater at you he'd look away from the plate just before release. Makes you think twice about digging in and crowding the plate.

How can they enforce not blocking the plate? Where do you place yourself if you a catcher?

 

how does that sport keep fans!?

everytime they have gone on strike I keep hoping the sport will just die... and maybe come back to life as an actual game where the players like to play.

 

Women.

I meet more female baseball fans than dudes anymore. They like how guys look in uniforms, they like the colors, and don't care about the brutality (or lack of). It is seriously a chick sport. Oh, and little kids and old men that have nothing better to do than sit with a clip board, pencil and spreadsheet for 6 hours.

 

Ray Fosse, in the 1970 All-Star game. No, it did not end his career; he went on to play for ten more seasons, and collected two World Series rings.

Robby Bobby, you may know some things about motorsickles, but you are flat out mistaken about the athleticism required to play in the Majors.

I like the new rule. But then again, my team is led by its catcher, and he got the short end of the stick on a collision in 2011 that took him out for the year.

 

Yea, I think that collision is what sent MLB down this road. Posey is the type of player that keeps fans hopeful for the future of baseball.......great all-around skillset and an even better sportsman.

Now if we could just get away from the shadow of PEDs and do things to help speed up the game, I think a lot of the negative connotations would start to go away.....

 

Have to quote this as well.

You'll sometimes see pitchers, 1st basemen and pinch-hitters that are a bit more "robust" than others, but every single other player on that roster is, no question, an elite athlete. To make it though 162 games over a seven-month span requires it.

Anyone who says otherwise is fooling themselves.

 

I'm with you. I have no problem with folks not liking baseball, but the average hater is really out of touch with the sport. Imagine Robby Bobby (somehow by miracle) smacking a ball down the right field line. He now has to sprint 60 yards, including touching a base while turning 90 degrees, and slide into second base. Yeah, takes no athletic skill at all...

The pace of the game is strongly influenced by the pitcher's routine. I would have no problem enforcing pace to those that dally.

 

Batters nowadays are just as guilty. Some of the between-pitch routines are getting downright comical. Jonny Gomes is the most ludicrous, IMHO....

 

If they add defenders and allow tackling, it might make it interesting.

 

Good point, and totally true. Damn Panda and his batting gloves.

 

Assuming everything you're asserting is 100% accurate, just think how much more exciting it would be if said first baseman (let's call prince fielder "exhibit 1") wasn't 30 lbs overweight. I'm not knocking his admitted skill; I'm questioning how dedicated he is, given that I'm sure he could be even better with a proper diet and moderately more strength training.

And I understand that there are different desired body-types fore the ideal relief pitcher versus the ideal moto GP rider, etc., but soke baseball players really do let themselves go. I have similar complaints about some NFL linemen. It's not JUST baseball.

 

In defense of some of those NFL lineman, when you're 300 lbs of muscle, 20-30 lbs of additional mass actually helps.

 

Frankly I never understood how interference is called at every other part of the infield where there is a collision except home plate which is treated like a blocking sled. This rule change seems to bring some consistency to those rules.

 

One point of violent contact in a non-contact sport is stupid. If you want to watch men collide, go watch football with the mouth breathers. Baseball is for thinkers.