RSSShould Baseball Ban Home Plate Collisions?
June 3, 2011
kosmo - See all 763 of my articles
After Giants star catcher Buster Posey was saw his season come to an end as a result of a collision with Scott Cousins, many in the baseball world are calling for a rule change that would protect catchers.
Devastating home plate collisions have long been a part of the game. Those who say that “this is the way it’s always been” is a bad reason to maintain the status quo are correct. However, the mere fact that this incident involved a rising star rather than a journeyman is no reason to treat it differently than past incidents. If past incidents weren’t cause for a rule change, then why is Posey’s case special?
I’d also point at that there IS a rule on the books that should have prevented this collision. The rule states that a catcher cannot block home plate unless he has control of the ball. Posey was blocking home plate and did not have control of the ball. (The verbiage I’m referring to is at the end of rule 7.06. “NOTE: The catcher, without the ball in his possession, has no right to block the pathway of the runner attempting to score. The base line belongs to the runner and the catcher should be there only when he is fielding a ball or when he already has the ball in his hand.“) As it turns out, Cousins could have avoided Posey and still scored. But I don’t think it’s fair for him to determine if the catcher had the ball or not in the split second he has to decide – his goal is to touch home plate before being tagged, by whatever means necessary. If catchers are concerned about collisions, they could stand to the side of the plate and use a sweep tag. Would the fans (and perhaps their teammates and manager) ridicule them for this. Probably – but that’s not the fault of the base runner.
In my opinion, the base runner should have the right of way in the baseline. It’s already illegal for them to hinder a fielder in the act of making a play – but why put them at a disadvantage on a play where the ball is being throw from one member of the opposing team to another? It’s the responsibility of the other team to execute the play safely.
Some have suggested a “slide rule.” I’m sure that would be popular … until the moment a catcher takes spikes to the knee and blows out an ACL.
And, of course, there are some nut jobs lobbing death threats at Cousins … for what was a perfectly legal play. Apparently, some Giants fans have very short memories. One of your own fans was savagely beaten at a game 2 months ago when trash talking went too far, and now you’re the ones making death threats?