Quote:
Originally Posted by BobC
I thought the impetus behind MLB increasing the size of the bases was so that fielders, especially first basemen, wouldn't have their feet in the way of baserunners during plays, and thus further reduce the chances of player injuries from tripping or being stepped on during game play. You do occasionally see a first baseman get his foot stepped on, or the baserunner tripping over the first baseman's foot, while trying to beat out a close play at first base and/or grabbing a somewhat errant throw to first base. Of all the more recent rule changes, this is one I can most live with as it seems to be solely about reducing player injuries, and has virtually no real effect or impact on the game itself otherwise. The worst thing it does is reduce the distance between bases by no more than few inches. I can easily live with that if it does help to reduce player injuries.
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That's exactly it...and it'll come into play at 2B for when an middle infielder is turning a double play...a bit more room for runner and fielder to avoid each other.
Some people mention it having an affect on base stealing ("bases are 2 inches closer together", "more base to grab") but I'd expect that to be pretty minimal, especially in comparison to other changes like the limit on throws over to 1B.