Rizzo Cheap Shot?

[packs]

The new rules are confusing to me. I guess the catcher was giving Rizzo a lane to slide in, but he's directly in front of the plate. I thought a catcher had to move completely to allow a runner to slide?

[D. Bergin]

Didn't look malicious at all to me. Rizzo looked like he was shaken up a bit himself. I think the throw and the position of the catcher caught Rizzo a bit by surprise and he basically didn't know what to do with his own body when he got to the plate.

Was a bit clumsy if anything.

[ooo-ribay]

So sick of the Cubs.

[drmondobueno]

Where the baserunner visibly changed his path to the base. Same with Rizzo.

Played enough of the game to understand the play and the damage that can be done. Remember Rose and Fosse?

The Cubs can justify it anyway they choose. The guys playing the game will make their own call.

[RTK]

Stupid rule, consider yourself the runner on a bang/bang play, what do you do? Stop running, slow down? The point of the game is to score runs. They're trying to sanitize the game too much.

[clydepepper]

I'm a fan of Rizzo's but he clearly made a step to the left from a direct path to the plate which put he in position to collide with the catcher and not touch the plate whereas if he had used a traditional (or even head-first) 'hook' slide, he could have the plate to himself and avoided contact altogether.

I thought it was pretty obvious, and, if we are looking to protect the catchers as we do the middle infielders, Rizzo should have been called out.

[pclpads]

From replay, looked like Rizzo intentionally veered away from the plate to collide with Hedges. Had he slid outside the plate and swiped it with his left hand as he passed by, I don't believe Hedges would have been able to reach him for the out as he did at the point of collision. My bigger question is why Mgr. Green didn't instruct his pitcher to bury one the next day in Rizzo's ribs. Not to start a war, just a message to Maddon and Rizzo. Oops, forgot, it's the Double AA Pudres.