Time to Change The Play at the Plate

[barrysloate]

Interesting topic, and one that has come to light since Buster Posey's season has come to an end.

Best argument for changing the rules would be the fair catch rule, which protects the kick returner from taking a blind hit. A catcher is equally vulnerable as he can't watch the throw and the runner at the same time.

Best argument against it is catchers would then block the plate entirely, and since the runner wouldn't be allowed to barrell in, he would probably remain on third base unless it was a slam dunk he could score. He would rarely or ever risk what might be a close play. And that would hurt the game.

Maybe there is some nuance they could come up with that would allow the catcher more protection without changing how the game is played.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Interesting topic, and one that has come to light since Buster Posey's season has come to an end.

Best argument for changing the rules would be the fair catch rule, which protects the kick returner from taking a blind hit. A catcher is equally vulnerable as he can't watch the throw and the runner at the same time.

Best argument against it is catchers would then block the plate entirely, and since the runner wouldn't be allowed to barrell in, he would probably remain on third base unless it was a slam dunk he could score. He would rarely or ever risk what might be a close play. And that would hurt the game.

Maybe there is some nuance they could come up with that would allow the catcher more protection without changing how the game is played.

Well, they are talking about the catcher not being able to block the plate at all. He would have to apply a sweep tag, just like every other baseman.

No barrelling into the catcher and the catcher gets called for interference if he blatantly blocks the plate.

[Leon]

and since I don't keep up with any new, professional sports I am unaware of this current Buster situation. My comments were general in nature.

[barrysloate]

Dave- having the catcher not be able to block the plate would be a whole lot safer but would change how one aspect of the game is played. Maybe they will try it next year in spring training.

Leon- Buster Posey is one of the rising stars in baseball and went last year from an unknown minor leaguer to a star of the world champion Giants. His season ended a couple of weeks ago when he both broke his ankle and tore ligaments in a home plate collision.

[Robextend]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Leon- Buster Posey is one of the rising stars in baseball and went last year from an unknown minor leaguer to a star of the world champion Giants. His season ended a couple of weeks ago when he both broke his ankle and tore ligaments in a home plate collision.

In fantasy baseball circles, he wasn't an unknown minor leaguer. In fact, he was so highly touted that he was protected in quite a few keeper leagues when he was in Single A!

[barrysloate]

Originally Posted by Robextend

In fantasy baseball circles, he wasn't an unknown minor leaguer. In fact, he was so highly touted that he was protected in quite a few keeper leagues when he was in Single A!

Rob- I don't follow the minor leagues, so to me he was unheard of until he joined the Giants. Fair point.

[mintacular]

Since the catcher could not be barreled into, I believe the other part of the rule change would prohibit the catcher from standing right in front of the base. Thus the runner would have an opportunity to realistically slide and the catcher would have to catch ball in a zone above plate and sweep tag runner....

Buster Posey is a very talented player so if it takes him to get injured to reconsider the rule than so be it....

Anyone who plays catcher has to be durable. They also have to know when to take a hit and when to move. --if you look at the Posey play again, Posey was actually positioned above plate and Cousins the Marlin's player (within the current rules) could've slid across the heart of the plate but instead went air-born and basically ended Posey's season with that decision to do so...I'm also not sure how the Posey incident has anything to do about being "durable"--the injury he sustained was not a chronic injury, etc. and no amount of durability or physical training could've prevented his injury

I believe the NFL used to allow "close-line" tackles and this change in the rules has made the game safer without taking the physicality out of it.

[Robextend]

I don't have a dog in this fight, but here is what Johnny Bench had to say about it:

"Buster was a finalist for the Johnny Bench Award (as the top collegiate catcher in 2008) and is a great kid - I called him after the World Series last year. When I heard about the injury, I was anxious to see how this happened. Buster put himself in such a bad position. First of all, my catchers don't sit in front of home plate. They stand away from home plate and work back to the plate. But we (catchers) are just fair game. You've got a guy running around third base at 210 to 220 pounds with 3 percent body fat and with sprinter's speed. I teach my kids to stay away from the plate when you don't have the ball so the runner actually sees home plate and his thought is, slide. But Buster is laying in front of home plate, and it's like having a disabled car in the middle of a four-lane highway. You're just going to get smacked. Show them the plate. You can always catch the ball and step, or step and catch the ball, as long as you've got the runner on the ground. And if you have the runner on the ground, there's less chance of any severe collision."

[mintacular]

Here is a video that shows the play from a few different angles, but I don't think nitpicking about if Posey or Cousins could've done something slightly different to avoid this incident then it's all good....But more so that the overall rule allows/encourages runners to slam themselves into the catcher and that is a bigger issue...

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=15201655

[steve B]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

Well, they are talking about the catcher not being able to block the plate at all. He would have to apply a sweep tag, just like every other baseman.

No barrelling into the catcher and the catcher gets called for interference if he blatantly blocks the plate.

There's plenty of force plays at second where some partial blocking goes on. And completely blocking the plate is already supposed to be against the rules, it's just not enforced.

I think a change in equipment or actually enforcing the current rules as written would be better than a change in rules. (Also make the middle infielders actually be on second while holding the ball during double plays)

Anyone who plays catcher has to be durable. They also have to know when to take a hit and when to move. I ended up being the catcher for the softball team I was on because the other two guys got hurt In consecutive innings. One left a foot on the plate like a first baseman and got a broken ankle for his trouble (Should have been blocking or moving instead of stretching) The other took a foul tip in a very uncomfortable spot. After a couple games I stopped wearing the chest protector and shin guards as it was just too big a nuisance getting them on and off. 4 years- 0 collisions. Maybe a couple guys that didn't try to score because they didn't want a collision with a guy that wouldn't wear the pads.

Requiring better pads or just allowing better pads - Like the better helmets/faceguards and the throat protectors that became common after that one guy took a chunk of broken bat in the throat- That should help a lot.

Steve B