many of you may have seen or heard this, but it bears repeating here: it looks like major league baseball is finally catching up to cdmsbl (and i assume msbl) and banning contact plays at home. i caught about six games this past summer, and remember thinking then that i was really glad our non-contact rule was in place. i'd just as soon keep these old bones glued together. now, it looks like mlb is catching up to us, or, more accurately, to worries about broken catchers and concussions. the graphs below are from tyler kepner's story in thursday's ny times.
''Essentially, [Giants manager and former catcher Bruce] Bochy said, the new rule would treat home plate like second and third base; plays at the plate would be tag plays, not contact plays. The runner needs a lane, and the catcher must give it to him or risk an obstruction penalty and possibly a fine or ejection. A runner would face the same consequences if he had a path to the plate and barreled into the catcher instead.
''[Angels manager Mike] Scioscia [also an ex-catcher] called the rule an evolution. Because of the concussion epidemic in sports, players are becoming more aware that a catchers risking long-term health for an out is more foolish than heroic. In the modern sports landscape, Scioscia said, a swipe tag can be just as uplifting as a collision once was, without the fear of calamity.
"You can make those plays without putting your body on the line," he said. "I think that's what the game is trying to get to."
-- Edited by mikehart on Thursday 12th of December 2013 12:52:58 AM
