Jason Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 http://espn.go.com/mlb/hotstove13/story/_/id/10121849/mlb-intends-ban-home-plate-collisions-2015 LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Major League Baseball plans to eliminate home plate collisions, possibly as soon as next season but no later than by 2015. Sources tell ESPN's Buster Olney that there is a strong desire for MLB's rules committee to fast-track the specific rule changes in time for next season. Under the rules changes being discussed, sources told Olney: • Catchers will not be allowed to block home plate. • Runners will not be permitted to target the catchers. • The question of whether or not the plate was blocked or the runner targeted the catcher will be reviewable, with an immediate remedy available to the umpires. • Catchers or runners who violate the new rules will be subject to disciplinary action. New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson, chairman of the rules committee, made the announcement Wednesday at the winter meetings. "This is, I think, in response to a few issues that have arisen," Alderson said. "One is just the general occurrence of injuries from these incidents at home plate that affect players, both runners and catchers. And also kind of the general concern about concussions that exists not only in baseball but throughout professional sports and amateur sports today. It's an emerging issue, and one that we in baseball have to address, as well as other sports." Alderson said wording of the rules change will be presented to owners for approval at a Jan. 16 meeting in Paradise Valley, Ariz. "The exact language and how exactly the rule will be enforced is subject to final determination," he said. "We're going to do fairly extensive review of the types of plays that occur at home plate to determine which we're going to find acceptable and which are going to be prohibited." Approval of the players' union is needed for the rules change to be effective for 2014. "If the players' association were to disapprove, then the implementation of the rule would be suspended for one year, but could be implemented unilaterally after that time," Alderson said. The union declined to comment, pending a review of the proposed change. MLB intends to have varied tiers of punishment. "I think there will be two levels of enforcement," Alderson said. "One will be with respect to whether the runner is declared safe or out based on conduct. So, for example, intentionally running over the catcher might result in an out call. So I think that the enforcement will be on the field as well as subsequent consequences in the form of fines and suspensions and the like." Discussion to limit or ban collisions has intensified since May 2011, when San Francisco's Buster Posey was injured by Florida's Scott Cousins. Posey, an All-Star catcher, sustained a broken bone in his lower left leg and three torn ligaments in his ankle, injuries that ended his season. Posey returned to win the NL batting title and MVP award in 2012, when he led the Giants to their second World Series title in three seasons. Mike Matheny, the St. Louis Cardinals' manager and a former catcher, made an emotional presentation about the impact of concussions on his life. MLB estimates that about 50 percent of concussions are related to collisions. Hall of Famer Johnny Bench tweeted out thanks to MLB on Thursday for moving to ban home-plate collisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyD Posted December 13, 2013 Report Share Posted December 13, 2013 Are they going to tell the outfielders not to run into the walls, or dive for line drives? The catchers have the right to decide if they want to block the plate,if they do then the runner has the right to the plate. maybe I'm just old school in my thinking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gatorclaws Posted December 13, 2013 Report Share Posted December 13, 2013 Baseball isn't a contact sport, not sure why plate collisions are necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_B Posted December 13, 2013 Report Share Posted December 13, 2013 not a fan, the home plate collision is one of the best things in baseball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted December 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2013 One of my best memories from the 1990 season is Charlton destroying Mike Scoscia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|Elflocko| Posted December 13, 2013 Report Share Posted December 13, 2013 "Nobody told me they changed it to girls' softball between third and home" ~Pete Rose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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