Random Baseball Observations

[BaseJester 1]

Yes it would be. Of course that never happens because it makes no sense. If he isn't blocking the plate, there is no reason to hit him. Guy was trying to score, Posey blocked the plate, 100% legal hit.

He's not blocking it in the sense that the runner cannot reach the plate without initiating contact.

[digitalmonkey 929]

Yes it would be. Of course that never happens because it makes no sense. If he isn't blocking the plate, there is no reason to hit him. Guy was trying to score, Posey blocked the plate, 100% legal hit. Giants are just whining because Posey is their star. It's pretty sad that they expect special treatment because their catcher is a big name.If they want to change the rule that's fine. I really don't care. But there is a reason no one from the MLB said a word to Cousins about the hit. 100% legal.

I don't see how Posey was blocking the plate.

[Swift_Psycho 1]

He's not blocking it in the sense that the runner cannot reach the plate without initiating contact.

This is correct. Cousins very possibly could have slid around and touched home plate. But if you watch the play in real time, you see Posey grab at the ball (he doesn't catch it, but expecting Cousins to see that in that fraction of a second while chugging down the line is super ridiculous) and then Posey's momentum is moving in the direction of blocking the plate. Cousins had to make a tough split-second decision, and while it probably was the wrong one, it isn't hard at all to understand why Cousins would choose to crash into Posey.

[Graydon 0]

I am a die hard Giants fan and have been my whole life, but I have also been around baseball in some capacity my whole life as well and have coached the high school level for the last 5 years. I just give that background so you don't think I'm some idiot who just loves violence. Of course being a Giants fan, I love Posey, but I have to say that's just a baseball play. It wasn't dirty or malicious at all in my opinion. It's within the rules to try to jar it loose from the catcher and you see plays like that at home at least a few times per year (maybe not with the extreme launch from the runner). I remember watching ESPN and watching catchers get nailed to the point where I say "Ooooooo" out loud and they hold onto the ball or get dazed a little but hold onto the ball. It was just very unfortunate what happened to Posey, but I don't think it should bring about a rule change. I'm not sure of the college rules, but in high school you can run into the catcher anymore, which I understand is for player safety, but I was pretty upset when they made the rule that you can't even slide into a player trying to break up a double play. That's how baseball is played!!! If you can slide and at least touch the base with any part of your hand, it should be legal! And SS and 2nd Basemen should expect to either jump over or side step or get knocked down by incoming baserunners, because that's how I watched baseball growing up and how I was taught to play. It was never like "hurt that guy sliding into 2nd!" or "injure that catcher coming home!" but it was part of the game. Maybe I'm just a "purist" or "old fashioned" or whatever you want to call it but I don't see why there needs to be a change unless somebody can provide a large amount of evidence that sliding into 2nd or running over the catcher is ruining too many people's careers/seasons. Sorry, rant over.

[CaneBrain 95]

He's not blocking it in the sense that the runner cannot reach the plate without initiating contact.

I agree; but that is not the standard. He was blocking it partially and that's more than enough.The only reason this is a controversy is because it involves an extremely popular and extremely young player who just keyed a World Series run. If Bengie Molina had taken that hit and injury, no one would have given it a second thought.I get the Giants frustration and their fans frustration....and if they want to change the rule that's fine. But Cousins play was 100% legal according to current baseball rules and if he hook-slid and got tagged out he would have been reamed out by the manager. I just hope Posey comes back next year healthy and everyone gets a grip.

[Skeleton Jelly 2]

There is no difference in the rules at 2nd base, 3rd base, or home. Just FYI. As long as you can make contact with the base, you're ok. Fielders are allowed to block the base if they have the ball or "are in the process of catching" the ball. I don't see any reason why you can't tweak the rules for home though. I think you can be a traditionalist and still be in favor of player safety. But I don't know what the rule change would be. If the catcher is blocking the plate, the runner is safe? If he isn't blocking the plate and the runner knocks him over, he's out?

[CaneBrain 95]

If the catcher is blocking the plate, the runner is safe? If he isn't blocking the plate and the runner knocks him over, he's out?

Yes. If you outlaw running into the catcher then you would have to outlaw blocking the plate.

[BaseJester 1]

I agree; but that is not the standard. He was blocking it partially and that's more than enough.The only reason this is a controversy is because it involves an extremely popular and extremely young player who just keyed a World Series run. If Bengie Molina had taken that hit and injury, no one would have given it a second thought.I get the Giants frustration and their fans frustration....and if they want to change the rule that's fine. But Cousins play was 100% legal according to current baseball rules and if he hook-slid and got tagged out he would have been reamed out by the manager. I just hope Posey comes back next year healthy and everyone gets a grip.

I agree that there's nothing unusual about the collision.

[timwakefield 68]

If I had a ticket to a baseball game (tonight's 7 PM Red Sox - Yankees game for example), and the game was rain delayed, and they announced a new start time of 10:30! on a Thursday night, I would be seriously pissed off, assuming that like most people I have a job the next morning and a family and responsibilities and all that. The game's not gonna end until at least 1 AM.

[Graydon 0]

The rules have changed in high school and maybe I don't watch enough game by game of the pros, but I don't seem to see a lot of takeout slides at 2nd base anymore. Not that it's not allowed, just that people don't do it anymore, for whatever the reason may be. I don't understand why it seems to be going away.

[Dubey 1,035]

The rules have changed in high school and maybe I don't watch enough game by game of the pros, but I don't seem to see a lot of takeout slides at 2nd base anymore. Not that it's not allowed, just that people don't do it anymore, for whatever the reason may be. I don't understand why it seems to be going away.

Well, there have been a few injuries this year on Takeout slides.Tsuyoshi Nishioki Broke his leg in April and is still on the DL, and Hanley got taken out hard and limped off a week later, but didn't miss much time, luckily.

[mrdannyg 274]

If I had a ticket to a baseball game (tonight's 7 PM Red Sox - Yankees game for example), and the game was rain delayed, and they announced a new start time of 10:30! on a Thursday night, I would be seriously pissed off, assuming that like most people I have a job the next morning and a family and responsibilities and all that. The game's not gonna end until at least 1 AM.

Pretty sure in Toronto the rule is if your game gets postponed for any reason (including rainouts, which presumably are rare in a dome), then you have the option of exchanging your ticket either for the new game, OR any other game in the same or lower tier* for the rest of the season.*games are priced according to tiers, i.e. premium for a weekend or Yankees game, regular for a weekday against the Royals, etc.

[Swift_Psycho 1]

Heard good things about this movie so far, and loved the book.Trailer:

[Skeleton Jelly 2]

Heard good things about this movie so far, and loved the book.Trailer:

That did look better than what I was expecting. I'm excited for it now.Cross post:

I keep forgetting that Michael Schur is Ken Tremendous.Really funny read about a cricket match.On the Weirdness Scale of Referee Signals, it's halfway between "Illegal Man Downfield" in football and "Crazily Rush Forward and Hold Out Both Arms Like a Human Forklift" in Australian Rules Football.The announcer now says, in re: Tendulkar's back-to-back luck-outs: "I can't think of another moment in cricket where more people had their hearts in their mouths on consecutive balls." Which is the dirtiest non-dirty thing ever said.

[mrdannyg 274]

That did look better than what I was expecting. I'm excited for it now.Cross post:

This movie contains some of my favourite actors. First impression on seeing that trailer was that it looks terribly acted. PSH is probably my favourite actor, but he is 1000 miles from playing a baseball manager. I'm seeing the movie, but I would guess it pretty much completely misses the point.Cross post - thank you. I don't know why I always forget to look up anything he is doing, because it will undoubtedly be fantastic.

[timwakefield 68]

"I'm not sure I've ever seen that."I also love the call:- He's been watching the highlights. He's seen the other guys make that play. - The jai alai highlights!

[Skeleton Jelly 2]

You Can't Predict BaseballIt's a daily roundup of interesting tidbits from the day. I really like how it's done.

[timwakefield 68]

Asdrubal Cabrera: superman?

You Can't Predict BaseballIt's a daily roundup of interesting tidbits from the day. I really like how it's done.

This seems pretty cool, thanks.

It took Cliff Lee eight pitches to throw a strike today. Eight!– He still threw a complete game shutout.— This is his second complete game shutout in a row. The last pitcher to throw two CGSHO in a row was Roy Halladay, in the last two starts of his Blue Jay career. The last pitcher before that? Roy Oswalt.

Edit: That site also led me to this video: Joe Buck is just the worst.

[brvheart 1,752]

How Carlos Beltran made the All-Star game and McCutchen didn't, I'll never understand.

[wsox8 10]

Konerko, Santos and Humber didn't get any love, of course

[Dubey 1,035]

Heard good things about this movie so far, and loved the book.Trailer:

Wow, I was really looking forward to this movie, but I thought I'd heard it was cancelled.

[timwakefield 68]

Overreaction from Ortiz (who was at that point 2 for 3 with a 3-run hr)? Or bullshit idiocy from the Orioles pitcher? I vote the latter, only because it was three straight pitches, each closer and closer to hitting him (also, I'm obviously a homer!). Frankly I think the 3rd one did hit his uniform, but the ump didn't agree. Don't get me wrong, the first two are perfectly fine - move a guy back off the plate. And the third one would even be fine on its own. But all three in a row, with the third one way way inside, I think Ortiz is well within his rights to take issue with it.P.S. Keep watching after the initial bench-clearing and warnings. The game gets going again, and then shit kicks off for real.P.P.S. I think it's obvious that the actual brawl was Gregg's fault. HP ump ejected Gregg instantly, before Ortiz even went at him, for saying something as Ortiz went to first.

[BaseJester 1]

Overreaction from Ortiz (who was at that point 2 for 3 with a 3-run hr)? Or bullshit idiocy from the Orioles pitcher? I vote the latter, only because it was three straight pitches, each closer and closer to hitting him (also, I'm obviously a homer!). Frankly I think the 3rd one did hit his uniform, but the ump didn't agree. Don't get me wrong, the first two are perfectly fine - move a guy back off the plate. And the third one would even be fine on its own. But all three in a row, with the third one way way inside, I think Ortiz is well within his rights to take issue with it.P.S. Keep watching after the initial bench-clearing and warnings. The game gets going again, and then shit kicks off for real.

I think the idiocy from the Orioles pitcher is running his mouth more than pitching inside. If the pitches were nearer his head, I might feel differently.

[timwakefield 68]

I think the idiocy from the Orioles pitcher is running his mouth more than pitching inside. If the pitches were nearer his head, I might feel differently.

Yeah I agree. I added a P.P.S. After the first 3 pitches it was just a minor incident, warnings issued, that's it. Not even really worth posting. Then Gregg had to turn it into a shitstorm.

[Skeleton Jelly 2]