Baseball Banning Home Plate Collisions

Bestwifeever said:
I think you may have just found the solution to restoring the popularity of America's former favorite pastime.
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Actually, I was wondering what it would take to change NFL rules so that the players would be armed. One team would carry nets and spears onto the field. The other, swords and shields. At the end of the skirmish, to the delight of the cheering throngs, survivors would battle their way through dozens of hungry lions.

Half time shows might include special events such as chariot battles or "skin the captive alive" demonstrations.

I'm still mulling over baseball. Most of the players are separated by distance so weaponry would have to be different. Maybe the fans are provided with bows and arrows and a shower of arrows rains down on the outfielders from time to time? Dunno.......

Other civilizations have had fabulous success entertaining and winning the loyalty of their citizens in these ways. Should work for us.......

Oh yeah, almost forget, wine and bread would be provided to the fans at sporting events!
 
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Prior to twenty or so years ago, catchers generally did not position themselves a few feet up the third base line while awaiting a throw to tag a runner. Prior to that time catchers had smaller masks and chest protectors. Thus the origin of this issue may be the change dring the 1990s to larger and sturdier protective gear for the catcher.
 
GrayHare said:
Prior to twenty or so years ago, catchers generally did not position themselves a few feet up the third base line while awaiting a throw to tag a runner. Prior to that time catchers had smaller masks and chest protectors. Thus the origin of this issue may be the change dring the 1990s to larger and sturdier protective gear for the catcher.
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This would be similar to the idea that head injuries got worse in the NFL when the helmets got better. Players became more fearless about using their heads and helmets as a weapon, whereas in the "leather helmet" days they shied away from getting their heads into the contact.
 
youbet said:
I'm still mulling over baseball. Most of the players are separated by distance so weaponry would have to be different. Maybe the fans are provided with bows and arrows and a shower of arrows rains down on the outfielders from time to time? Dunno.......
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That works both ways. The Cubs had a shortstop, Shawon Dunston, who was amazing. I think he later played for the Giants. But you never knew when he'd throw a ball over the first baseman and into the lower right field stands. So you had to pay attention if you were sitting there.

If you were at the game, you could watch him practicing his aim towards first in between innings.
 
steelyman said:
This sidetrack is hilarious :)

My favorite player was Andre "The Hawk" Dawson. He played right field for Chicago after coming from Montreal. He had a rocket arm and one time threw out a guy at first from right field. How embarrassing is that?
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I think Bo Jackson made it famous. It was not a sure hit if batter hit a solid single in front of Bo.
 
I don't think baseball needs to take anything out of the game that brings excitement.
 
ziggy29 said:
This would be similar to the idea that head injuries got worse in the NFL when the helmets got better. Players became more fearless about using their heads and helmets as a weapon, whereas in the "leather helmet" days they shied away from getting their heads into the contact.
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Not to mention players are bigger, stronger, physically better conditioned these days since the leather helmet days.

How about tackle free soccer? In my indoor soccer days, the league didn't allow tackle and I enjoyed playing under the rule. Frankly, I needed the rule, as my aging muscle and bone could not withstand 20 something kid knocking me off balance and falling on top of me. For soccer at highest level, I think it will eventually happen. The salary/price of top league players are astronomical these days and clubs & player unions will have to keep coming up with ways to protect their $$$$ & career.
 
mickeyd said:
People complain that BB is not exciting. Now they propose removing the most exciting play in the game. Abner Doubleday spins tonight in his grave. I'm with Pete Rose on this one.
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The most exciting play? I don't see it that way. Besides, how often does that play happen? One in how many games?

And these days, when it happens, it is not like what it was in the old days. A few I have seen recently, the players heart weren't in it. They were more like pushes than crashes and it was obvious that runners were more concerned about injury than knocking the ball loose. Some even opted to stop instead of crashing into.
 
robnplunder said:
It's like basketball. Players use up a lot of energy in small confines and would need sub. Otherwise, quality of play will suffer.

You would be surprised how much time soccer players spend just jogging around. There is only 1 ball and 22 players. Not everyone is moving all the time. In fact, only a few players at a time is running at full speed.
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Actually I would not be surprised... I coached a U16 team... and have watched soccer for awhile...

But, you do not see any pros that have extra fat.... they just cannot make it at that level...
 
kombat said:
Because they're actually DOING something the entire time they're on the ice - not just standing around waiting for a teammate to eventually throw a ball at an opponent, who might or might not hit it, and if they do, in all likelihood, it'll be to another teammate rather than himself.



You just hit on one of the sports I consider MOST athletic, and for the same reason. Soccer players play the whole game, and they're moving for almost the entire time. Notice there are no fat soccer players!

Same goes for basketball. Those guys are constantly moving and are in much better shape than your average baseball player.

Can you imagine a pro baseball player trying to keep up with Kobe Bryant or David Beckett? They'd be desperately gasping for air after mere minutes!
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Just a rebuttal.... take a look at weight lifters.... a good number of them are very fat and a lot smoke.... but I doubt you would say they are not fit to do their sport...
 
Texas Proud said:
Just a rebuttal.... take a look at weight lifters.... a good number of them are very fat and a lot smoke.... but I doubt you would say they are not fit to do their sport...
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LaDainian Tomlinson, former star running back with the San Diego Chargers, was 5'10 and about 215. According to the BMI charts, he is obese but the dude is all muscle.
 
kombat said:
And yet many of them are clearly sporting plenty of extra body fat.

How to reconcile this?

The answer, of course, is that steroids don't make you skinny. You can take steroids and still be fat.

I'm continuing to ignore the cricket red herring, as it's not actually played in Canada. Our national sport is hockey, where teams of fit guys slap razor-sharp steel blades to their feet and race around a sheet of ice slamming into each other.
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Texas Proud said:
Just a rebuttal.... take a look at weight lifters.... a good number of them are very fat and a lot smoke.... but I doubt you would say they are not fit to do their sport...
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Actually, I think you are both mixing up slab muscle with body fat. There's a big difference between being sharply defined (very low body fat and targeted muscle building) and being very strong with lots of slab muscle. Neither one of them are fat.

And I thought the Canadian National Sport was curling.
 
ziggy29 said:
Tackling isn't really the problem. The problem in the NFL is the *lack* of classic form tackling.
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Agree 100%. I've read studies that overall rate of significant injuries was less in the pre-facemask/leather helmet ear, although admittedly there are probs comparing stats from different eras. Seems most defenders today would rather go for the "big hit" and accept a higher risk of missing the tackle. Maybe too easy to feel "invincible" in modern hi-tech helmets/pads?
 
harley said:
Actually, I think you are both mixing up slab muscle with body fat. There's a big difference between being sharply defined (very low body fat and targeted muscle building) and being very strong with lots of slab muscle. Neither one of them are fat.

And I thought the Canadian National Sport was curling.
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Actually, the weight lifters at the high level do have a lot of fat... (at least when I saw them a few Olympics ago, where they had a clip on their fat... I am talking about the highest weight class, not the smaller ones who are more toned)... Not that they do not have a lot more muscle than we do, but that big stomach is not all muscle...


Good one on the curling :LOL:
 
ERhoosier said:
Agree 100%. I've read studies that overall rate of significant injuries was less in the pre-facemask/leather helmet ear, although admittedly there are probs comparing stats from different eras. Seems most defenders today would rather go for the "big hit" and accept a higher risk of missing the tackle. Maybe too easy to feel "invincible" in modern hi-tech helmets/pads?
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If you look at rugby, they don't seem to have the number of injuries that we have... I do think that having that helmet has changed the game to the big hits...

Not sure, but I do not think they wear helmets in Aussie rules football.... wonder what their injury rate is:confused:
 
This thread sure morphed into other debates. It seems silly to me to compare/imply that some sports have more fit athletes due to type of sport or that a high BMI means someone isn't in shape compared to another sport:facepalm:.
 
Texas Proud said:
Just a rebuttal.... take a look at weight lifters.... a good number of them are very fat and a lot smoke.... but I doubt you would say they are not fit to do their sport...
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I think it's becoming less common in nearly every sport/game. Genetic mutants aside, athletes are bigger, stronger, and faster, in part due to more and better training.

ERhoosier said:
Agree 100%. I've read studies that overall rate of significant injuries was less in the pre-facemask/leather helmet ear, although admittedly there are probs comparing stats from different eras. Seems most defenders today would rather go for the "big hit" and accept a higher risk of missing the tackle. Maybe too easy to feel "invincible" in modern hi-tech helmets/pads?
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A definite pet peeve of mine...
 
steelyman said:
My favorite player was Andre "The Hawk" Dawson. He played right field for Chicago after coming from Montreal. He had a rocket arm and one time threw out a guy at first from right field. How embarrassing is that?
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This happens with some regularity when right-handed pitchers are batting. They "single" to right, but they are slow and the right fielder is playing very shallow. The RF charges hard, fires to first, and the pitcher is out.
 
easysurfer said:
But think of all the fun we'll miss:

CHC@CWS: Benches clear after play at the plate - YouTube
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Antics like that are why I refuse to watch MLB. Silly and stupid, I'd compare it to a bunch of pre adolescent boys. Oh wait, watching the LLWS seems like 3 batters were hit, no bench clearing antics. Seem to remember the pitchers shaking hands with the batters. There was a close play at home as well, professional and sportsman like.
MRG
 
HFWR said:
Make it a happy hour, and I'm in...
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Another component that would help restore the popularity of America's favorite pastime! Perhaps earlier in the game to balance the 7th inning stretch.
 
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