Old School Baseball

[GwynnInTheHall]

Vs the reality of professional sports today.

Take out slides (obvious topic of conversation)

Celebrations

Replay

Advance Metrics


Should we move along into a new era of baseball or continue to adhere to the Old Code?

[Hornsby]

Honestly, I didn't have an issue with the Utley slide...it was aggressive as hell, but it was within the rules. I would like to see the Catcher rules returned to what there were, because honestly, nobody has a clue what they actually are. I see catchers blocking the plate, I see catchers NOT blocking the plate, I see runners trying physical impossibilities in order to get around a catcher, and I see it all interpreted differently. Players need to be aware out there, and unfortunately for Tejada, he wasn't last night. He should have taken the out and got out of the way, NEVER turn your back on a baserunner coming at you full tilt.

Celebrations are great, flip your bat 30 feet down the line, slow trot a homer, shoot an arrow into the sky, it's all good and it's all theatre. You don't like it on the opposite team? STFU and stop them from doing it next time.

No issues with replay other than the amount of time it can take...it makes the game better to get things right.

All good clubs are using advanced metrics now...can't stop progress and wouldn't want to.

[Judge Jude]

I'm a stick-in-the-mud about wanting tough guy sliders into second base to actually touch second base, which Utley clearly did not. If Game 3 or 4 is a blowout, he's going to enjoy his own version of 19th century baseball while he is batting or handling a double play chance, I suspect.

[revo]

MLB changed the rules after Buster Posey's injury. This makes two shortstops with broken legs on "good, clean slides" within the last few weeks -- this should warrant a change. Unless of course, the groundswell will begin when a Carlos Correa type loses a season over this.

[Judge Jude]

Except that MLB acknowledges that neighborhood plays in DP attempts are not reviewable - but they claim that in this case it was a simple force play with no effort at a DP. Which is preposterous. Both Tejada and Utley obviously both had a DP in mind, however unlikely.

[GwynnInTheHall]

Actually Chris, though the Utley slide prompted the thread, it's been on my mind all season. There have been varied articles regarding the Code vs new players who like to celebrate. The Posey rules vs 2 players now being lost for the season at 2nd (you can find several slides thought the season where players go far out of the basebath to intentionally take out the fielder), Replay is still being half assed by the umps (see the Rangers-Jays games) and Metrics, haven't we been having a debate over the past 2 years regarding the MVP and it's use of counting stats Vs WAR? Everything is trending toward a new era. I just wanted to get some feedback.

I think there needs to be a clarification of the rule and an enforcement against takeout slides at least making them reviewable.

I think celebrations should be encouraged.

I think they should fix the defensive metric element in WAR before using it as the end all stat, but Advanced Metrics are they way.

And replay should be close to infallible, use it often, get it right. Shut the damn Umps ump, they are NOT what i go to the ballpark to see (talking to you Joe West)

[Mithrandir]

As far as sliding and creating contact while running the bases:

If the players don't care if they hurt one another, why should the fans?

This applies to every sport as far as I am concerned.

[madducks]

I would love to see a middle infielder drop two knees into a base runners chest when they go 6 feet out of the baseline like that. Maybe if a base runner gets gashed with a cleat and leaves a pool of blood at second it will get someones attention.

[Judge Jude]

It's nice to see Utley actually, you know, slide in that other picture. I'm all for calling out-of-baseline shenanigans as well, but let's get rid of full-contact bum-rushing first....

[revo]

Utley suspended for Games 3 & 4.

[whalewang]

Honestly, I didn't have an issue with the Utley slide...it was aggressive as hell, but it was within the rules.

Except MLB has determined that Utley violated a rule with that slide.

[virgonomic]

Utley suspended for Games 3 & 4.

He is appealing.

[madducks]

He is appealing.

I guess, if you like that type.


just kidding

[overkill94]

Major sports leagues are so reactionary - domestic violence wasn't a big deal for the NFL until the Ray Rice thing brought it to the national spotlight then they went way overboard on every suspension for the rest of the year. Now, because it was a playoff game and the player got seriously injured, they assess a suspension for a play that (to my knowledge) has never been a suspendable offense.

I'd love to see the takeout rule changed, but that will have to be done after the season's over; any penalties imposed in-season are just PR moves.

[Hornsby]

Except MLB has determined that Utley violated a rule with that slide.

Except he didn't...You can call it dirty, you can call it aggressive, you can call Utley a cheap shot artist, you can call him a competitor. But until MLB decided it HAD to do something, nobody in any authority called it illegal. Torrey appears to contradict himself in the statement:

"After thoroughly reviewing the play from all conceivable angles, I have concluded that Mr. Utley's action warrants discipline, while I sincerely believe that Mr. Utley had no intention of injuring Ruben Tejada, and was attempting to help his Club in a critical situation, I believe his slide was in violation of Official Baseball Rule 5.09 (a) (13), which is designed to protect fielders from precisely this type of rolling block that occurs away from the base."



"The determination of whether a baserunner has intentionally interfered with a player attempting to turn a double play is left to the judgment of the Umpire on the field, and that judgment call is not subject to review, I should add that determining where to draw the line between an illegal slide and a legitimate hard play is an extremely difficult call for our Umpires."