I don't really understand the fuss about the Buster Posey play. Would anyone give a hoot if Dane Sardinha had gotten run over? But he probably wouldn't, because he's been a catcher for a long time and knows better. Buster Posey is a young, inexperienced catcher who made a rookie mistake.
The rules of baseball are explicit regarding obstruction. A player who does not have the ball may not block a base. Period. The fact that the rule tends to be ignored at home plate does not make it any less a rule. If we don't want catchers to be blindsided, teach them to not get in front of the plate until they have the ball, especially when the throw is coming from right field.
Could the guy have slid? Of course, but if a catcher has the plate blocked and the ball is coming from right field, it's going to be a difficult tag and the catcher probably won't have perfect control of the ball. So if you don't have a clear path to the plate, jarring the ball loose by running through the catcher is a good option.
I would hate it if they change the rule to "slide or surrender." That's a nice rule for adult softball, but I don't think it even belongs in little league. Yeah, I know, prevent injuries, blah blah blah. It's sports. If you take the physical part out of sports you might as not bother. It's all part of the Global War On Fun, imposed by baby boomers on their kids to make sure that nothing that they did to have fun when they were young is available to their kids.
And there really are few things as entertaining as a good play at the plate, with the catcher receiving the throw and trying to turn and tag all at the same time and the runner coming full tilt, able to approach the plate in a bunch of different ways. It's one of the most compelling moments in sports. And as fans, we don't deserve to have it taken way because one famous player got hurt.
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