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| Original Photo by Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times |
-- BY ROBERT O'NEILL
St Louis Cardinals manager, and former catcher, Mike Matheny, is the latest person to throw his opinion in the ongoing catcher safety debate. Matheny told MLB.com’s Matthew Leach that he wants home plate collisions totally removed from the game of baseball.
St Louis Cardinals manager, and former catcher, Mike Matheny, is the latest person to throw his opinion in the ongoing catcher safety debate. Matheny told MLB.com’s Matthew Leach that he wants home plate collisions totally removed from the game of baseball.
This debate has been popular for the past couple years after San Francisco Giants catcher, Buster Posey, had his sophomore season ended prematurely by a home-plate collision. Earlier this week, the Mets said they didn’t want top prospect Travis d’Arnaud blocking the plate in AAA this year.
Overall, it’s a fascinating debate on both sides. On one hand, if your catcher doesn’t block the plate, you could risk letting in a pivotal run in a key situation of the game. On the other hand though, if he does block the plate, you could lose him for the season and he could have a career-changing injury.
It wouldn’t surprise me at all for MLB to one day do in with collisions entirely, but I doubt we see any in-season rule changes, because to change a rule in MLB, all owners need to vote. If it continues to be a big issue around the league this season, look for it to be discussed at the 2013 Winter Meetings in Orlando.
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