A PROPOSAL FOR A BASEBALL RULE CHANGE.
A PROPOSAL FOR A BASEBALL RULE CHANGE. Minnesota’s second baseman had his leg broken recently by a baserunner trying to break up a double play. Without question, what the baserunner did was legal and consistent with what baserunners do as a matter of course. There is a rule change that I have favored for years that would both promote safety and improve the logic of the game. The new rule would make it an automatic double play if the baserunner is not in contact with second base at the conclusion of his slide. The logic is that if a baserunner is out at second base, he has no business wandering around the field trying to interfere with a fielder. I know that it’s “part of baseball”, but if the new rule prevents one serious injury a year, it would be worth it.
Agreed. Announcers always revel in “tough plays” and “hard contact” in sports like baseball and basketball, and I just don’t understand it. If you want hard contact go watch the UFC and football. Baseball is supposed to be about skill.