MLB is Spineless on New Safety Rules
By Ken Reed
Get this: Major League Baseball admitted that the Chicago Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo violated the home-plate collision rule when he clearly deviated from his path home to plow over San Diego Padres’ catcher Austin Hedges — knocking Hedges out of the game in the process. But at the same time they said they would not penalize Rizzo in any way.
What? Why even have the rule then?
The play occurred on Monday night. Rizzo was on third and tagged on a fly ball to center field. He took off for home on the catch. Hedges was not blocking the plate. He gave Rizzo plenty of the plate to slide into. But when Hedges caught the ball, Rizzo lowered his shoulder and took a couple steps to his left to run over Hedges in an obvious attempt to jar the ball loose. This is exactly the type of dangerous play that led Major League Baseball to disallow catchers from blocking home plate and runners from plowing over catchers. Rizzo could have easily done a hook slide to the outside of the plate to try and score.
Unless runners are penalized for actions like Rizzo’s, MLB’s home-plate safety rule will have no teeth and the safety of players will be compromised.
Padres’ Executive Chairman Ron Fowler is upset with MLB’s chief baseball officer, Joe Torre, who made the decision not to discipline Rizzo.
“Obviously, Rizzo clearly violated the rule,” Fowler said.
“It was probably the most egregious violation since the rule went in, and to do that with no repercussions, I think, is pure BS. I told baseball that.”
Fortunately, for the Cubs, Padres and Major League Baseball in general, Padres manager Andy Green chose not to retaliate for Rizzo’s cheap shot by beaning a Cubs hitter.
“The reality is, when you throw at a guy in retaliation, you’re really not protecting anybody. That’s a simple fact. This is what I’ve always asked: What do you accomplish by hitting somebody?” Green said on The Mighty 1090 radio show. “You accomplish nothing. I think it’s absolutely asinine to even take that approach.”
Bravo Mr. Green. Now there’s one guy that’s discarded the old-school baseball mentality and is thinking coherently about this incident. It certainly isn’t Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who is a progressive thinker on a lot of baseball topics but not this one.
“What he (Rizzo) did was right, absolutely right,” said Maddon. “There’s nothing wrong with that, and nobody can tell me differently.”
Well, you’re wrong Joe. The play was a cheap shot and it was unsafe. Rizzo should receive a significant penalty for his actions.
But Torre chose not to penalize Rizzo and until he grows a spine, he shouldn’t be in charge of making decisions on rules involving player safety.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #22 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Rethinking Sports Fandom with Author Craig Calcaterra – We discuss Calcaterra’s new book “Rethinking Fandom: How to Beat the Sports-Industrial Complex at Its Own Game” and explore new ways to be a fan in the year 2022.
Listen on Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Anchor and others.
Follow on Facebook: @SportsForumPodcast
More Episodes on Apple Podcasts; Spotify; Google Podcasts; PocketCasts; & Anchor
Episode #21 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Chatting About a Broken Game With Baseball Writer Pedro Moura – Moura is a national baseball writer for Fox Sports. We discuss how and why the game of baseball is broken, what factors caused it, and offer a few thoughts on how to “fix” a great game.
Episode #20 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Coaching Youth and High School Sports Based On What’s Best for the Athlete’s Holistic Development – We chat with long-time youth, high school and college basketball coach Jim Huber.
Episode #19 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Capturing the Spirit of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League with Anika Orrock – We discuss the hoops AAGPFL women had to jump through to play the game they loved as well as the long-term impact and legacy they have in advancing sports opportunities for girls and women.
Episode #18 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Talking about the 50th Anniversary of Title IX and the Lia Thomas Controversy with Nancy Hogshead-Makar – Hogshead-Makar is a triple gold medalist in swimming, a civil rights attorney and CEO of Champion Women.
Episode #17 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Talking Sports With Legendary New York Times Sports Columnist Robert Lipsyte – We chat about Lipsyte’s amazing career and some of the athletes he covered.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
Books