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The Wussification of America police are out again in full force.
This group claimed victory in their last march on baseball to protect catchers. Now, the rule at home plate is so hazy that nobody knows the real rules on home plate plays. But muddled rules are much better for wussifiers than a hurt catcher.
They would pat themselves on the back, but then have to sue themselves for assault.

Some are calling Chase Utley 'dirty'.
To me, 'dirty' could be defined as the act of going out of one's way to cause harm to another.
The wussification police were appalled by Utley's slide. How could he be so mean?, they ask.
Well, the answer is...THE WILL TO WIN.
Baseball players are taught from little league, to high school, to college, to the minors, till finally to the Majors to upset the pivot man at second base.
The larger the game, the more the pivot man has to watch out for his own safety.
Because of... THE WILL TO WIN.

Strange things happen in the post-season.
Reggie Jackson thrusts out a hip.
Bullpens warm up in the fourth inning for no apparent reason.
The slugging Blue Jays lay down a sacrifice in the fifth inning.
Pitchers who refuse to pitch on short rest, willingly pitch on short rest.
Pivot men, more apt to get plowed.
All because of...THE WILL TO WIN.

Wussifiers don't understand that.
Only seeing the carnage on the field and trying to 'fix' it.
Wussifiers are trying to turn hard-nosed ball to nerf ball.
If they had their way, baseball would be played with that nerf ball, and marshmallow fences, and pillowed gloves.
And if these wussifiers were around when Carl Mays hit Ray Chapman with a pitch that resulted in Chapman's death, they may have wanted to shut down baseball as a whole.
Afterall, if baseball were not played, nobody would get hurt.

I feel bad for Ruben Tejada. Just as I felt bad for Buster Posey.
Still, some parts of baseball have to stay.
Catchers were not meant to make 'sweeping tags' with their big gloves on runners. Yet, now they do. A part of the game is missing with these plays. Before, a catcher had a chance to defend home. Now, the runner has every advantage in knowing where the catcher is, knowing what angle to take, and knowing that the sweeping action of a catchers arms will take seconds. Long enough to usually score.
The play at home has gone from 'edge of your seat' watching to just another play.
And now, they will ask for no contact on plays at second base.
To them, these are small, dangerous parts of baseball.
To me, they are dulling every sharp edge the sport offers.

DOUGHBOYS wrote: Some are calling Chase Utley 'dirty'.
To me, 'dirty' could be defined as the act of going out of one's way to cause harm to another.

Sorry Dan, but Utley did just that. He clearly went out of his way (i.e., making no attempt to touch the base and starting his slide after passing the base) with an action that had a high likelihood of causing harm to another (i.e., barrel rolling or basically tackling a defenseless player). To me, the absolute definition of a dirty play and a dirty player. That being said, I wish Ruben had realized the situation a little better and not turned his back on someone like Utley who has a long history of this type of play (including vs. Ruben years ago). Anyway, I hope the Mets show THE WILL TO WIN tonight without stooping to his level. Call me a wussy if you will, but that's how I see it...

Le Grand Orange wrote:

DOUGHBOYS wrote: Some are calling Chase Utley 'dirty'.
To me, 'dirty' could be defined as the act of going out of one's way to cause harm to another.

Sorry Dan, but Utley did just that. He clearly went out of his way (i.e., making no attempt to touch the base and starting his slide after passing the base) with an action that had a high likelihood of causing harm to another (i.e., barrel rolling or basically tackling a defenseless player). To me, the absolute definition of a dirty play and a dirty player. That being said, I wish Ruben had realized the situation a little better and not turned his back on someone like Utley who has a long history of this type of play (including vs. Ruben years ago). Anyway, I hope the Mets show THE WILL TO WIN tonight without stooping to his level. Call me a wussy if you will, but that's how I see it...

Marc,
Like a father testifying for a son.

I was completely against the rule change for catchers. As a catcher you can generally avoid contact by staying out in front of the plate, or otherwise positioning your body to not get Posey'd. That is tougher as a second-basemen.

As Torre said when asked about it, the slide was late. It was. With an earlier slide he comes in lower and takes him out at the feet instead of the knees and the chance of a serious injury is low. I hope they don't outlaw contact, but I am fine if this sets precedent for taking a guy out low rather than high.

No contact would be crap.
Turning a double play with no fear changes the game too much.
What I would like to see, to mollify both baseball purists and the wussy police, is for the oncoming runner to have ass or chest down before reaching 2nd base.
If not, he and the batter are automatically out.
The fielder could then 'hide' behind second with less fear, but cannot be completely without peril.

Le Grand Orange wrote:

DOUGHBOYS wrote: Some are calling Chase Utley 'dirty'.
To me, 'dirty' could be defined as the act of going out of one's way to cause harm to another.

Sorry Dan, but Utley did just that. He clearly went out of his way (i.e., making no attempt to touch the base and starting his slide after passing the base) with an action that had a high likelihood of causing harm to another (i.e., barrel rolling or basically tackling a defenseless player). To me, the absolute definition of a dirty play and a dirty player. That being said, I wish Ruben had realized the situation a little better and not turned his back on someone like Utley who has a long history of this type of play (including vs. Ruben years ago). Anyway, I hope the Mets show THE WILL TO WIN tonight without stooping to his level. Call me a wussy if you will, but that's how I see it...

A few comments about these points:

1 - Utley doesn't have to slide into the bag. He just needs to be within reach of the bag. Runners flail out all of the time to break up a double play. I do agree that the slide is late, but consider that it may have been late because Utley thought Tejada would go for a force out as opposed to trying to turn a double play from a really bad angle with his momentum going towards right field.

2 - The play looked much worse that it did because of the turn around to which Tejada's leverage was going towards right field backwards as opposed to facing the runner/ first base bag.

3 - If Utley doesn't do his job like anyone else in that spot, he has a lonely trip home with the team. Call him a dirty player, but teammates will say that he did his job and as a player you care of no opinions other than your teammates.

4 - There's no stoop level when it comes to WINNING. These are paid athletes who have careers where families rely on their income. You do what it takes. Those who don't stoop, lose. Ask the Colts and Rams. If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying.

I can't stand the home plate rule and hopefully they figure out a resolution to absolve the absurdity of some of the overturned calls.

Don't watch this Dan ... worst call in history of major college football.

https://vine.co/v/e9qVmhtgeeP

Huge game, Wolverine's leading tackler ejected for targeting ... after getting pushed on top of QB.
Video reviewed and confirmed by "official".

Wussification at its worst.

Holy Cow!
What is wrong with these people?
Wussy crap!
They treat quarterbacks like they're lepers and not be touched.
The spirit of our games are being challenged by the wussification.