Dunlap: MLB Has The Wrong Neighborhood
Sometimes, close is good enough.
Sometimes, you don't have to be perfect to make the point.
Sometimes, just getting it in the area --- and not necessarily right on the bulls eye --- will satisfy.
In my opinion, that used to be the case with Major League Baseball in the middle of the diamond. But as I flipped through my iPhone on Thursday afternoon to see the news that a new rule was implemented, it appears (to me at least) that Major League Baseball is walking into the wrong neighborhood.
You see, the league has now made reviewable the "neighborhood play" wherein a fielder will definitively need to keep his foot on the bag at second in the constructs of making the first out, wheeling toward first and trying to make the pivot for the second out.
The middle infielder can't slip off the bag a little early.
The middle infielder can't get a bit of a head start.
The middle infielder, in my estimation, can't adequately protect himself anymore.
This is going to go very, very badly.
This is going to end with a high-dollar, face-of-the-franchise, guy-a-team-can't-afford-to-lose being given a free ambulance ride and trip to the long-term disabled list all because of technology and a certain sense that because we can be precise, we have to be.
In the past, the neighborhood play wasn't reviewable and for the long and great history of baseball, as long as it wasn't egregious, the umpire in the middle of the diamond would allow that second baseman or shortstop a quick second to get out of the way --- and maybe not have to stay in contact with the bag --- in an effort to prolong careers, avoid that big collision and keep the peace.
And it worked both ways. It seemed for the long and storied history of baseball, a baserunner understood such an unwritten rule, knowing the fielder for the opposition might not technically have carried through with an out, but a bit of charity was given just as it would be given to your guy who, in the progress of doing the same thing, would be allowed to cheat a bit to stave off injury.
And it worked.
The game policed itself.
But as Major League Baseball also Thursday instituted a rule wherein runners need now "make a bona fide attempt to reach and remain on the base" as they barrel down on the fielder who is turning a double play, apparently they felt it equitable a fielder must now remain in contact with the bag the whole time.
And if he doesn't, the play can be reviewed, overturned and the bigger issue is this: It will force the fielder to stick with the play and stay on the bag longer the next time a similar situation arises.
Can't you just see it now? Because I can.
Here comes the runner on a moderately hit ball to the second baseman, who flips to the shortstop with a runner on first and, as the runner arrives just after the ball does to the shortstop, both are on the bag because they now have to be.
The runner slides legally.
The shortstop must now be (AND NO CHEATING!) on the bag.
Wham.
There goes your ankle Mr. Middle Infielder because for many, many years something was done one way in baseball and few complained, but now we have to do it differently.
Months of rehab.
He might or might not get back to the level at which he played before.
All for the sake of change; all for one out in the progression of a long 162-game season.
I just don't get it.
Baseball and its imperfection were just fine without going and making The Neighborhood Play something reviewable under replay.
And while we are at it, I wonder this: How come we've gone so far in this magnificent game to protect catchers who wear an inventory of body armor, but today we took a step back from protecting middle infielders --- who don't wear any --- from contact?
Colin Dunlap is a featured columnist at CBSPittsburgh.com. He can also be heard weekdays from 5:40 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sports Radio 93-7 "The Fan." You can e-mail him at colin.dunlap@cbsradio.com. Check out his bio here.
