One of the most clear signs that the United States is an empire in decline is the ceaseless, unquenchable demand for more and more violence, not so much as participants but rather as spectators. That’s probably the reason that the hottest topic to arise from the major league baseball playoffs so far is Ruben Tejada‘s broken leg.Prior to that, it was probably the brouhaha surrounding the soft plunk on Jake Arrietta’s ass by Tony Watson, which led to bench clearing jaw jacking. We love “hits” and it is not limited to football, where killing the quarterback is the aim of the game.
Therefore, at the same time, anyone who advocates for safety over crushing blows is considered a wimp, whether or not people actually come right out and say it.The so called “Buster Posey Rule” that was enacted after his leg was broken by a career minor leaguer doing his best Peckerhead Rose imitation, is often ridiculed by current and former players as wimpy and against the way the game was played for decades and yadda yadda. Despite the fact that such manly men as Duane Kuiper and Pedro Martinez have spoken out in favor of a similar rule to protect middle infielders, cowardly varmints who are going to be called out still feel it is their duty to go after the person and not the bag.
The simple rule should be, but probably never will be, this: You slide. You do not barrel roll. You slide to the base, not to the fielder. It’s apt to be dangerous anyway. The fielder does not block the base or home plate without the ball being at or very near his possession. If the Utley type play occurs, the runner is out and, because of injury, the ball is dead. That’s it.Cut to Viagra ad.
While we are discussing loathsome individuals,how repulsive it is to tune to Fox for a baseball game and see Pete Rose doing the analyst thing along with respectable former players like Raul Ibanez and Frank Thomas. The same people that consider Charles Krauthammer and Oliver North as political commentators are at least consistent. On the other hand, National League games are more enjoyable because of the pertinent remarks of Cal Ripken and Ron Darling. Fox should stick to Nascar and kick boxing and leave real sports to ESPN and TBS.