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Another Giants-ChiSox game, another correct 7.13 application
Before reviewing the specifics, it's AMAZING how biased the broadcasters sound during these things. I've watched a bunch of the videos, and it's nearly guaranteed that every time Rule 7.13 is in question, you can guess exactly which side the announcers will take. So as much as I love some of them, they don't really occupy the intellectual or moral high ground here.
Anyway, less than 24 hours after a Rule 7.13 appeal in San Francisco -- which I wrote about this morning -- there was another. Tuesday night, Buster Posey was judged not to have violated Rule 7.13, a/k/a the Buster Posey Rule. Which was the correct judgment by those anonymous bureaucrats in New York. Wednesday afternoon there was another one, but this time it was the other team's catcher ...
... and this time he was in violation, and once again they got it right in New York.
It's really pretty simple: You can't block the plate without the ball unless it's necessary to catch the ball. Which is rare! In this case, it's highly clear that Flyers is blocking the entire plate just for the sake of blocking the plate. To save time, just go to 2:11 in the video: There's Flowers without the ball, his left leg completely blocking the plate. In the booth, Duane Kuiper says of Bruce Bochy, "If this isn't overturned, he's going to wonder why."
It was overturned, and Robin Ventura got really upset and was ejected, and the entire process took something like nine minutes.
Which is ridiculous and unacceptable and I'm a big fan of Rule 7.13 but it shouldn't have to be this way. The umpires need to learn to call it better, the anonymities in New York need to call it quicker, and managers who argue afterward should be given an unpaid vacation lasting a few days or more.
Oh, and by the way: It doesn't matter if it's a close play or not! Don't block the plate! If it's not a close play, why block the plate anyway.
So quit blaming Major League Baseball, and start blaming the catchers for not being smart enough to make the play correctly.
