04/19/24
March 14, 2002
Baseball to limit use of body armor. : And thank god for that! Many hitters like Barry Bonds or Mo Vaughn have become too comfortable with those enormous plastic elbow shields, eliminating the necessary emotional and physical costs of crowding the plate and upsetting the balance between pitcher and hitter.
posted by hincandenza to baseball at 03:43 PM - 6 comments
this article made me realize I'm not following my team closely enough: [...] the Expos Oh, so you're the one.
posted by hincandenza at 12:44 AM on March 15, 2002
I don't think this policy will survive the next serious injury that could have been prevented by this "body armor." Injuries at the plate can be nasty -- one player was even killed by a pitch in the '30s or '40s. I'll never forget Don Slaught's nose and cheekbone being broken by Oil Can Boyd in 1986.
posted by rcade at 07:25 AM on March 15, 2002
And Don Zimmer was unconscious for several weeks after getting hit by a pitch when he was playing in the 1890s. OK, maybe it was a little bit more recent than that ;) That said, rcade, I got the impression that this was only for the arms- it isn't like they are taking alway batting helmets.
posted by tieguy at 10:17 AM on March 16, 2002
Oil Can Boyd! This thread is filled with ex-Expos! hincandenza: Oh, so you're the one. Actually, we're a couple of thousands. It's rather sad. I personnally know Expos fans that are a lot more rabid than me, by the way. I'd post a copy of a guy's frantic plea against contraction and it's supporters in Montreal, but it's insanely long and in French... anyway, this rant features prominent Expos alumni like Andy Stankiewicz, Doug Strange, Dave Silvestri, Tim Laker, Butch Henry, Tim Scott, Solomon Torres, you get the idea...
posted by qbert72 at 05:54 PM on March 16, 2002
It's about time! So many people were upset last year because Barry stood all over the plate and when an inside pitch came, he just let it hit that giant plastic pad and took first base. I'm sure though that he'll try to get around it by applying for a medical waiver to use the huge plastic pad. He'll do anything to up his personal stats. I think the league should make him comply rather than allow his bogus medical excuse. I'm so tired of him taking all advantage no matter what it does to the spirit of the game. Crowding the plate with that silly plastic pad takes away the fundamental batter pitcher relationship, giving the pitcher 1/2 the plate with no fear in the batter because he knows he can't be hurt. It's bad for baseball.
posted by sportsmaven at 12:43 PM on March 18, 2002
Yes, get them off the plate, already! On a personal note, this article made me realize I'm not following my team closely enough: Galarraga back with the Expos? Cool! Canseco's signing is a lot less cool, but still, we're moving on the free agent market. Bring on the 40ish sluggers!