So, is it okay to run over a catcher during spring training?

I'm referring to all this noise between the Yankees and the Rays. See article if you don't know.





http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/arti...





Should players be less aggressive on the bases during spring training?





What about a take-out slide on a double play?

So, is it okay to run over a catcher during spring training?
It depends on the player.





IF I'm Derek Jeter, I'm not risking injury to myself (or more etthically, to a young opponent trying to make a squad) by super aggressive play.





However, if I'm a "bubble" guy trying to make the team, for sure I'm going 110%. I'm not trying to impress the other team with my spring training candor. I'm trying to earn a job, and that means full effort.


If I don't play like Pete Rose, that may keep me off the team, keep me from making a living, and keep me from feeding my family.


That is worth taking out a catcher or a hard slide.





Remember, these types of moves are accpeted part of baseball. They aren't cheap shots. The other guy knows going in the risks.
Reply:Baseball is baseball no matter what time of the year you're playing. If you are playing baseball you have to play it the right way. A takeout slide on a double play and running into the catcher is all part of the game but there is a right way to do it all. In spring training all those high paid players really shouldn't be doing all that cuz you don't want to risk anything but those players who are playing thier butts off for a spot on the team should do what they have to do. But that play in the Yankee game was just too much! There is a right way to run into the catcher but that guy did a wrestling move on him!!! Lol he looked like he was running of the ropes and dove right into the guy. That was totally unneccesary.
Reply:its spring training and it was not right and if that Was Posada instead of the Other catcher i would have been mad as hell
Reply:I tend to agree with Joe Girardi. Spring training is a time to get your timing togther, work on the fundamentals but not run into players either at second base or at home plate. During the season its a anything goes mentality. Spring training is just that training.
Reply:Definately not in Spring Training. A player should NEVER be hospitalized in a Spring Training game. Anyways, the Rays need to save their energy for next season, they'll need it.
Reply:There is no crying in baseball.





Listen Yankee fan I know you don't want to lose someone this early in camp but this is baseball. It's a clean play in the regular season so it's a clean play in Spring Training. Elliott Johnson is trying to make that team.





There is no crying in baseball %26amp; Girardi of all people should know, he was a catcher.
Reply:Its ok, its kinda a unwritten law though. None of your everyday players are gonna do it, they have 162 regular season games to worry about, not a damn spring training game. So yes you will see it here and there, but if that situation comes up in the regular season you'll see a hell of a collision at home plate.
Reply:i was taught that you never take a play off trying to be careful is how you get hurt. feel bad forthe yanks catcher but those are the breaks
Reply:of course it is, especially for a team like Tampa


if they are going to have any success, they need to play hard, including colliding with a catcher, i guess they could wait until the season starts, but then the idea doesnt get ingrained in them


when Mike Scioscia came to the Angels, he needed to teach the team to play his way, so he had them do what he expected of them in the regular season, in the pre-season, Joe Torre is trying to teach the Dodgers to run more, so hes having them do it in spring training, i dont see any problem with what Tampa did, but i see a big problem with Girardi whinning about it, that guy that got hurt, he wasnt expected to be on the big league roster, was he?


well i know that if Ryan Budde or Bobby Wilson (catchers 3 and 4 on the Angels depth chart) got hurt in a collision in the spring i wouldnt be upset, its baseball, and occassionally baseball can be a physical game, Girardi should know that
Reply:They shouldn't be overly aggressive during spring training. In other words, don't try to hurt anyone intentionally which is sometimes acceptable during the regular season.
Reply:Its okay under certain circumstances, But Girardi has a point. Let's face it, it's just SPRING TRAINING..no need to be so agressive early on. I could understand if it was the playoffs or world series but spring training..(the meaningless games)
Reply:you should always play the game to win,spring training is when your going for the contract , so they want to see just how good you are.
Reply:He should be allowed to do any of those things because there is no rule about having to play spring training games half-hearted. Maddon wants mostly to teach his young players how to play the game, and if he allows them to take off the game, he wouldn't be doing that. Don Zimmer, perhaps the man with the most years in baseball that is currently active, has spoken out against Girardi.





Hope this helps!
Reply:Guys are trying to make teams, so I don't see how you can tell them to be not agrressive. It is like telling pro football players not to tackle in the pre-season.





I doubt that Girardi would be this defensive if his player had hurt a member of the Rays.
Reply:It's bush league. You never want to do anything to risk hurting someone in a spring training game. When these things occur it always turns out to be some young player trying to make the team, as was the case in this occurrence. A take out slide on a double play is a different issue because, if done properly, the risk of injury is very small.
Reply:yeah. You Play 100% all the time
Reply:It's this simple: if you don't want to get run over - don't block the plate!





Seriously, what's a player (who's trying to make the team) supposed to do? Run up to the catcher and say "excuse me, please"?





I would tell Joe Girardi that if he wants a bunch of ballerinas on his team, he shouldn't be managing a major league baseball team!
Reply:When you start trying to avoid contact and injuries is when most of them occur. For a team like Tampa, they need to play hard all the time, establish an aggressive mentality. No problem with what happened.
Reply:I don't think anyone would ever come out and say it, but I think its one of those unwritten rules in baseball that you take it a little easier in spring training. It's kind of like the all-star game, some people were REALLY suprised when Pete Rose took out the catcher because thats not the way that perticular game is usually played. There is a reason that this is making the news, its because it doesn't happen very often. People usually concede that these games mean nothing, and play at 85-90% if that. You don't really see any takeout slides, very few brushbacks, and almost no homeplate collisions. The problem is, there are some players out there trying to make the Big's so they want to go 110%, so it kind of sticks out in a game where everyone else is pretty much going through the motions.
Reply:Dont know.