Home Plate Collisions — Baseball or Rugby? | The Sports Economist

The Posey Rule issue re-dux from the perspective of those that view from a "culture of the game" perspective versus a more legalistic, economic point of view.

“Welcome to the big leagues, hayseed. Next time, don’t stand on the tracks when the train’s coming through.” — Jack Parkman, “Major League II”

Diamond decorum: It’s all about respect - KansasCity.com:

"Consider this Baseball Etiquette 101: Unwritten rules, enforcers and controversial plays that toe the line between hustle and recklessness.

“Bottom line: It’s a game,” Kendall says. “If you (give a player room to slide), and that happens, it’ll be taken care of.”

Kendall is talking about justice — baseball style.

Baseball is filled with unwritten — and sometimes obscure — rules: Don’t steal second with a big lead. Don’t swing at the first pitch after back-to-back home runs. Don’t walk in front of the umpire and catcher when stepping into the batter’s box.

The list is long and varied, and of course, depends on whom you talk to.

And if these rules can be cobbled together to create some unofficial code, Kendall will tell you that, in his mind, the catcher should act as a team’s unofficial law enforcer.

“Absolutely,” Kendall says. “It’s about the team.”"

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Home Plate Collisions — Baseball or Rugby? | The Sports Economist:

"Warning: Readers who think about sports rules and practices solely as “that’s the way it has been so that’s the way it should be” probably won’t like this post.

The collision between Florida Marlin Scott Cousins and SF Giants Catcher Busty Posey severely injured Posey’s ankle and likely ended his season.  The famous 1970 All-Star game collision between Pete Rose and Ray Fosse broke Fosse’s collarbone and, arguably, diminished the rest of his career.  Why does MLB promote violent home plate collisions by permitting catchers to block the plate and/or players to barrel into them? Most discussions of the issue revolve around limiting runners, but it’s really the blocking of the plate or the expectation of it that often initiates the violence.  In the Cousins-Posey case, Posey does not really block the plate, but one might argue that Cousins expects that scenario, and at high speed, last second adjustments aren’t practical.

From an economic standpoint, there are two essential issues;  i)  “property rights” — who has claim to a base or pathway; ii)  the objective of the game (the product being offered) and what constraints/property rights maximize the quality of this product."