LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.
Cheap Jerseys . -- Pete Rose sounded bowled over. Charlie Hustle, who famously flattened Ray Fosse to score the winning run in the 1970 All-Star game, couldnt believe Major League Baseball intends to eliminate home-plate collisions by 2015 at the latest. "What are they going to do next, you cant break up a double play?" Rose said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press after MLB announced its plan Wednesday. "Youre not allowed to pitch inside. The hitters wear more armour than the Humvees in Afghanistan. Now youre not allowed to try to be safe at home plate?" Rose said. "Whats the game coming to? Evidently the guys making all these rules never played the game of baseball." New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson, chairman of the rules committee, made the announcement at the winter meetings, saying the change would go into effect for next season if the players association approved. Safety and concern over concussions were major factors -- fans still cringe at the thought of the season-ending hit Buster Posey absorbed in 2011. "Ultimately what we want to do is change the culture of acceptance that these plays are ordinary and routine and an accepted part of the game," Alderson said. "The costs associated in terms of health and injury just no longer warrant the status quo." In a sport long bound by tradition, a ban will be a major step. MLB also is instituting a vast increase in the use of instant replay by umpires next season in an effort to eliminate blown calls. The NFL reached a settlement last summer in a concussion-related lawsuit by former players for $765 million, and a group of hockey players sued the NHL last month over brain trauma. Banned for life in 1989 following a gambling investigation, Rose insists Fosse was blocking the plate without the ball, which is against the rules. Fosse injured a shoulder, and his career went into a downslide. "Since 1869, baseball has been doing pretty well," Rose said. "The only rules they ever changed was the mound (height) and the DH. I thought baseball was doing pretty good. Maybe Im wrong about the attendance figures and the number of people going to ballgames." Alderson said wording of the rules change will be presented to owners for approval at their Jan. 16 meeting in Paradise Valley, Ariz. Details must be sorted out, such as what should happen if a catcher blocks the plate without the ball? "The exact language and how exactly the rule will be enforced is subject to final determination," he said. "Were going to do fairly extensive review of the types of plays that occur at home plate to determine which were going to find acceptable and which are going to be prohibited." Approval of the players union is needed for the rules change to be effective for 2014. "If the players association were to disapprove, then the implementation of the rule would be suspended for one year, but could be implemented unilaterally after that time," Alderson said. The union declined comment, pending a review of the proposed change. Some players spoke up on Twitter. "No more home plate collisions?! What is this? NFL quarterbacks are catchers now?" Oakland outfielder Josh Reddick wrote. "Nothing better than getting run over and showing the umpire the ball. Please dont ban home plate collisions," Pittsburgh rookie catcher Tony Sanchez posted. "Totally disagree," added retired catcher John Flaherty, now an analyst with the Yankees YES Network. Discussion to limit or ban collisions has intensified since May 2011, when Posey was injured as the Marlins Scott Cousins crashed the plate. Posey, San Franciscos All-Star catcher, sustained a broken bone in his lower left leg and three torn ligaments in his ankle, an injury that ended his season. Posey returned to win the NL batting title and MVP award in 2012, when he led the Giants to their second World Series title in three seasons. In Game 5 of this years AL championship series, Detroit catcher Alex Avila was pulled a couple innings after being run over at the plate by Bostons David Ross, a fellow catcher sidelined for much of the season by concussions resulting from foul tips. "This is, I think, in response to a few issues that have arisen," Alderson said. "One is just the general occurrence of injuries from these incidents at home plate that affect players, both runners and catchers. And also kind of the general concern about concussions that exists not only in baseball but throughout professional sports and amateur sports today. Its an emerging issue, and one that we in baseball have to address, as well as other sports." Former catchers Joe Girardi, Bruce Bochy and Mike Matheny -- all now managing in the majors -- attended Wednesdays meeting. "I dont think its completely sparked by anything thats happened in baseball as much as whats happening outside of baseball and how its impacting people and impacting the welfare of each sport," said Matheny, now managing the St. Louis Cardinals. But not everyone is in favour of a change. "I lost time as a catcher being run over a couple different times, but I thought it was part of my job and I enjoyed the contact," said Girardi, the New York Yankees manager. "Now Im not so sure that everyone enjoys contact. But I love football, so I liked it." MLB intends to have varied tiers of punishment. "I think there will be two levels of enforcement," Alderson said. "One will be with respect to whether the runner is declared safe or out based on conduct. So, for example, intentionally running over the catcher might result in an out call. So I think that the enforcement will be on the field as well as subsequent consequences in the form of fines and suspensions and the like." Drafting the rule figures to be complicated. "Does it include at every base or just home plate?" Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. "Whats considered blocking the plate and how do you define all of it?" The NCAA instituted a rule on collisions for the 2011 season, saying "contact above the waist that was initiated by the base runner shall not be judged as an attempt to reach the base or plate." The umpire can call the runner out and also eject the player if contact is determined to be malicious or flagrant. The rule is likely to have an effect on youth leagues, too, where player safety is a primary concern. Little League runners must either slide or try to get around fielders. Plate collisions often are prohibited in high-school ball. "The actual detail, frankly the kinds of plays that were trying to eliminate, we havent finely determined," Alderson said. "I would expect to put together 100 of these plays and identify which ones we want to continue to allow and others that we want to prohibit, and draft a rule accordingly."
Wholesale NFL Jerseys . According to a report from the Winnipeg Free Press, the Bombers will name Acting GM Kyle Walters to the post full time.
Wholesale Jerseys .Y. - Henrik Lundqvist wasnt happy going into Game 6 against Montreal.NEW YORK, N.Y. - Mike Napoli hoped Masahiro Tanaka would make a mistake. The New York Yankees ace sure did — he twice shook off his catcher, then threw a pitch the Boston slugger could handle. Napoli stung Tanaka by hitting a solo home run with two outs in the ninth inning, lifting Jon Lester and the Red Sox over the Yankees 2-1 Saturday night. "What an idiot!" Napoli was heard exclaiming on Fox television microphones as he high-fived teammates in the dugout. Napoli later said he didnt mean any disrespect, adding he was "surprised" Tanaka didnt throw his tremendous split-finger fastball. Napoli had struck out in his previous two at-bats, was down 1-2 in the count this time and was having all sorts of trouble with Tanakas diving splitter. "He had me where he wanted me," Napoli said. Tanaka, however, preferred to throw a fastball. Napoli lined it the opposite way, into the first row of the seats in right field. Napoli, who also homered off Tanaka at Fenway Park in late April, raised his right arm as he rounded first base and clapped his hands as headed for second. Tanaka, the top winner in the majors and the AL ERA leader, turned to watch the ball sail, twisting his body when it cleared the wall. "It was the worst thing I couldve possibly done," Tanaka said through a translator. Tanaka wanted to take a different approach than catcher Brian McCann. "He asked for a splitter and for a slider, and I shook off both of them," he said. Tanaka said he intended to throw a fastball out of the strike zone to set up a breaking ball. Instead, Napoli hit it out of the park. His third home run in five games, and 10th shot overall, flew far enough reach the short porch. "Power hitters are going to have the ability to hit to all fields. We all know that right field here is not very forgiving," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "Last night, they hit one in the first row. Tonight, we did." The Red Sox won for just the third time in nine games. The victory made the defending World Series champions 37-44 at the midpoint of the season — its the first time since 1997 that Boston has been under .500 at the halfway mark. Lester (9-7) held the Yankees hitless until the sixth. He gave up an unearned run and five hits in eight innings, striking out six and walking two. Koji Uehara pitched a perfect ninth for his 17th save in 18 chances. Tanaka (11-3) allowed seven hits in a complete game, striking ouut eight and walking one.
Cheap NFL Jerseys. The Yankees lost for the fifth time in seven games. Tanaka dropped consecutive starts for the first time in the majors. The matchup between Lester and Tanaka shaped up as a pitchers duel, and it certainly was. Lester improved to 13-6 lifetime against the Yankees, including a loss to Tanaka in Boston on April 22. Lester and Uehara came through for a Red Sox team that has scored three runs or fewer in 12 of its last 14 games. Napoli did his part, too, tagging Tanaka. "He pitched pretty well to Nap all night," Lester said. "Im guessing Nap put a pretty good swing on that ball right there. Luckily, were in Yankee Stadium and not anywhere else and that ball goes out." An odd sequence ended the Yankees eighth. Jacoby Ellsbury tried to steal second with two outs and the fans cheered when catcher David Ross throw skipped into centre field. As Ellsbury headed toward third, however, the crowd began to realize strike three had already been called on Mark Teixeira. Earlier in the inning, second baseman Dustin Pedroia made a nifty pickup and glove flip to start a double play on Derek Jeter. Ross homered in his second straight game, launching a drive far over the left-field fence in the third. Tanaka muttered to himself as Ross rounded the bases. Lester, who threw a no-hitter against Kansas City in 2008, held the Yankees hitless until Brett Gardner bounced a leadoff single up the middle in the sixth. Lesters bid was extended with two outs in the fifth when Yangervis Solarte was called out on a video review, taking away an infield single. Pedroia opened the next inning with a single, and tried to test the arm of Ellsbury, his former teammate. The Yankees centre fielder made an accurate throw and Pedroia was called safe, but he was ruled out after New York challenged the umpires decision. The Yankees scored in the third when Brian Roberts reached on shortstop Stephen Drews error, Solarte was hit by a pitch, Gardner sacrificed and Jeter had an RBI grounder. NOTES: Of Bostons last 14 games, 10 have been decided by one run. The Red Sox are 6-4 in those games. ... The Red Sox are 26-26 at the new Yankee Stadium. ... Boston OF-INF Mike Carp (right foot) has started his rehab assignment at Triple-A Pawtucket. ... Yankees LHP CC Sabathia (right knee) made his first rehab start, pitching 2 1-3 innings for Class A Tampa and giving up two runs on three hits and a walk vs. Dunedin.
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