When a runner rounds third and an outfielder throws the baseball home, Ron Gardenhire's reaction is different than it used to be. No longer is he focused on the ball, or calculating how long it will take the baserunner to reach the plate. No, he's watching the catcher's feet.
"You have to really stare at every one," Gardenhire said. "The biggest thing for me to remember is, 'Where did the catcher set up?' "
That's an adjustment caused by MLB Rule 7.13, a new policy intended to eliminate collisions at home plate. The new rule has worked in the most basic way — there have been no major collisions at the plate this season — but it has had additional consequences that make managers and players uncomfortable.
The rule has two parts: prohibiting a runner from going out of his way to knock over a catcher, a guideline that has been generally accepted; and prohibiting a catcher from blocking the plate before he receives the ball, a stipulation that has created huge controversy, some notable replay reversals and plenty of uncertainty.
"It's just tough to know what they're going to call from play to play," said Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki. "Sometimes you see a play that's called one way, and the next time it goes the other way. It's weird that we don't really know."
That's the part that bothers managers and players around the game. A survey of managers of playoff-contending teams by USA Today this week found at least four who want the rule scrapped before the postseason, just to avoid a game-changing decision. "It would be a travesty if it decides the seventh game of the World Series," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus told the newspaper. Added Tampa Bay's Joe Maddon: "It's so unclear, you can't ask it to be umpired consistently. It's impossible. So I would go back to the old rule, ASAP."
Some umpires even told USA Today that they intend not to enforce the rule during the playoffs, and let replay officials in New York sort it out, case by case.
Gardenhire's suggestion is one that the NFL adopted several years ago: Just make a review on a scoring play automatic. "You need to go look at it every time. The catcher is supposed to be in fair territory — sometimes the play happens so quick, he never clears home plate," Gardenhire said. "You almost should check it every time."
