Re: Cubs vs.Sox brawl
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I thought that though the play by AJP was clean, it was completely unnecessary. Barrett wasn't 'blocking' the plate. He was merely in position to block the plate if the ball came home in time.
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Raise,
AJP has no idea when the ball will arrive, therefore, he has to assume that it will get there in time. And Barrett may not have been completely blocking the plate, but it would still be dangerous for AJP to slide and try to reach his left arm in to touch the plate.
What if he goes to touch the plate with his left arm and Barrett scoots his left leg over? If this happens and AJP hits his left arm on Barretts shin-guarded left leg, it would not be good.
Why risk an arm injury when you can just knock the bitchboy back 5 feet with a good shoulder check?
Seriously. Technically you are right in saying that it was probably not "necessary" for AJ to knock him over, but given the circumstances, this is the play that you would see happen at least 95 times out of 100, regardless of who the runner is.
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