Malicious contact or nothing?

[Rich Ives]

Why was the catcher on 3BLE? He doesn't belong there. He belongs at the front edge of the plate because.

He can take the throw and slide-pivot into the path for the tag.

He allows access until he has the ball.

He has a clear path for the ball to reach him - no chance that the runner runs in front of him and get hit with the ball (right Piazza?).

He has an unimpeded throw to another base if that becomes necessary.

Stupid catching - he shares the blame (if there's blame to hand out). You can't stand on the tracks then blame the train can you?

AND

BTW - sliding slows you down so saying the runner should slide means the catcher caused the impedance and thus obstructed.

AND

You can slide and still do MC if you slide improperly so sliding doesn't get you off the hook.

Bad catcher - too bad.