Notwithstanding the above, it shall not be considered a violation of this Rule 7.13 if the catcher blocks the pathway of the runner in order to field a throw, and the Umpire determines that the catcher could not have fielded the ball without blocking the pathway of the runner and that contact with the runner was unavoidable. However, there is a problem that the rule doesn’t address, and there’s the rub that had fans and managers of the home teams in Baltimore and Minnesota irate because of the lack of clarity. Those are both pretty straightforward and designed to protect players from catastrophic injuries, especially when there is a throw coming from right field when the catcher cannot see the baserunner as he progresses toward the plate. Unless the catcher is in possession of the ball, the catcher cannot block the pathway of the runner as he attempts to score. A runner attempting to score may not deviate from his direct pathway to the plate in order to initiate contact with the catcher or anyone else covering home plate. The two most important tenets of Rule 7.13 are the following: That’s why it would take the league nearly three years to implement Rule 7.13. MLB decided then and there that it would need to address this situation with a rule change. Posey’s leg was shattered and he missed the rest of the 2011 season. The runner could tell that there was a moment in which he could blindside the catcher, who was straddling the plate as he awaited the ball. The throw was coming to home plate from right field, meaning Posey had to square toward right field to catch the ball and apply the tag as the runner came in from third base.
In this particular situation, a perfect storm came together to end up with a major injury to Posey. Cousins did exactly what he had been taught all through his baseball life - take out the catcher and score that darned run. Posey was doing what all catchers have been taught - blocking the plate until he received the ball, so if it was bang-bang the baserunner would be thwarted in his attempt to touch home plate. He was intent on scoring the go-ahead run to put the Marlins in front. The game was in extra innings and involved the Marlins’ Scott Cousins, a fringe outfielder, and Posey, the Giants’ future Hall of Fame catcher.Ĭousins tagged from third on a shallow fly ball. It’s called the Posey Rule because its implementation in February 2014 was the result of a play in a Giants-Marlins game back on May 25, 2011. But before getting into those plays, first let me give you a tiny bit of history on the Posey Rule. 7, the interpretation of the Buster Posey rule led to two terribly botched calls and two managerial ejections.
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