From the US-China Olympics baseball game, is running into the catcher like that allowed in baseball?

Question

From my experience in baseball, what the US runner did when running into home plate was legal in baseball terms, but was it really? What are the exact rules about running into the catcher and/or knocking them down?

I am asking for rules, not an emotionally based answer please. Thanks!

Answer 1

Yes its legal in mlb college and i beleive some high school.

Not sure the rules there playing in the olmpyics but if it was gasint hte rule the guy would of been ejected and throw out.

Answer 2

If a player is in the base line or blocking a base, it is legal to run into them

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where not talking about little kids here......

if a defender is in the base path it is legal to run them over

Answer 3

its perfectly legal. like the words of ty cobb - The base paths belonged to me, the runner. The rules gave me the right. I always went into a bag full speed, feet first (or plowing the dude over). I had sharp spikes on my shoes. If the baseman stood where he had no business to be and got hurt, that was his fault

Answer 4

yes it is a legal play. any player that is blocking the plate wether its the catcher, pitcher or somebody else is legally eligible for a hit like that. the reason why the other coach got mad and argued it was because he feels it wasnt necessary being only the olympics. you have to understand that to some athletes the olympics is there dream, in other sports, they are just like practice games and they dont want to play as hard so they dont risk an injury and throw away there regular season career. to them, its more important to win a championship during regular season than to win a medal. but thats only for certain sports only like baseball, softball, soccer, boxing, basketball.  

Answer 5

The simple answer is that there is no rule against it, therefore it is legal. Many youth leagues have rules against it for safety purposes. Typically this rule is refereed to as the "Slide or avoid rule." basically it says that a runner must either slide into the base to minimize the danger of a collision, or they must avoid making contact with the catcher (or any fielder). But this rule is only used in youth leagues that specifically implement it for safety reasons.

In fact, at the professional level, the catcher can be guilty of obstruction if he blocks the baseline while he doesn't have possession of the ball (and he's not actively fielding a batted ball).  

Answer 6

Yes, it's legal if he had the ball when he made contact.

I'm not familiar with the rules in the Olympics, but I'm assuming that they have it like that.

Answer 7

Yep its legal. Its baseball and if the catcher cant handle it then he shouldn't be playing baseball.