You know how hockey has unspoken rules that govern how players are allowed to fight, such as: no sticks, no gloves, no helmets, no kicking, fight ends when 1 player goes down, and we do not speak about fight club. Ok, I made that last one up, but you get my drift.
NHL's Unspoken rules must stay unspoken because the NHL can't look like they condone fighting by saying "this is how you should fight". But at the same time, they want it in the game because the fans love it. So instead their is an unwritten code of rules that fighters must follow, so that fighting stays in the game, but they can also avoid injury.
The NHL has basically banned bench brawls...which is unfortunate, but there is still hope to see dozens of players clear benches and throw down...in baseball.
In light of the recent activity in baseball...ie: the tigers bench clearing brawl with the red sox, I thought it might be nice to write out some ground rules for baseball fights, because let's face it...a lot of baseball players suck at fighting...it's rare to see a good fight. Sure, benches clear a dozen times per season, but it normally ends with teams just running out there at full speed, slowing to a walk, and yelling once they get close enough to the other team.
So here are my proposed rules to make baseball fights awesome!
#1 - If a pitcher is going to intentionally hit a batter, and the batter charges the mound, the pitcher must meet him at the mound. Too many times i've seen pitchers who look tough when they throw a 95 mph fastball at a guys ribs, but when he comes for payback, they high tail it to the outfield hoping that one of the other players on the field will be able to stop him before he's caught. Basically if you have the balls to hit a guy, you better have the balls to stay and fight.
#2 - Catchers have one opportunity to get in on the action. They must catch the batter BEFORE he gets to the mound. After a batter is hit, the catcher can at that point make sure the batter doesn't get to the mound. If the batter gets away clean, and makes it to the mound, the catcher has an unfair advantage with his extra padding, and therefore must let the fight at the mound take place. I realize that catchers feel like they have to protect their pitcher, but like i said before, if the pitcher is going to hit the batter, he better also take the consequences like a man.
#3 - We all know that bench clearing brawls are always taken to the next level when the bullpens also get involved. So rule #3 is that the bullpens should always be ready. These guys should be ruthless... just think about the concept... a bunch of guys sitting in a caged area with nothing to do except think of ways to get at the other team, should the opportunity arise.
So this is a good start...there are probably more sweet rules we could add, but lets start small and work our way up from there.
-chuck out
p.s. look out xfl next season xlb makes it debut!
