Pitching a 1-2-3 inning just to get taken out the next inning. Getting my first and only black eye from a ground ball – in right field. The double with the bases loaded that got me the game ball. I’d be lying if I said I remember the majority of my Little League games or specific details about almost anything that happened, but some things have managed to stick with me over the years. And then I remember the time I became the subject of big-time Little League controversy.

I don’t even remember the situation clearly, to be honest. I couldn’t have been older than 10 at the time, and the Collinsville Baseball-Softball League wasn’t quite AAA. All I remember is running towards home and knowing I was out if I didn’t knock the ball loose. And that’s where the problem occurs.

Little Leaguers don’t have home plate collisions. Kids in Little League complain about having to play outfield and put their ball gloves on their heads. They’re more worried about who brought snacks than what’s going on in the game. Kids aren’t supposed to try to jar balls loose. Kids are supposed to try to avoid the tag, or just accept the fact that they’re out. Instead, I ran some poor kid over.

This isn’t a column to advocate avoiding collisions or to remove violence from sports. I felt sorry for what I did. Hell, the kid even did me one better – he held onto the ball anyway. This is a, “What ever happened to.?” column.

What ever happened to plays at the plate? Am I watching the wrong games? The play at the plate is one of the most exciting parts of a baseball game. Or it was, at least. But the event has become increasingly rare to see. So what did happen to the play at the plate? Well, a couple things.

The first is that outfielders aren’t what they once were. The mold of the sure-fielding outfielder with a strong arm is being replaced by speed machines like Willy Taveras and Juan Pierre; outfielders who can cover ground but can’t make the throws. Vlad Guerrero and Jose Guillen are members of an elite fraternity of players who still possess cannons. It’s a dying breed.

The second reason for the change is the guy in the on-deck circle. No matter who is due up, the reality of modern baseball is that anyone is a threat to hit the ball out of the ballpark. Even the eighth-place hitter can give a team 10-12 home runs in a given year. Teams don’t want to make an out at home and take that guy off the basepath. Chicks dig the longball.

The third reason is the risk factor of the play. Just ask Johnny Estrada. The Arizona catcher, who was on Atlanta at the time, got barreled over by Darin Erstad in the middle of the 2005 season. Estrada suffered a concussion from the incident, which some deemed a cheap shot by Erstad, and just recently Estrada seemed to be fully recovered from the collision.

Injuries aren’t inevitable, but they’re certainly part of the game. In a sport where a guy can be missed by an inside pitch and still charge the mound – see last week’s Angels-Athletics brawl – injuries are going to happen. I would hope Erstad didn’t wish injury on Estrada, as I didn’t wish injury on my nine-year-old counterpart, but things happen. Mistakes are just that – mistakes. And just like injuries, the play at the plate is part of the game.

Face it – for two-and-a-half hours of a three-hour game, baseball is boring. I just want to know why one of the most exciting five seconds of the game has gone missing. Is that too much to ask?

Nathan Grimm is a sophomore in ALS. He can be reached at [email protected].