I've been saying this for years, but after what happened to Atlanta Braves pitcher Tim Hudson on Wednesday, perhaps someone high up in baseball circles will begin saying this same thing: It's time for baseball at all levels to begin using a "double-base" at first base.
Hudson was covering first base when the baserunner — the Mets' Eric Young — stepped on his ankle, fracturing it. The video is tough to watch, and it's difficult to believe that the 38-year-old Hudson will ever take to a major-league mound again.
First base is a dangerous spot. Baserunners are flying down the line with metal spikes on their feet, and there's only so much room on the bag. Feet get tangled — and they can get mangled. Or, if a throw is off-line and "into the runner," first baseman can suffer fractured wrists, as happened to Albert Pujols in 2011.
These collisions don't need to happen. Extending the base into foul territory gives base runners no reason to run in fair territory, creating a buffer between the runner, the first baseman and the pitcher who is covering.
The only reason not to make this change is blind adherence to tradition and the notion that baseball is a tough guy's game. Remember that it was once "tradition" for players to bat without helmets, and for pitchers to throw at the head of the guy who had the misfortune of batting after the guy who hit a home run.
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— Eric Atherton
