Maddon 'proposes' new baseball safety rules

ST. LOUIS - In the interest of baseball safety, Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon said he wants to help.

So on Sunday, Maddon came up with a number of new proposals to make the game safer.

Maddon's public-service announcement came one day after he gave a controlled, but firm, speech complaining about Major League Baseball's "slide rule."

The Cubs were cost a run in Saturday's 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals when baserunner Ian Happ was called for oversliding second base (ever so slightly). The play resulted in an automatic double play, with batter Anthony Rizzo being ruled out at first base, as well.

So Maddon slept on it.

"I have some other additions to it, though," he said. "I had to think about it some more. I thought of other ways for protectionism. I think we should consider now eliminating the headfirst slide. This is to protect baserunners because that is really a dangerous slide. To headfirst slide, you're going to hurt your hand. Your eye could be poked out. All different things could occur on the headfirst slide."

Maddon was just getting warmed up.

"You saw (the Diamondbacks' Chris) Iannetta get hit in the mouth the other day on the pitch. I think the face mask should be mandatory for all hitters. Pitchers have been hit in the head with line drive several times, line drives up the middle. So I think pitchers should now be forced to wear helmets.

"The other day we were in Colorado, and (Charlie) Blackmon was in the on-deck circle. Their pitcher was late (on the swing) and he (Blackmon) got smoked. I think there should be a cage in the on-deck circle now so that on-deck guys can stand behind the screen and not get hurt.

"And finally, even when I coached third base in the minor leagues, I always wore a (protective) cup. I was always concerned. So I think there needs to be a cup-check as players run out onto the field in order to prevent the potential for the loss of future families."

When it was pointed out to Maddon that there are helmets for pitchers, he replied: "They're there. Why are not we using them every day? It's much more dangerous than the slide that was incorporated at second base by Ian Happ, much more dangerous, not even close."

Maddon said he has "not yet" heard from MLB's Joe Torre about Saturday's comments.

That may change Monday.