Civil Rights
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
q2K BHP
Black History Portal
THE BHP WIRE —
HIDDEN TRUTHS
What's New!
Explore the people, places, events, achievements, struggles and stories that shaped our journey.
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
Innovation, patents, science, technology and world-changing contributions.
Pioneers, champions, Negro Leagues, records, activism and excellence.
Meet the people whose lives, choices and achievements shaped the journey.
Black towns, communities, institutions and places where history happened.
Moments that changed communities, movements, institutions and the nation.
In 1968 Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. In 1972 she launched a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, breaking another political barrier.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
In baseball, blocking the plate is a technique performed by a catcher to prevent a runner from scoring. The act of blocking the plate accounted for most of the physical contact in Major League Baseball prior to the 2014 season, when it was outlawed except when the catcher already has possession of the ball.
By the rules of baseball, a runner has the right to an unobstructed path to a base. However, this right is not granted if the fielder guarding the base possesses the ball or is in the process of catching the ball. The fielders guarding the first base through the third base are unlikely to risk physical harm and will generally place themselves out of the path of the runner. The catcher guarding home plate, however, wears the padding and a face mask and often placed his body as an obstacle between the runner and home plate, even prior to receiving the ball. Since the runner did not have to worry about remaining on home plate, only tagging it, he typically ran at full speed in an effort to reach the plate. The speed of the runner combined with the fact that the catcher still had to tag him (unless the bases were loaded and a force play at home was still available) often resulted in collisions.
Since the 1970 Major League Baseball All-Star Game (when Ray Fosse was injured in a collision at the plate by Pete Rose), there have been rules established, mainly in amateur levels of baseball, against home plate collisions between runners and catchers to make the obstruction (defense) and interference (offense) rules consistent at the plate with the three bases. The rules, long enforced at lower levels, were implemented at the professional level in 2014.[1]
Any time there is a close play at home plate, meaning the ball and runner reach the plate at roughly the same time, the catcher will often squat in front of the plate to block the runner's clear path to the plate. Unless he is willing to be tagged out, the runner who is faced with a blocked plate has two choices. He can:
If the runner slides, the catcher will often make a sweeping motion with his glove to quickly tag the runner out. Otherwise, the catcher must brace for impact and keep the ball in his glove or hand in order to tag the runner out.
Both players place themselves at risk of injury when there is a close play at home plate. Though they wear protective equipment, catchers are more likely to be injured than runners. Catchers often have bad knees due to the squatting stance they take at the plate. A catcher's knees are also his closest body parts to an incoming runner, and there is a chance of an ACL injury to the catcher. Other injuries include broken bones, bruises, and concussions.
In one infamous incident, Cleveland Indians catcher Ray Fosse suffered a separated shoulder when Pete Rose intentionally collided with him on a play at the plate during the 1970 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.[2] Rose was roundly criticized because the game was an exhibition and also because he could have easily slid around Fosse rather than collide with him. Ultimately, the incident served to help build Rose's "Charlie Hustle" reputation and Fosse, who had been having a phenomenal rookie season, was never quite the same after the play.
Different levels of baseball have instituted different rules in regards to collisions at home plate or on the bases, in part because of the Fosse-Rose collision and other instances where athletes have been injured or suffered concussions as a result of violent contact between runner and fielder.
In high school, the "malicious contact" rule prevents collisions at home plate or elsewhere on the field. The defense is prohibited from initiating flagrant contact with the base runner while the offense, in turn, is required to attempt to avoid significant contact, often through the use of a slide. If the defense violates, the ball is dead and the offender ejected as the umpire awards penalties that in his/her judgment will nullify the act of malicious contact. If the offense violates, the ball is dead, the offender is declared out and then ejected from the game.
In college, the "flagrant collision" rule discourages, but does not prohibit, collisions at home plate and on the bases. Instead, only "unnecessary and violent" collisions are outlawed. While defensive players are allowed to block the plate/base with clear possession of the ball, offensive players must take steps to ensure contact with the fielder is legal—for instance, it must be below the waist. Violations of this rule carry similar penalties to the high school malicious contact rule.
In Major League Baseball, collisions at the home plate have been legal and were unaddressed since the game's inception until a series of serious player injuries and also former catchers who were MLB managers recommending changes. In 2011, San Francisco catcher Buster Posey suffered a season-ending injury in a collision at home plate. The incident led to a reinterpretation of Rule 7.08 (b). On December 11, 2013, the MLB Rules Committee proposed a rules change that would outlaw the plate collision by dictating what both the defensive and offensive players may and may not do in such a situation.[3] This establishes home plate with similar regulations as other bases in regards to obstruction (for the catcher) and interference (for the runner). On February 24, 2014, Major League Baseball and the MLBPA jointly announced an experimental rule—rule 7.13—intended to increase player safety by eliminating "egregious" collisions at home plate. The rule went into effect starting with the 2014 season but starting in 2015 the rule was renumbered as rule 6.01 (i). Informally known as the "Buster Posey Rule,"[4] some highlights of rule 7.13 include:
In Finnish baseball, the runner is considered tagged and out when he has not arrived at a target base and the defending player is holding the ball while touching that base, similar to force out. No physical contact is necessary and the base umpire will call the runner out by raising a sign with the letter X and whistling twice.
Text of rule 7.13 is as follows:
A runner attempting to score may not deviate from his direct pathway to the plate in order to initiate contact with the catcher (or other player covering home plate). If, in the judgment of the Umpire, a runner attempting to score initiates contact with the catcher (or other player covering home plate) in such a manner, the Umpire shall declare the runner out (even if the player covering home plate loses possession of the ball).
Unless the catcher is in possession of the ball, the catcher cannot block the pathway of the runner as he is attempting to score. If, in the judgment of the Umpire, the catcher, without possession of the ball, blocks the pathway of the runner, the Umpire shall call or signal the runner safe.
Notwithstanding the above, it shall not be considered a violation of this Rule 7.13 if the catcher blocks the pathway of the runner in order to field a throw, and the Umpire determines that the catcher could not have fielded the ball without blocking the pathway of the runner and that contact with the runner was unavoidable.
The decision on whether or not a player violated Rule 7.13 falls into the hands of the umpire. A manager can choose to see if there was a rule violation rather than challenge a call, which might lead to a free challenge. The umpire makes the final decision.[7]
Some managers reacted by saying that they hoped the new rule does not decide the final game in the World Series. Many managers stated that the rule needed clarification and explanation. The rule depends on the perception of the umpire and if he or she thinks that the contact was intentional and done with malicious intent. Regardless of what the rule states, many managers instruct players to slide.[7][8]
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
In baseball, blocking the plate is a technique performed by a catcher to prevent a runner from scoring. The act of blocking the plate accounted for most of the physical contact in Major League Baseball prior to the 2014 season, when it was outlawed except when the catcher already has possession of the ball. By the rules of baseball, a runner has the right to an unobstructed path to a base. However, this right is not granted if the fielder guarding the base possesses the ball or is in the process of catching the ball. The fielders guarding the first base through the third base are unlikely to risk physical harm and will generally place themselves out of the path of the runner. The catcher guarding home plate, however, wears the padding and a face mask and often placed his body as an obstacle between the runner and home plate, even prior to receiving the ball. Since the runner did not have to worry about remaining on home plate, only tagging it, he typically ran at full speed in an effort to reach the plate. The speed of the runner combined with the fact that the catcher still had to tag him (unless the bases were loaded and a force play at home was still available) often resulted in collisions. Since the 1970 Major League Baseball All-Star Game (when Ray Fosse was injured in a collision at the plate by Pete Rose), there have been rules established, mainly in amateur levels of baseball, against home plate collisions between runners and catchers to make the obstruction (defense) and interference (offense) rules consistent at the plate with the three bases. The rules, long enforced at lower levels, were implemented at the professional level in 2014.
Gerald Dempsey "Buster" Posey III (born March 27, 1987) is an American baseball executive and former professional baseball catcher. He is currently the president of baseball operations for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent his entire 12-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Giants, from 2009 until his retirement at the conclusion of the 2021 season. Internationally, Posey represented the United States. In the 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC), he helped win Team USA's first gold medal in a WBC tournament. Posey was born in Leesburg, Georgia. He played four sports in high school; in baseball, he excelled at hitting and pitching. He attended Florida State University, where he began playing the catcher and first base positions. He won the Golden Spikes Award and the Brooks Wallace Award in 2008. The Giants selected him with the fifth overall pick in the first round of the 2008 MLB draft. Posey made his MLB debut on September 11, 2009. He and Madison Bumgarner both made their Major League debuts in 2009 and established a reputation as one of the best batteries in recent MLB history. As a rookie, Posey finished with a .305 batting average, 18 home runs, and 67 runs batted in. He caught every inning of the playoffs as the Giants won the 2010 World Series. He was named the NL Rookie of the Year. In May 2011, after he was severely injured in a collision with the Florida Marlins' Scott Cousins at home plate, Posey missed the rest of the year. The collision is widely seen as pushing Major League Baseball to adopt rule 7.13 regarding blocking the plate prior to the 2014 season, informally known as the "Buster Posey Rule". Posey returned from his injury in 2012 and caught Matt Cain's perfect game, batted .336 to win the 2012 NL batting title and was voted the 2012 NL MVP. He won his second World Series that year, as the Giants swept the Detroit Tigers in four games. In 2013, Posey signed a franchise-record eight-year, $167 million contract extension with the Giants. He won his third World Series the following year as the Giants defeated the Kansas City Royals. Posey is the second player in MLB history, after Pete Rose, to win the Rookie of the Year, a League MVP, and three World Series championships. Posey played in four no-hitters in his career, catching three of them. In 2016, he won a Gold Glove Award. In 2019, the Johnny Bench Award was renamed the Buster Posey Award, which honors college baseball's top NCAA Division I catcher. After opting out of the shortened 2020 MLB season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Posey led the Giants to a franchise-record 107 wins in his final season in 2021. In September 2022, Posey joined the Giants' ownership group and two years later became their president of baseball operations.
Plate tectonics (from Latin tectonicus, from Ancient Greek τεκτονικός (tektonikós) 'pertaining to building') is the scientific theory that Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of continental drift, an idea developed during the first decades of the 20th century. Plate tectonics came to be accepted by geoscientists after seafloor spreading was validated in the mid- to late 1960s. The processes that result in plates and shape Earth's crust are called tectonics. Earth's lithosphere, the rigid outer shell of the planet including the crust and upper mantle, is fractured into seven or eight major plates (depending on how they are defined) and many minor plates or "platelets". Where the plates meet, their relative motion determines the type of plate boundary (or fault): convergent, divergent, or transform. The relative movement of the plates typically ranges from zero to 10 cm annually. Faults tend to be geologically active, with earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation. Tectonic plates are composed of the oceanic lithosphere and the thicker continental lithosphere, each topped by its own kind of crust. Along convergent plate boundaries, the process of subduction carries the edge of one plate down under the other plate and into the mantle. This process reduces the total surface area (crust) of Earth. The lost surface is balanced by the formation of new oceanic crust along divergent margins by seafloor spreading, keeping the total surface area constant in a tectonic "conveyor belt". While Earth is the only planet known to currently have active plate tectonics, evidence suggests that other planets and moons have experienced or exhibit forms of tectonic activity. Jupiter's moon Europa shows signs of ice crustal plates moving and interacting, similar to Earth's plate tectonics. Mars and Venus are thought to have had tectonic activity in the past, though not of the same form as Earth. Tectonic plates are relatively rigid and float across the ductile asthenosphere beneath. Lateral density variations in the mantle result in convection currents, the slow creeping motion of Earth's solid mantle. At a seafloor spreading ridge, plates move away from the ridge, which is a topographic high, and the newly formed crust cools as it moves away, increasing its density and contributing to the motion. At a subduction zone, the relatively cold, dense oceanic crust sinks down into the mantle, forming the downward convecting limb of a mantle cell, which is the strongest driver of plate motion. The relative importance and interaction of other proposed factors such as active convection, upwelling inside the mantle, and tidal drag of the Moon are subjects of debate.
A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British, Indian, Pakistani, Australian, and New Zealand English), license plate (American English) or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. All countries require registration plates for commercial road vehicles such as cars, trucks, and motorcycles, for hire. Whether they are required for other vehicles, such as bicycles, boats, or tractors, may vary by jurisdiction. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric ID that uniquely identifies the vehicle or vehicle owner within the issuing region's vehicle register. In some countries, the identifier is unique within the entire country, while in others it is unique within a state or province. Whether the identifier is associated with a vehicle or a person also varies by issuing agency. There are also electronic license plates.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Madam C.J. Walker
