"It's always been part of the game and always will be" is my least favorite baseball phrase. Cliches should always dictate the future.less than a minute ago via web 
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Brandon McCarthy
B__McCarthy
I'll just leave this here -- a tweet from Brandon McCarthy that sums up how feel. I've read a lot of stupid things today, and I'm just tired. Shocking news really brings out critters from all corners.
One of my least favorite things, though, was the constant "Hey, that's just how it is" argument. Running into the catcher to dislodge a baseball doesn't really fit with the sport. If you find something aesthetically pleasing about a player intentionally trying to dislodge a ball, fine. Explain your case. Explain how that adds to the game. I'm not talking about trying to reach home plate if a catcher is in the way -- this is just about trying to dislodge a baseball. If you like that for whatever reason, good for you. I think you're a little weird, and I disagree, but we're just riffing on sports. There's room for disagreement.
But "that's how the game is played!" is cro-magnon talk. Appealing to tradition doesn't work as an argument for sacrificing virgins in volcanoes, and it shouldn't work for sports either. Think about why you like the things you like and string words together to support them.