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Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Mr. Armchair Speaks: I Might Be In The Minority, But I See Where Brian ...
Mr. Armchair Speaks: I Might Be In The Minority, But I See Where Brian ...: "Now that I’ve had a good week or so too calm down and settle my emotions, I feel comfortable with myself now to finally speak about the Bust..."
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ReplyDeleteMan, I feel very strongly about this in the opposite way. First, I completely agree it was not a dirty play in ANY way. The ball got there before Cousins did and im sure in the second he saw that he decided to plow him. Cousins also never left the basepath (he drags the end of the chalk line into the plate), and in fact actually touched homeplate in the process of running him over. All of the retribution talk and horsecrap Sabean said about Cousins is way out of line.
ReplyDeleteI completely disagree with a rule change too. Had Posey never been hurt, this just would have been one more highlight on ESPN and the baseball writers would just count it as another hardnose baseball play at the plate. This is the same knee jerk reaction crap that is ruining football. This play has been in the game forever, and while that is not a reason in and of itself, it does give catchers decades of experience to know what happens.
The key here is that the catcher initiates the play. While Posey's feet are positioned in front of the plate he moves his upper body directly into Cousins' path. You want to not get hit set up behind the plate and swipe tag. But Posey initiated that play, and this is precisely why the rule should not be changed. The catcher has the power here and that is why Billy Beane came out and told Suzuki not to block the plate, because he knows that the catcher has the power in initiating that play. If you don't want to engage in that type of play don't set up in a position blocking the plate.
I have nothing to say about Sabean other than he has zero justification for his comments. Be frustrated with the play, but in no way should you wish a player out of the league. Grow up.
The lends itself to a good comment by a mutual friend that I saw a while back, that this is precisely why you do not put your offensive centerpiece at catcher and I completely agree. Catcher (and to a lesser extent 2B) is uniquely dangerous in baseball by the sheer wear and tear you put on your body playing defense. Once Mauer was given 160 million he needed to be moved. Posey needs to be moved when he gets back as well. SF and Posey are more to blame for this incident and I think Sabean needs to realize that and look in the mirror before he makes such asinine comments again.
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ReplyDeleteLet me first clarify, reply, and then ask a question of you. First, I agree that Brian Sabean was out of line with his comments regarding Cousins not ever playing again and seeking revenge. I will give Sabean the benefit of the doubt in that he was speaking out of frustration and that he true intentions was to further highlight the need for a rule change.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I will forever feel that the play was unnecessary. Unnecessary and dirty are completely different. The play was not dirty, but it was unecessary. However, I don't blame Cousins. That is what he has been taught thoughtout his career. But the practice of teaching it needs to change. MLB Official Rule 7.06, Obstruction, needs to be enforced at home plate. I have yet to find where in the rule book it says a baserunner is allowed to propell himself into the cathcer to dislodge an incoming throw. If the catcher is blocking the path of the baserunner, then obstrcution needs to be called and the baserunner ruled safe.
Sometimes, it takes plays like the Posey/Cousins play and knee jerk reactions to draw attention to a problem. I hate to relate it to our major, but that is how our Government works. Something happens that causes a knee jerk reaction, legislation is written and authored, a bill is passed and a law is changed. Whether it's for good or bad. People are allowed to talk or text on cellphones while driving anymore because it led to too many accidents, and baserunners or catchers shouldn't be allowed to block or cause collisions at home plate because too many players are getting injuried.
Also, I have a probem with the notion that a catcher, and to a lesser extent, second basemen, can't be the primary offensive optiion for a baseball team. So is every highly touted prospect playing catcher and second base going to have to change positions in order to succeed in baseball?? If that is the case, then the art of the everyday catcher and second basemen is gone. All-star catcher and second basemen qualifications are now a .250 ave with 6 hr. That is ridiculous. So are Ivan Rodriguez and Jorge Posada the last catchers to ever be inducted into the hall of fame?? Because if what you are saying is true, then we can just close those wings in Coopertowns because he will never see another hall of fame catcher or second basemen again.
I think im going to be responding out of order. First, the MLB rule book was easily written by lawyers. I should know, it reads like the Uniform Commercial Code I had to read in Contracts in law school. Also, it reads like my rules for beer pong tournaments that I put on. As for the rule you cited, Section 2.00 defines obstruction as a fielder who blocks the bath of the runner while not in the act of fielder or not in possession of the ball. So interestingly, 7.06 doesn't apply since the fielder isn't technically obstructing in the case of these plays at the plate. 7.09 deals with runners interfering with the fielder, but again none of the 10 or so situations they list under that rule deal with this play either. So its neither expressly allowed or expressly prohibited. I find that odd considering the nature of the play and that it's not uncommon, but if it isn't defined as obstruction or runner interference then it's simply a clean play.
ReplyDeleteAs for whether it's "necessary", a lot of plays are unnecessary. I mean the whole concept of sliding is unnecessary. A runner doesn't need to slide, if he can't get to the base standing up, then he's out. This is what drives me nuts about such a quick call to outlaw the play at the plate. So many runners and fielders get injured during the act of sliding. Texas lost Hamilton for six weeks because of a slide. A lot of players break fingers, sprain wrists or get lower leg injuries as a result of sliding. And it's not just the runners, fielders (mostly 2B) get the same types of injuries with players sliding into them. I am positive more injuries result from sliding than collisions at the plate. So if baseball is going to rule out collisions at the plate for injury concerns, then they have to rule out sliding altogether in order to protect our precious players. Of course the sliding ban would never happen (I wouldn't want it to), and for that reason neither should the collision ban.
As for the catcher and 2B thing, I said they shouldn't be the offensive centerpiece of a team, not that you can't have good offensive catchers and 2B. Teams like the Yankees and the Phillies can absorb the higher risk of injury to Posada or Utley because they have deeper teams that do not rely significantly on those players to produce. Same with Texas and Kinsler. But, look what happened to Minnesota without Mauer. If Kinsler was on the A's, I'd move his ass to a less precarious position. It's a business decision. If I was running a team, I would willingly commit payroll to players like Utley and Mauer. But if they represent my best offensive threat, I think long and hard about whether I play them in places that could result in them missing 60 games every year. I'm not worried about completely losing C or 2B from the HOF for two reasons. You have many teams who can take risks on HOF caliber players at those positions without ruining their offense if they go down, and HOF players are HOFers because of their longevity. There will always bee outliers to the odds, and there will always been phenomenal catchers and 2B that prove exceptions to the rule. But, moving Mauer and Posey from catcher were both discussed long before their injuries because keeping those players at catchers on their respective teams represents too much risk for the the teams to bear.
Oh yeah, Sabean is a jackass. There, not I fully responded :).
ReplyDelete