TC thinks it; Stark writes it

As unfortunate as the recent Posey incident was, many of us have looked at the national outcry and wondered why that outcry happened with Posey and not some of the other many catchers who suffered similar fates.

Jayson Stark addressed that in his recent column, as well as how likely it is that a rule change will take place.

about 1 year ago Doghnut 5 comments 0 recs |

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Excellent article and thanks for the Fanshot of it.

The idea that any imaginable new rule will substantially reduce this number of situations in which catchers are exposed to the risk of severe injury, is highly doubtful IMO.

However, this is my take: Any catcher, but especially a star at the position – such as a Buster Posey or a Brian McCann, for example – should be heavily coached to not block the plate (“protect the castle”) and thereby imperil his career (or life) to save a run, regardless of the situation.

by fandave on May 28, 2011 8:15 AM EDT reply actions

If I read this correctly, and I don't significantly disagree...

Let the player decide whether to endanger himself. Coach him hard to not put his career on the line but at the end of the day, if a player chooses to block the plate, let them suffer the consequences?

I do have one question… If there’s a close play at the play, would we not call for the head of our catcher if they could have gotten the out by catching a well thrown ball and applying the tag? In the process of applying said tag, they get destroyed at the plate resulting in injury… Is our advice to just abandon the play at all costs and allow the run to score?

Actually, after reading the article (when I was drafting this, I am still working on my paper so I didn’t take the time to read the article but a well time lunch from my wonderful wife gave me a chance) I have to say it was all pretty much covered in the article.. The same questions I would ask you…

Bottom line, he’s right, this was a discussion that should at least be had. And before anyone comes in here and talks about “what if is was Eli Whiteside” just stop. There are people out there who may not care but I am here to tell you that an injury to a player, regardless of who and what position, should be a topic of discussion. Particularly on whether there was anything the MLB, players union, whoever could have done to stop it…

If the player is willing to take the contact in a clean play, then… let them play ball and see what happens.

I do feel that dirty plays should have some significant consequences and that replay should be used after the fact to review all plays w/ contact to firmly establish whether they were malicious or not. Other sports do it, MLB should as well… If they already do, great, I just never hear about the outcome of them…

I’m not trying to be too extremist on this but I’m glad there’s main stream discussion about these kinds of things as they are warranted whenever a player gets injured..

Don’t worry about older women until you turn 22. It’s called the Saltalamacchia.
by bwellnjonesco on May 19, 2011 4:13 PM PDT

by Klemson Krash on May 28, 2011 9:01 AM EDT up reply actions

I see it as a similiar issue to overly aggressive OFs consistently running into walls and/or crashing into teammates. Sometimes, it is just going to happen, but they need to be coached and made consciously aware that it is just not smart to play with that level of reckless abandon.

by fandave on May 28, 2011 10:00 AM EDT up reply actions

Some players, and we’ve had a few on the Braves, aren’t going to play well without being a bit reckless, and it has bit us a couple of times, like Diaz’s knee injury.

I think there needs to be a rule against going after the catcher without making an attempt to go for the plate.

by Broccoman on May 28, 2011 12:08 PM EDT up reply actions