He's back...!

After what has turned out to be one of worst 20 game stretches in the history of Major League Baseball (1-19), manager Edwin Rodriguez of the Florida Marlins stuck his hand into the unforgiving grab bag of reality and wrote his letter of resignation, leaving the throne wide open for the one-and-only (and available), Jack McKeon.

Yeah, thats right, Jack frickin McKeon. Pretty sure the guy is like 80 years old now and still smokes cigars like it's the nineteenth century. But sure enough, Jack Mac (nobody actually calls him that) is once again the perfect match for the Florida Marlins' interim manager position. I say 'once again', because if you weren't aware, or just not quick to catch on, this isn't the first time Jack McKeon has been hired as an interim head coach. This isn't even the first time Jack McKeon has been hired as an interim head coach for the Florida Marlins. This isn't EVEN, the first time Jack McKeon has been hired to take over and revamp a lifeless and uninspired baseball team that is struggling at nearly 10 games below .500.

Should I remind you what transpired the last time Jack McKeon graced his presence in the dugout of a struggling Marlins team, mid way through the season? Champagne showers and a parade held in their honor. Yup, they won it all. A seemingly improbable World Series victory against the New York Yankees in 2003... Dont mind me getting all nostalgic and whatnot. I was stoked.

Although the circumstances for both hirings seem fairly analogous, the 2011 Marlins are battling an issue that the 03' Marlins never had to worry about. A young, arrogant, and egotistical superstar, who is struggling beyond belief and frankly, just can't seem to grow up. If you haven't guessed him yet, I am talking about the 2009 National League batting champion and 27 year old prodigy shortstop -- Hanley Ramirez.

With Hanley Ramirez's uncongenial demeanor adding more weight on Jack McKeon's shoulders than he had ever experienced with the 2003 Florida Marlins, fans around the country wondered what type, color, and size foot he would get off to in his debut as the manager for the 2011 Florida Marlins.

So how did the ultra cool Jack McKeon handle his first lineup card of the season? He just neglected to write Hanley Ramirez's name on it...No big deal.

It was an unconventional decision with a message. Totally Jack's style.

The Marlins lost monday night, something that they have grown very accustom to over the past three weeks. McKeon justified his actions after the game by saying to the press that he didn't feel Ramirez was hustling out of the box, and doing the smaller, more general skills, to the best of his ability. The message was received by Hanley Ramirez as he rode the bench the entire night. He was then placed in the 4th spot of the Marlins lineup the next night. No hard feelings, I guess. Ramirez went 2 for 4 out of the cleanup spot Tuesday night, scoring two runs in a winning effort that snapped an 11 game losing streak. More interesting than the end of one streak though, is the start of another. Jack McKeon had won his first game of the season. Im not saying that this will certainly be the first of many, but in baseball, who really knows.

From my view, I think it's fair to say that this Marlins baseball team is young and talented, but notably unable to focus on the big picture. Their agonizing lack of diligence and discipline will always be their demise if nothing is done. With McKeon's old school fervor for the game of baseball and no bullshit attitude, these young men have a chance to evolve from athletes, to real genuine baseball players. Yes, even Hanley Ramirez

Whether Jack McKeon is able to actualize another magical comeback season for this franchise is a question of great intrigue, and truthfully, doesn't seem too wishful. But for now, I am just happy to see his old ass chillin' in the dugout again. He's a legend, a scholar, and a badass of baseball. Don't be shocked to hear some noise coming from Miami this summer. Noise of course that isn't stemming from Lebron James' and Dwayne Wade's homosexual tendencies.

"Love among the ruins"

A fantastic photograph of a couple kissing in the street amid the hazardous conditions of the Vancouver riots. These riots were of course stimulated by the Vancouver Canucks' game 7 loss to the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals. Think they're taking it a little hard...?

Although we would all like to assume that the couple's actions were a statement against violence and authority, it didn't really go down like that. The couple were apparently knocked down and 'run over' by the riot police, and the man was merely kissing his alleged girlfriend to calm her down. The news just has to ruin it for everybody.  

Buster Posey's injury nearly jeopardizes the most exciting play in baseball.

I believe that by now, nearly everybody has seen the footage of the terrible collision that took place on Wednesday, May 25^th in San Francisco. If you haven’t yet, well, here it is. Brace yourself.

The play occurred in the top of the 12^th inning when the game was tied at six runs a-piece. Outfielder Scott Cousins had come off the bench in a pinch hitting roll for the Florida Marlins and reached first base safely on a fielder’s choice. The inning played on, and Cousins eventually found himself standing on the third base bag, 90 feet away from scoring the potential winning run and possibly earning himself a shaving cream pie to the face during a post-game interview. Little did Scott Cousins know, he was only 90 feet away from what has since become one of the most controversial plays of the 2011 MLB season.

On a shallow fly ball hit to right field by Emilio Bonifacio, Scott Cousins tagged up and took off. With Nate Schierholtz’s throw from right center field and Scott Cousins’ 200 pound frame reaching home plate nearly simultaneously, Giants’ catcher Buster Posey didn’t stand a chance. I think he knew it, to. More concerned with Scott Cousins’ thunderous steps down the third base line and the catastrophe begging to happen, Posey didn’t field the ball cleanly. With a quick and clean inhale, which had figured to be his last for the next couple of minutes, Posey found himself on his back and in what looked like to be excruciating pain.

I don’t even know what was more terrifying, the actual collision itself, or the reaction of the Giants’ young star catcher after he was obliterated by roughly 3000 pounds of muscle ton force.

The end result: Cousins was called safe at home, scoring what was ultimately proven to be the winning run of a thrilling 12-inning baseball game. Buster Posey was taken out of the game after the disastrous play at the plate had left him with a broken left leg and severe ligament damage in his left ankle. It has since been confirmed that Buster Posey, one of the brightest young catchers in the game today, and one of the San Francisco Giants’ greatest assets, will not return to the game of baseball again, for the rest of the season.

Whoa -- Can you say ‘dev-uh-stey-ting’?

It’s difficult enough to watch a player’s season go right down the drain, especially a player of such great caliber like that of Buster Posey. But the way that it all unfolded for Buster Posey, the way that he dauntlessly stood his ground to protect what was his, to protect what was his team’s, to protect what was the city of San Francisco’s. For Buster Posey to fall victim of such cruel punishment for performing his job with such valor and intrepidity – well, the whole thing just seems corrupt.

That’s baseball though kids. Hell, that’s professional sports.

We have seen it happen in nearly every other league multiple times. The one contentious play that causes everybody and their mothers to talk about rule changes. After just witnessing an NFL season jammed with concussions and questionable hits, sports enthusiasts have seem to become accustom to this league-wide chatter regarding safety standards and the adjustment of the games’ most natural tendencies. Well folks, the 2011 MLB season has been suffocated with a brand new issue that has baseball fans everywhere, including myself, completely hysterical. After understandable concern for the well-being of Buster Posey and the other catchers around the league, MLB personnel (most notably Buster Posey’s agent as well as the Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy) have filed complaints to the league officials regarding the rules, or lack thereof, and concerning the proclivity of what is extensively known by followers as, ‘the play at the plate.’


Yeah -- Way to go, Scott Cousins


Although what happened to Buster Posey is unfortunate, I can't say that I can completely empathize with the catcher's plight in this situation. Call me cold-blooded, but I am merely a spectator. A fan who is trying to squeeze out all of the excitement that televised baseball has to offer.  In a sport that seems to be stranded somewhere in between the end of one era and the beginning of another, baseball’s somewhat edgeless exterior needs to hold on to the one play that is so naturally glorious, time seems to slow down for the two split seconds in which it transpires. At this moment, baseball is just too vulnerable to let go of something as brilliant as this. With any adaptation to the etiquette involving the play at the plate -- well, baseball might just lose a fan.


Simply put, I don't think there is much the league can do about this situation anyways. With no real rules already existing in place, finding a point of intent would appear to be a challenge on its own. Fellow catchers around the league, including the outspoken A.J. Pierzynski, have stated that they would prefer it if Joe Torre and his gang of wolves refrained from implementing a rule change into the game to assist in avoiding collisions at home plate.


"It's unfortunate Buster got hurt," Pierzynski says. "But it's part of the game and every catcher has been through nasty collisions."


Bobby Valentine, a baseball analyst for ESPN, has spoken about ideas to change the fundamentals of blocking home plate, as well as applying the tag from a different angle. These changes in catching techniques could help in adjusting catchers to be less defenseless to destructive encounters at home plate. I believe that this is the best insight that has been released thus far and probably the best that we will ever get.


What happened to Buster Posey last Wednesday night was freakish and momentarily discouraging to the game of baseball. But Buster Posey will eventually heal and return to the game of baseball where he has made a name for himself in just less than one full season of experience. Call me a purist, but I strongly believe that change is not the answer to the severe consequences that Buster Posey payed as he observed the basic practices of the position that were taught to him in little league. The answer is merely to recognize the event that took place as a reality of the game. We shall recognize it as the day our eyes were opened to the genuine extent of danger and peril that is associated with the catcher position.  


For the sake of the game, I can only hope that aspiring catchers, as well as catchers currently in the league, can learn from this incident, and the fans can continue to indulge in the greatest component of gamesmanship that nearly any sport has to offer. 


Please Bud Selig, don't screw this up.