The play occurred in the top of the 12th 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.
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.
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