Agent wants baseball rule change! ghey

[Ted]

Buster Posey hurt in collision

Giants catcher Buster Posey is awaiting word of just how serious he is hurt, after he apparently suffered a significant leg injury while blocking home plate in the 12th inning of San Francisco's game Wednesday night. But his agent is not waiting to lobby for change.


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Posey's agent, Jeff Berry, said Thursday morning he is going to reach out to Joe Torre, leader of on-field operations for Major League Baseball, and raise the idea of changing the rules regarding plays at the plate.

Over time, it is has become accepted practice for catchers to block home plate, and for baserunners to launch themselves into catchers.

"You leave players way too vulnerable," Berry said. "I can tell you Major League Baseball is less than it was before [Posey's injury]. It's stupid. I don't know if this ends up leading to a rule change, but it should. The guy [at the plate] is too exposed.

"If you go helmet to helmet in the NFL, it's a $100,000 fine, but in baseball, you have a situation in which runners are [slamming into] fielders. It's brutal. It's borderline shocking. It just stinks for baseball. I'm going to call Major League Baseball and put this on the radar. Because it's just wrong."

Scott Cousins scored the go-ahead run in a brutal collision with Posey at home in the 12th inning, injuring the star catcher in a 7-6 loss to the Florida Marlins. Posey went for X-rays on his left ankle and the Giants said there would be no test results released until later Thursday, when he'll have an MRI exam.


“
I can tell you Major League Baseball is less than it was before [Posey's injury]. It's stupid. I don't know if this ends up leading to a rule change, but it should. The guy [at the plate] is too exposed.

”
-- Jeff Berry, agent for Buster Posey

"It's huge. He's one of the leaders of the team already and what he brings every day is something you can't replace," Giants right fielder Nate Schierholtz said. "I'm just hoping for the best. I couldn't really see what happened from out there. I was just hoping for the best. Maybe he got the wind knocked out of him or something."

The play came after the Giants rallied from four runs down in the ninth in one of the wildest nights of their young season.

The deciding play came when Emilio Bonifacio hit a shallow fly ball to right-center off Guillermo Mota (2-1) for the second out. Cousins tagged from third base on the sacrifice fly, beating the throw from Schierholtz and lowering his shoulder to slam into Posey for a clean -- albeit cringing -- hit on the reigning NL Rookie of the Year.

Cousins was safe as Posey never quite could corral the ball. Cousins, who attended the University of San Francisco, lives in the Bay Area and had almost a dozen friends and family in attendance, said he felt sorry for injuring Posey but believed it was a clean baseball play.

"I felt like he was blocking the dish. It's the go-ahead run to win the game, I got to do whatever I can to score," Cousins said. "I'm not trying to end anybody's season or anything like that. I just was trying to play hard and score the go-ahead run. He didn't say much and you could tell he was in pain.


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"And when their manager, when Bruce (Bochy) came out, he was pretty frustrated. I didn't want to make things any more tense."

After several minutes of being attended to at the plate, with fans finally chanting "Posey! Posey!" he was helped off the field by two team trainers, holding his left leg and looking stunned.

"It's the toughest play in baseball. You hate to see it," Bochy said. "As a catcher you know what it's like, and you don't like it. Believe me. When I see him laying there, it's certainly not a good feeling."

Cousins said he felt for Posey and repeatedly mentioned that he wasn't trying to injure him. He said he would find a way to contact Posey to wish him well.

"It's a baseball play. I feel bad for Buster Posey, I really do," Cousins said. "I'm going to send a message over there to them."



I really want the agent to block the plate.

[Geor!]

I always thought plays like that were recipes for disaster too. I'm not opposed to changing that rule. You can't tackle a second or third baseman like that, why is the catcher able to be pummeled?

[mstng86]

ESPN said he broke his ankle and possibly has damage to his knee.

I kind of get what Geor is saying, but this game has been around for 150 years. It is just part of the game. If you don't want your best player to get hurt, don't put him at catcher. Same concept as not wanting your best player's knees to go out early in his career, move him.

[Venom]

It's a small part of the game. How many times in a normal game are there huge collisions at the plate? Not many. It's just the continued pussification of America.

[YALE]

ESPN said he broke his ankle and possibly has damage to his knee.

I kind of get what Geor is saying, but this game has been around for 150 years. It is just part of the game. If you don't want your best player to get hurt, don't put him at catcher. Same concept as not wanting your best player's knees to go out early in his career, move him.

Move him where? These injuries aren't cumulative over the career of a catcher. If they were, you'd have a point. If a single play has the potential of crippling you, the league needs to look at it. That said, his agent sounds like a whiney bitch.

[mstng86]

Move him where? These injuries aren't cumulative over the career of a catcher. If they were, you'd have a point. If a single play has the potential of crippling you, the league needs to look at it. That said, his agent sounds like a whiney bitch.

The agent is protecting his own interests. I doubt he sincerely cares about Busters health. He just wants to keep getting paid.

True, they don't have enough of these plays to be cumulative. But one good hit, like last night, could put him out of the game. Just ask the catcher Pete Rose ran over in that All-Star game, he was never the same.

Freak things happen. I say keep the rules the way they are. The odds of really getting hurt are pretty slim.

[YALE]

The agent is protecting his own interests. I doubt he sincerely cares about Busters health. He just wants to keep getting paid.

True, they don't have enough of these plays to be cumulative. But one good hit, like last night, could put him out of the game. Just ask the catcher Pete Rose ran over in that All-Star game, he was never the same.

Freak things happen. I say keep the rules the way they are. The odds of really getting hurt are pretty slim.

It's not a freak occurrence if the cause is showable. Then it's a calculable risk. Percentage of catchers with debilitating injuries/total number of pro catchers.

[Nash B.]

I always thought plays like that were recipes for disaster too. I'm not opposed to changing that rule. You can't tackle a second or third baseman like that, why is the catcher able to be pummeled?

Second and third basemen don't stand 3 feet in front of the base to keep the runner from getting to it, or they would be tackled the same way. It's the catcher's choice - he doesn't have to block it, he could just as easily stand in front of the plate (between the plate and the pitcher's mound), behind the plate, or straddle the plate, so the runner doesn't have to go through him to score. But if he wants to block it, he has to be aware of the possibility that he's going to get plowed over.

[BERT]

Second and third basemen don't stand 3 feet in front of the base to keep the runner from getting to it, or they would be tackled the same way. It's the catcher's choice - he doesn't have to block it, he could just as easily stand in front of the plate (between the plate and the pitcher's mound), behind the plate, or straddle the plate, so the runner doesn't have to go through him to score. But if he wants to block it, he has to be aware of the possibility that he's going to get plowed over.

THIS!



Those of you saying "change the rules" are pussies

[pHILSANITY07]

I always thought plays like that were recipes for disaster too. I'm not opposed to changing that rule. You can't tackle a second or third baseman like that, why is the catcher able to be pummeled?

probably cause its a scoring play, but IDK.

[0 GT 2]

[71chevellejohn]

No need to change the rules over this small isolated incident. Had he been in the correct position when attempting to block the plate, he wouldn't be on the DL right now.

If you watch the clip, Posey is a few feet in front of the plate waiting on the throw from right-center field. He was doing what a lot of catchers do today - trying to block the whole plate with one leg and swing around to make the tag. His positioning should be more in line with the baseline. That way he's blocking the plate with his body, not a limb. Kevin Kennedy(former catcher) has been harping about this for a few weeks on MLB/XM in the mornings. It is a little adjustment that would save a few more runs and reduce the few injuries that are sustained from the collision.

Posey's agent should really stick to handling contracts and leave the rules to people who actually play the game. Nobody involved said it was a dirty slide/tackle just an unfortunate accident.

[0 GT 2]

No need to change the rules over this small isolated incident. Had he been in the correct position when attempting to block the plate, he wouldn't be on the DL right now.

If you watch the clip, Posey is a few feet in front of the plate waiting on the throw from right-center field. He was doing what a lot of catchers do today - trying to block the whole plate with one leg and swing around to make the tag. His positioning should be more in line with the baseline. That way he's blocking the plate with his body, not a limb. Kevin Kennedy(former catcher) has been harping about this for a few weeks on MLB/XM in the mornings. It is a little adjustment that would save a few more runs and reduce the few injuries that are sustained from the collision.

Posey's agent should really stick to handling contracts and leave the rules to people who actually play the game. Nobody involved said it was a dirty slide/tackle just an unfortunate accident.

The proper way to block the plate is not to stand in the baseline while you're waiting for the ball to come in. That's how you get coldcocked.

The idea is to time it and come across the line while they're coming in and push them around the plate since most guys go for a hook slide or a hook dive. It's a tough play because you have to catch the ball, turn, react to how the player is coming in, and make a move based on what you see all in under a second. It's bang, bang and unfortunately for Posey he didn't read it right.

[71chevellejohn]

Posey was in front of the plate shading towards first. When he thought he had the ball, he tried to twist/lean out over his left leg. When he did this, he had no foundation under him. That's why he got rolled the way he did. If he has his left leg planted instead of kneeling, his ankle doesn't twist the wrong way.

Here is the article/clip of the play on Posey:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110526&content_id=19599270&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

Here is what I mean when I say he should be in a better position/form(starts at 1:30):

http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Block-the-Home-Plate-134116076

[pHILSANITY07]

maybe he should've moved out of the way lol