Category: MLB (Page 28 of 448)

      Giants still unsure of Posey’s recovery time

      May 27, 2011 /
      San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey prepares to bat against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver on May 17, 2011. UPI/Gary C. Caskey

      If ever there were a time to root for a broken bone, it would be in the case of Giants catcher Buster Posey.

      After his leg collapsed awkwardly under his body during a collision at the plate with Marlins’ outfielder Scott Cousins on Wednesday night, Posey underwent three MRIs on Thursday to determine the severity of the injury. The early reports were that he was diagnosed with a broken leg and torn ligaments, the latter of which being the freighting part to Posey and the Giants.

      Broken bones heal, but damaged ligaments are something that can puts athletes’ careers in jeopardy. Thankfully, he “only” has a broken left fibula and severely strained ankle ligaments. In some respects, it’s the first sign of good news since Posey suffered the injury on Wednesday night. It’s still a terrible situation and your heart goes out to a young player who has meant the world to the Giants’ organization, but at least his knee was unaffected.

      The Giants placed their young catcher on the 15-day DL on Thursday and have stated that he will have surgery within the week. They won’t say whether or not he’s out for the season because quite frankly, they don’t know. They won’t have a timetable for his recovery until they get the details of his surgery ironed out.

      I’m no doctor but if I were to make an educated guess on how long Posey will be out for based on athletes who have suffered a similar injury, the player that instantly comes to mind is Michael Vick. Different sports, I know, but the quarterback suffered a fractured right fibula on August 16, 2003 and returned to action on November 30 of that same year, which would have put his recovery time at roughly 15 weeks.

      Again, I’m not a doctor. If any reader in the medical field would like to set me straight and educate me on the severity of both injuries: by all means, please leave me a comment. But from a simpleton’s point of view, it looks like Vick and Posey suffered similar injuries. Vick was also in his early 20s at the time of his injury and being 24, Posey has age on his side as well. Either way, it’s obviously important that the Giants don’t rush him back. If he needs a full year to recover, so be it. But based on the injury Vick suffered, I wouldn’t be surprised if Posey’s recovery timetable is right around 4-5 months (which would sadly wipe out his 2011 campaign).

      External Sports, MLB

      Should baseball ban running into the catcher?

      May 26, 2011 /

      As a lifelong Giants fan, I’ll admit that this topic only became relevant for me when I watched Buster Posey lie on the ground Wednesday night withering in pain. I’ve always felt for catchers who’ve been hurt when a runner smashes into them at home plate. But it honestly has never dawned on me that baseball should actually do something about it until last night.

      That’s because not only am I salty Giants fan right now, but I’m also baseball purist. I’ve played the game my entire life on multiple levels and I love it exactly the way it is. Quite frankly, running full-steam into the catcher in efforts to jar the ball loose has always been part of the game.

      But while I can’t stand change when it comes to the sports I love, this one seems obvious. I’m sure by now there’s a reader who can’t wait to skip through the rest of this piece just to tell me in the comments section that a) catchers have equipment on, b) professional sports are for men or c) injuries are just part of the game. And while I get all of that, I’ll have to respectfully disagree in this instance.

      Even if you have never played the position, if you’ve been around the game long enough you’ll know that catchers’ equipment doesn’t protect much. Don’t confuse a catcher’s chest protector with shoulderpads or their shinguards with ironclad steel. We’re talking about just enough padding and plastic to protect them from foul tips or balls in the dirt. That equipment isn’t meant to protect these players from head-on collisions at home plate.

      Let’s also keep in mind that running into the catcher is the only contact allowed in a non-contact sport. Sure, runners slide into middle infielders all the time. But there’s almost an art to it and we’re still not talking about a player getting a 90-foot running head start and throwing his shoulder into a catcher who not only has to catch the ball, but also brace himself for the contact and hang onto it in order to complete the play. It’s rather ridiculous to allow a runner that advantage when you think about it.

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      External Sports, MLB

      In the wake of Posey’s injury, will the Giants bring back a familiar face in Molina?

      May 26, 2011 /
      San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey reacts after the Philadelphia Phillies scored their third run in the third inning during Game 5 of their Major League Baseball NLCS playoff series in San Francisco, October 21, 2010. REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

      In the eyes of the Giants and their fans, the Marlins can’t get on a plane to vacate San Francisco fast enough.

      Before Florida came to town on Tuesday, the Giants were riding a five-game winning streak. Sure, luck was a big reason they swept the A’s last weekend but their pitching was also dominant and they had enough clutch hitting to take all three games. It was the same recipe that allowed them to bring the first World Series championship to San Francisco last year.

      But two losses and one massive injury insult later and the Giants are wishing the Marlins were left off their schedule this year. After Florida dumped them 5-1 on Tuesday, the Giants rallied from five runs down in the bottom of the ninth on Wednesday to tie the game 6-6 and force extra innings. Too bad they didn’t just take the 6-1 loss in the ninth.

      In the 12th, Marlins outfielder Scott Cousins was tagging from third base and, knowing that there would be a close play at the plate with Nate Schierholtz throwing from right field, slammed into Giants catcher Buster Posey. The 2010 Rookie of the Year couldn’t hang onto the ball and worse yet, his left ankle/foot got caught underneath his body in gruesome fashion. As he lie on the dirt withering in pain, it was all the Giants and their faithful could do but to wince right along with him.

      Posey will undergo an MRI on Thursday in order to determine the severity of the injury, but a trip to the disabled list seems inevitable. If he’s out for an extended period of time, you can’t help but to feel for the young man who carries himself well beyond his 24 years of age. Without their young catcher, there would have been no championship in San Francisco last year and that’s a fact. That’s how much he has meant to the club since being called up in June last year.

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      External Sports, MLB

      A’s reliever Brian Fuentes rips manager, but two reconcile

      May 25, 2011 /
      Oakland Athletics manager Bob Geren talks to the media during MLB spring training camp in Phoenix February 20, 2011. REUTERS/Rick Scuteri (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

      Brian Fuentes ripped A’s manager Bob Geren after the club’s loss to the Angels on Monday stating, “There’s just no communication.”

      “Two games, on the road, bring the closer in a tied game, with no previous discussions of doing so,” said Fuentes. “I don’t think anybody really knows which direction he’s headed.”

      Since the comments, Fuentes and Geren have apparently cleared the air and while the interim closer didn’t retract his comments, he did suggest he should have expressed his displeasure in a different manner.

      Andrew Bailey, the A’s real closer, should be coming off the disabled list within a week so Fuentes can go back to his regular reliever duties. And that’s probably a good thing because clearly Fuentes can’t handle the responsibility of being the club’s closer.

      There’s no doubt that Geren has made a couple of questionable moves this past week, including the decision to pinch hit for Trevor Cahill in the top of the seventh last Friday when the A’s were playing the Giants. The game was tied 1-1 at that point and Cahill had allowed just one run on one hit. It was a little early for Geren to go to his bullpen and if there has been a lack of communication between him and his pitchers, then maybe Fuentes’ comments were just.

      That said, Fuentes is 1-7 this year with a 5.06 ERA and has just 15 strikeouts compared to 10 walks. He’s not doing his job and if he needs his manager to tell him to get ready to come into a game, then the A’s have a bigger problem on their hands than Fuentes’ numbers. Fuentes has experience as a closer: he should know that he needs to be ready at all times, regardless of the score and regardless of the situation. There’s just no excuse for a closer (interim or not) to be saying things like, “bring the closer in a tied game, with no previous discussions of doing so.”

      Hopefully the A’s can get past their issues and start winning some games. Like the 2010 Giants, if they get enough offense on a nightly basis then they could do some real damage with their pitching staff. It’s outstanding save for Fuentes’ issues in the later innings, of course.

      External Sports, MLB

      Barry Bonds offers to send Bryan Stow’s children to college

      May 25, 2011 /
      Former San Francisco Giants player Barry Bonds (R) talks with bench coach Ron Wotus before Game 3 of their MLB NLCS playoff series baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies in San Francisco, October 19, 2010. REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

      In an incredibly gracious move, Barry Bonds has offered to pay for Bryan Stow’s children to go to college according to USA Today. Stow is the Giants fan who was severely beaten outside of Dodgers Stadium on Opening Night on March 31.

      Bonds, baseball’s all-time home run leader, has offered to pay for the college education of Stow’s two children, according to Stow’s attorney, Thomas Girardi.

      Stow received a visit from Bonds in his Los Angeles hospital room on April 22, just days after Bonds’ federal trial for perjury and obstruction of justice concluded.

      Stow, 42, has been moved to a San Francisco hospital but remains in a coma after the March 31 attack at Dodger Stadium; one suspect has been arrested in the case, with at least one more at large. Stow has two children currently in grade school.

      There will be plenty of people who will think this is a publicity stunt by Bonds in efforts to shed some good light on his name – and maybe it is. But no matter what his motives are, this is a very generous offer and unless there’s more to the story, it appears as though it was Stow’s attorney who made this news public. Not Bonds or his people.

      A couple of years ago I read the book, “Love Me, Hate Me: Barry Bonds and the Making of an Antihero.” What blew me away was not the stories about how much of an a-hole he was to people at times (which he was), but how generous he could be when nobody was looking. There’s a soft side to Bonds that people don’t often get to see and since I’m optimistic and positive by nature, I choose to believe that he’s helping the Stow family out of the goodness of his heart (and not because he has alterative motives with the press).

      Well done, Barry.

      External Sports, MLB

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