Posey's injury stirs debate on baseball collisions
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Ray Fosse watched the crushing blow to Giants star Buster Posey and wondered why after all these years there are still few rules to protect catchers at the plate.
If there's anybody who knows about collisions, it's Fosse.
He was at the center of one of the most iconic hits in baseball history, when Pete Rose barreled over him to score the winning run in the 1970 All-Star game. Fosse's right shoulder was permanently rearranged, and while he briefly rebounded from the injury, it started a downward slide to a career that was ultimately cut short.
"After Rose hit me in '70, I had two guys that blind-sided me, guys who hit me standing up," said Fosse, who stopped short of asking baseball to rewrite the rule book. "There's never anybody ejected for that."
The clean but cringe-inducing crash between Posey and Florida's Scott Cousins this week has still reignited the decades-old debate over plays at the plate.
Posey, the 2010 NL Rookie of the Year and one of the game's brightest young stars, fractured a bone in his lower left leg and tore three ligaments in his ankle. His season is likely over.
In the past few years, the NFL has cracked down on violent hits and increased fines with an eye on player safety. The league also announced this week a policy of "club accountability" for teams whose players repeatedly are fined for flagrant hits.
Some in baseball are asking for similar action in the wake of Posey's injury. Others argue home plate collisions are as much a part of baseball tradition as peanuts and Cracker Jacks and the seventh-inning stretch.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy, a former catcher who had multiple head injuries in his playing days, called on Major League Baseball to explore ideas to protect players.
"I think we do need to consider changing the rules here a little bit because the catcher is so vulnerable and there's so many who have gotten hurt," Bochy said. "And not just a little bit, had their careers ended or shortened."
Even with advances in technology and improved gear, collisions at the plate still cause lasting injuries.
Angels catcher Bobby Wilson had a severe concussion and injured his left leg in a collision with Yankees slugger Mark Teixeira last year. It was Wilson's first big league start behind the plate.
"The next thing I remembered was sitting in a wheelchair," said Wilson, who missed 21 games while on the disabled list.
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"There was no shenanigans or misinformation, I just think it was a miscommunication between me and [home-plate umpire] Bob Davidson. And quite frankly, I don't understand why there's been such a big deal made about it. It was a total honest mistake.
The most common are giving the umpire the discretion to decide if the runner could avoid a collision with a clear path or if the runner had any intent to reach the base — similar to those for breaking up a double-play in the big leagues.
And when he pitches, he rarely alters his approach; he throws four different pitches, trying to parse the corners of the plate with each one. If hitters swing or umpires call strikes, he'll be successful. If they don't, he won't.
It even found a spot that wasn't protected by the home plate umpire's chest protector and dropped Travis Olsen like a stone. But the live ball was just the beginning in Chipola (Fla.) College's 19-13 win over Grayson County (Texas) College.
Olmedo ripped Bowden's first pitch down the first-base line—just foul, apparently, according to umpire Chad Whitson, although it looked like it might have been fair. Bowden then threw the very same pitch again, a fastball down and in, and this time
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