Monday May 30, 2011

On the Reports, we will be occasionally featuring an up-and-coming baseball writer that has come to our attention and share their work with you, the readers.  Part of our mandate at MLB reports is to provide the best baseball coverage and analysis in the business.  MLB reports ultimately is designed to expose our readers to the world of baseball and the stories, facts, insights and profiles behind it.  In order to meet this goal, we would like to give exciting young writers the chance to showcase their talents and provide a fresh pool of ideas to our site.  In today’s feature, we are excited to have Brian Lozier as our guest writer with his post on the Buster Posey injury.  Brian’s topic was to look at the Posey injury and whether a rule change is required in baseball.  Enjoy! 

Brian Lozier (Guest Writer for MLB Reports): Injuries are another way of saying “Unfortunate event”.  Things that are literally out of the hands of the people involved.  There is nothing there to prevent injuries, slow them or make what unfolded heal any faster.  Nothing can change an injury after it occurs, so people try to take measures into their own hands and prevent future occurences from happening.  But at what cost to the game do we try to prevent injuries from taking place?

In the extra-inning thriller staged in AT&T Park in San Francisco this past Wednesday, former Rookie of the Year winning catcher Buster Posey suffered a broken leg and is out for the rest of the season and possibly the start of 2012 as well.  A future All-Star candidate, Posey was run over by Scott Cousins of the Marlins, who scored the go-ahead run in the 12th inning.  Posey, becoming an everyday catcher last season after being called up in May, played the role of protector of home plate on the play.  Posey took his destiny and the future of his team in his hands by doing all that he could to fight for his team to pull out the win.  The resulting cost though to the Giants organization was devastating.

After an MRI came back showing a broken fibula and three torn ligaments, Posey’s agent, Jeff Barry reached out to Joe Torre and the MLB head office with a plead for a change of the rules in order to stop collisions at the plate.  Barry stated that “You leave players vulnerable.  I can tell you MLB is less than it was before [Posey’s Injury]”.  Barry went on to compare the incident to a helmet to helmet collision in the NFL.  “If you go helmet to helmet in the NFL, it’s a $100,000 fine.  In baseball, you have a situation in which baserunners are slamming into fielders. It’s brutal.  Borderline shocking.  It just stinks for baseball.”

I can understand an agent’s view to wanting to keep players safe.  I can see the importance of Major League Baseball taking measure to stop “senseless” injuries and preventing side-liners and career-ending plays.  However, I have to draw the line when people ask to remove excitement from this great game.  Train wrecks have been a part of baseball since the sport came into existence.  The most famous of which might have been the 1970 All-Star Game and the Pete Rose collision at the plate.  Or perhaps the collision to end game 6 of the 2003 World Series.  I will let you be the judge.

Understanding one’s role and doing what it takes to win is a major part of being a Big-Leaguer.  The speedster on each squad knows that it’s his job to steal bases.  Consequence: Possible broken fingers.  Outfielders on the other hand, are expected to catch balls on the fly. They might break a rib as a result, but it’s a part of their role.  Pitchers go out knowing they could take a ball to the face or throw out an arm every time they step out onto a mound.  But it’s what they do and is necessary for their respective teams to win.  The above logic is no different when it is applied to the catcher.  A catcher defensively at the end of the day must first and foremost, stop the baserunner.  No question, no doubt.

What would happen if the rule changed and home plate collisions were a thing of the past?  No one knows for certain, but it’s almost safe to say it would turn home plate into another first base.  This would result in every close play into a force out situation.  This would be a nightmare for teams when facing a contact pitcher.  The result would be raising concern in places where most teams whole have a sigh of relief.  Imagine stopping the notion of a  deep sac fly to score a winning run.  Or worse, stopping the suicide squeeze.  Baseball would almost become a game without a soul.

I admire Jeff Barry for standing up for his client, I really do.  In fact, more agents need to stand up for their players.  I just wish it wasn’t at the expense of the game and the intensity of the sport that fans deserve.  Why would anybody want to agree to this rule change?  By abandoning home plate collisions, proponents of the rule change would be removing chance, excitement and thrill to the game of baseball.  The clash of the titans at home plate during a game shows heart and guts to win a game which could possibly lead to a future World Series ring.  Although not a perfect system which can result in the occasional injury, baseball needs to be played in the way it was meant to be.  My baseball includes home plate collisions.  It has been a part of the dynamic of baseball for all these years up to and including today and should continue to have a place in the sport for years to come.

***Thank you to Brian Lozier for preparing today’s article on Buster Posey and rule changes in baseball.  You can follow Brian on Twitter.***

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