By DieHardSportsFans
Unfortunately for San Francisco Giants’ catcher Buster Posey, his season’s over after a violent home plate collision with Scott Cousins of the Florida Marlins on May 25, and he now wishes all of the controversy over the play was over too so life can just go on as normal.
Posey just wants to get on with things and rehabilitate his injuries, which include a badly broken left leg and torn ankle ligaments. He released a statement to the press on June 4 that basically asked people to calm down and get over it, especially after Cousins started receiving threats to himself and his family.
The Giants’ released a statement the day before Posey’s that said the organization doesn’t blame Cousins, even though the club’s general manager Brian Sabean has publicly come out with some harsh words about him. Posey more or less supported the team’s official stance on the issue and said Cousins has tried to reach him several times and has left messages of apology to the catcher.
The injured catcher said he appreciates the sentiment, but would rather just put the whole thing behind him and doesn’t feel it’s really necessary to speak with Cousins at the moment. He made sure Giants’ fans got the message though when he said he appreciates their support, but doesn’t condone in any way threats to Cousins and his family.
Posey said he wasn’t in any condition to talk to Cousins on the night of the injury when he tried to speak with him, but appreciates the effort. He added that he just wants to rehabilitate himself and get back on the diamond with the team as soon as possible.
Sabean added to the controversy just a couple of days before Posey’s statement when he went on the radio and laid into Cousins, basically saying the Giants would exact revenge sometime down the road. This led Logan Morrison of the Marlins to join in the fray with a personal verbal attack on the Giants’ GM.
The Giants’ statement was more general in content and focused on the topic of catcher safety instead of the specific incident between Posey and Cousins. The club’s president Larry Baer and manager Bruce Bochy also tried to steer the conversations away from Cousins.
In fact, some people such as hall of fame catcher Johnny Bench said Posey was injured because of his bad positioning on the play and didn’t see why Cousins was being blamed. But Sabean, Baer, and Bochy have all asked Joe Torre, the executive vice president of baseball operations for the league, to change the rules regarding home plate collisions. Bench disagreed though, and said Posey was fair game as soon as he tried to block off the plate.
Bench said Posey is a great kid, but he put himself in a bad spot on the play. The former great said catchers should stand away from the plate when they don’t have the ball so the runner can see it. Bench said this way, the runner will usually attempt to slide. He added that Posey was in front of the plate and compared him to a broken down car in the middle of the highway.
“You’re just going to get smacked,” he said.
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