GDT Fish at Champs 5/25

[CameronFrye]

+1. It wasn't dirty, but he had a clean path to the plate without touching Posey.

A fish must pay.

Them's the rules.

If I were the Marlins manager, I would not even allow Cousins anywhere near the plate today. Look at the kid, tell him he's not playing and to just sit back and enjoy the show.

If I'm Vogelsong, I drill Cousins as close to the noggin as I can with a fastball on my very first pitch if he steps into the box.

 

[gp956]

Look how far inside the plate posey is. This is how catchers do it in this era - they give the runner the plate.

 

[calsnowskier]

If I were the Marlins manager, I would not even allow Cousins anywhere near the plate today. Look at the kid, tell him he's not playing and to just sit back and enjoy the show.

If I'm Vogelsong, I drill Cousins as close to the noggin as I can with a fastball on my very first pitch if he steps into the box.

Agreed.

The fish are playing with a 24-man roster today.

 

[msgkings322]

Look how far inside the plate posey is. This is how catchers do it in this era - they give the runner the plate.

Thanks for the gif, gp. SO much fun to revisit.

Ouch. :frown:

 

[gp956]

Thanks for the gif, gp. SO much fun to revisit.

Ouch. :frown:

Hey, at least I didn't post any pics of posey's foot bent the wrong way.

 

[msgkings322]

Hey, at least I didn't post any pics of posey's foot bent the wrong way.

Thank goodness for small favors.

Just shitty all the way around.

 

[SFAnthem]

Look how far inside the plate posey is. This is how catchers do it in this era - they give the runner the plate.

the path to Posey was longer than a direct path to the plate

he ran with his mind made up that his target was Posey, not as a last minute-I'm all outta options to score-decision.

and catchers have protection to block 100 mph fastballs to exposed areas, not deflecting 90 feet running start shoulder blocks while turning.

 

[gp956]

the path to Posey was longer than a direct path to the plate

he ran with his mind made up that his target was Posey, not as a last minute-I'm all outta options to score-decision.

and catchers have protection to block 100 mph fastballs to exposed areas, not deflecting 90 feet running start shoulder blocks while turning.

Yes. The fact that Posey was well inside of the plate, and Cousins veered AWAY from it makes his intent clear. His post-game comments about Nate's arm tells me he knew he'd have to possibly rock Posey in order to score.

 

[gp956]

Bochy's comments:

“I’ve actually said this before, I think this probably needs to be addressed. The catcher is so vulnerable. He had two paths to go. There was home plate there, but he decided to go at Buster who was close to home plate. Is it a cheap shot? It depends who you’re talking to. They happen all the time, home-plate collisions. I think he thought the ball was going to beat him. He decided to go at Buster and try to knock it loose, that’s what it looked like to me. But there was a lane for him.

“I just think that something should be done here, because now you’ve probably lost the player here for awhile. We lost our best player, but also, a lot of kids go out to watch Buster play — not just here, but everywhere. So it’s a tough one. I just think if something isn’t done, it won’t be long before we’re hearing .

“You’re trying to catch a ball, a guy is running full speed. It’s just a tough position to be for a catcher. I’ve been there, I felt for him as soon as it happened and I couldn’t tell if he was completely in front of home plate, but he wasn’t. Some runners, that’s what they decide to do.

“He definitely had home plate to go for there. He didn’t go way out of his way, but he did decide to hit Buster and knock the play. You know, it’s acceptable in baseball. Runners are always running into catchers. I understand that. He’s our guy, we certainly don’t like it.”

(How do you move forward from this?)

“We have to. You have no choice. You have to move forward when things like this happen and it’s going to be up to some of these guys to step up. They’re not playing like they’re capable of playing right now and they’re going to have to turn up the volume on their play. We’ve lost Pablo and now we’ve lost Buster and we’ve got some guys who aren’t quite doing what they need to be doing. We’ll talk about this. But we can’t dwell on what’s happened. It’s over. It’s going to be vital for us to focus forward here and hopefully play better ball and get these bats going.”

 

[gp956]

Neyer's take. Closely aligned to mine about the specifics of the play. Not so much on the rule change thing.

 

[tzill]

Neyer's take. Closely aligned to mine about the specifics of the play. Not so much on the rule change thing.

Thanks for this GP. I've often wondered WHY catchers are allowed to block the plate without the ball -- it IS obstruction as the article says.

I don't even think we need to change any rule; simply enforce the obstruction rule and catchers will stop doing it.

As for Buster (who wasn't blocking the plate), Cousins should be called out and ejected.

 

[Heathbar012]

Neyer's take. Closely aligned to mine about the specifics of the play. Not so much on the rule change thing.

Wow. I didn't realize that 82% of Neyers' readership are giant, gaping vaginal gashes. (Refer to reasoning in rules change thread)

 

[gp956]

Thanks for this GP. I've often wondered WHY catchers are allowed to block the plate without the ball -- it IS obstruction as the article says.

I don't even think we need to change any rule; simply enforce the obstruction rule and catchers will stop doing it.

As for Buster (who wasn't blocking the plate), Cousins should be called out and ejected.

Yeah. I never liked the fact that catchers were allowed to block the plate. It's is obstruction. And, here, we can view running through them was a necessary and accepted response. Not a huge deal when the average player was 5' 11" and 170lbs.

But the culture has been changing, and I can't remember the last time I saw a catcher not leave part of the plate open. With players being bigger and faster, and so much money on the table, you just don't see the head-hunting hit of 20 years ago.

 

[gp956]

Wow. I didn't realize that 82% of Neyers' readership are giant, gaping vaginal gashes. (Refer to reasoning in rules change thread)

That's sbnation's (and McCovey Chronicles') main demographic.

 

[msgkings322]

That's sbnation's (and McCovey Chronicles') main demographic.

Grant Brisbee is really bawling over at MCC. Jeez.

OK, we get it, you have a cry cry face on.