Links for Saturday..
- Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News notes all of the roster turnover the Rangers have already experienced this season.
- Ian Browne of MLB.com (via Twitter) says that outfielder Jonathan Van Every is being placed on the 40-man roster so that Josh Reddick can get more at-bats in the minors.
- Angels catcher Bobby Wilson was on the receiving end of a violent collision at the plate on Friday, writes Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com. With Wilson and Jeff Mathis sidelined, the Angels likely won't be able to move one of their catchers anytime soon.
- Ramon Ortiz was essentially auditioning to keep his job with the Dodgers on Friday night, says Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times.
- Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun writes that the promotion of Rhyne Hughes could mean a reduced role for starting first baseman Garrett Atkins.
Can’t wait for Yankee fans to jump in and tell us all how that was a clean hit.
It amazes me has some people pay more attention to what Yankee fans say than to their own teams.
No, you’re right, we’d much rather see Tex go in lightly and risk getting injured himself.
So you’d rather have him go clear across the plate and risk hurting the catcher in his first career start? All the Yankee fans are saying it’s just baseball, well it’s just baseball when someone retaliates on him
He was hit in the elbow right before that collision in his previous at bat.
That’s for starters.
Secondly, both managers said it was a clean hit. The fact it was Wilson’s first start is completely irrelevant, you don’t consciously plan your attack on plays based on who might be involved. This isn’t hockey.
Finally, yes, absolutely, I would rather him bowl over a protected catcher, than come up lame and possibly get destroyed at home plate.
If you were a Yankees’ fan would you want to risk seeing your superstar get hurt over a third string catcher?
Use your brain and stop showing such a bias.
If Scoscia is OK with it, this is a moot point.
Scioscia is bang wrong. It was a disgusting play, straight out of bush league, and he should be suspended. It wasn’t sport, it was a violent assault.
Clinging to the fantasy that he was in any way “threatened” won’t help here either. Wilson left the base open for him.
So the manager who is regarded around baseball as one of the great defense catchers in his era is wrong about a play at home plate?
His opinion > your opinion
Well, that’s what I just said, pretty clearly. It’s up to you whose opinion you prefer, I’m not fussed.
Mike Scioscia called it a clean play- is he a Yankee fan too? Go cry somewhere else.
Yankees fan here,
I loved to see that collision. Feel bad about the catcher though. Anyway, not going to make any excuses for Tex, he had his reasons for doing that. But you are all forgetting that Tex did get beaned in the arm by Santana. This is clearly an example of how Yankees are targetted and crucified for everythng they do just because they are the Yankees.
Btw, anyone remember that collison between Hisnke and Posada a few years ago? That was 10 times worse than this one yet no one said anything about Hinske being an a-hole.
I don’t think Brown was commenting on Reddick’s demotion, I think he was explaining why, saying that Reddick would benefit from playing everyday in AAA.
yes this is correct. He wasn’t editorializing, he was explaining.
Browne is right. Reddick > Van Every.
Van Every is just a AAAA retread. Reddick had an amazing spring and deserves the semi-regular PT while Ellsbury and Cameron are on the DL.
I’m a Red Sox fan and was not watching the Yankee game last night until a good friend of mine, who is a Yankee fan, told me to turn it on to see that collision. He called it an ugly hit and said it was dirty. Then again he is the type of Yankee fan that remembers when they sucked and doesn’t make excuses for then just because they are Yankees. The plate was not blocked, he didn’t have to hit him high like that.
Mike Scioscia called it a clean play. I think he knows a thing or two about blocking home plate and collisions.
Dirty? You’ll have to define that first. The collision was not done to injure the catcher, it was more of a revenge act than a malicious or dirty act. I’m sure Tex was not trying to put the catcher on the DL, just to get even for that HBP. As for blocking the plate, the catcher was not completely blocking it with his leg but most of his body was blocking the path.
I didn’t realise the catcher was the one who had beaned him. Strange how your eyes play tricks on you.
I never said the catcher beaned Tex. But let me ask you this, how do you get even with the pitcher for beaning you if you aren’t a pitcher and don’t play in the NL? Do you hit a liner to his face? Think before you speak, please.
For what it’s worth, how do you know the catcher didn’t call for that HBP?
I love it! Somebody who is defending a brutal, deliberate physical assault asking me to think before I speak. Classic.
A player who runs out of his way and aims his shoulder and elbow at another person’s face and neck, with the possibility of serious, career-ending injury, when he had an open plate to run over, is bang out of line. No debate. Getting even is irrelevant.
Watch the replay again, he hit him right in the chest protector.
OK, I’ve gone back and watched it again and again. His elbow does go directly into the chest protector, yes, but his shoulder and head (inside a helmet of course) go into Wilson’s face and neck, which is what I find so unacceptable. Watch the slow mo reverse angle – the first contact his shoulder on chin, it’s grim. Even the YES announcers are surprised by it (which pretty much never happens).
Ok, but Bobby Wilson was moving as the ball bounced- tough to blame Tex for not hitting a moving target 100% correctly
Show me where in my previous posts have I said it that Tex’s tackle was right in anyway? I have yet to say anything about the tackle, whether it was right or wrong. See what I mean by think before you speak? Put some effort in reading comprehension, you passed second grade. Putting words in my mouth is easy, anyone can do it.
That’s just not true, because you have said something about the tackle: you said “the collision was not done to injure the catcher” and I contend that this was precisely what Teixeira hoped to achieve. Now, neither of us really know, but I am basing that on the fact that he unneccessarily ran not at the plate but at the catcher when the plate was clear and hit him in the chin with his shoulder, which I find quite convincing evidence. It’s fine if you think it was accidental or whatever, but you did defend him.
You truly believe there are people, professional adult athletes, who want to cause serious harm to others and possibly end their career or worst case scenario kill them? Really?
You know when teams retaliate by hitting opposing batters? The pitcher never aims for the head. Why? No one wants to hurt anyone. Even if the ball breaks a couple of ribs the pitcher did not intend to do that. Retaliation is only to show the opposing team you don’t mess with them, not to purposely hurt anyone.
Eh, I don’t really want to talk about it anymore, there are thousands of internet comments on both sides now, it’s never going to be settled one way or the other. Just to address your point though, yes, if you choose to hit someone in the chin with your shoulder, you are fully embracing the possibility of causing them serious injury. “No one wants to hurt anyone” – if that were true then they wouldn’t do it, would they, because it wouldn’t be “payback” in any way. If the pitcher hits someone in the chest deliberately and it “breaks a couple of ribs” it is a hundred percent the pitcher’s fault if it was a deliberate payback hit-by-pitch. You wouldn’t argue that you only meant to run someone down a little bit in your car and it was unfortunate that they were completely mangled, would you? So why risk broken bones and careers over a bit of ego.
I do think the whole thing should be handled better by umpires, and with better post-facto penalties on the players, not with this pathetic old testament eye for an eye BS.
Eh, I don’t really want to talk about it anymore, there are thousands of internet comments on both sides now, it’s never going to be settled one way or the other. Just to address your point though, yes, if you choose to hit someone in the chin with your shoulder, you are fully embracing the possibility of causing them serious injury. “No one wants to hurt anyone” – if that were true then they wouldn’t do it, would they, because it wouldn’t be “payback” in any way. If the pitcher hits someone in the chest deliberately and it “breaks a couple of ribs” it is a hundred percent the pitcher’s fault if it was a deliberate payback hit-by-pitch. You wouldn’t argue that you only meant to run someone down a little bit in your car and it was unfortunate that they were completely mangled, would you? So why risk broken bones and careers over a bit of ego.
I do think the whole thing should be handled better by umpires, and with better post-facto penalties on the players, not with this pathetic old testament eye for an eye BS.
Yup, but there’s no payback for pitchers in the AL.
See: Vincente Padilla’s teammates in Texas hating him because he always threw at people and his position players took the payback for it
I appreciate that, but they should man up and deal with it, not continue a petty squabble. Win the game, that’s better revenge.
I guess it depends which view point you’re looking at it from. If you’re throwing a 90+ mph fastball then I guess its just a petty squabble, if you have a 90+ mph fastball coming at you consistantly then sometimes you need to send a message to the pitcher, or to his teammates so they relay the message.
That’s baseball.
You’re maybe right in saying ‘that’s baseball’, inasmuch as this sort of thing is seen as acceptable, kind of. My point is, it shouldn’t be, as its incredibly dangerous and totally unnecessary.
Ok, so then catchers shouldnt be allowed to block the plate then.
The Dodgers have a mess on there hands. They let Wolf go, brought up Haeger who cannot get big league hitters out. They have force fed Kershaw in the major leagues, and now padilla is on the DL. The bullpen and starting pitching is what should be expected. When you pay next to nothing, you get next to nothing. Of course McCourt can claim no money all he wants but he has 20 million to spend on his divorce, and during a very ugly and public divorce hearing it came out that he made $110 million dollars and paid no taxes. Plus he has traded away top prospects to pocket six weeks worth of salary on mid season trades, and has spent the least on minor league signings of any team since he purchased the dodgers. The young talent the team has came with the club. When they become free agents McCourt will have totally raped the product and the dodgers will be nothing more then an expansion team. Because dodger stadium is more of a destination spot, they will still draw close to 4 million a year.
He was not blocking the plate first of all. He was going for the throw/making a tag. Tex could have just as easily slid around the play. That being said collisions happen to catchers. It almost comes as part of the territory if he does not want to get hit play a different position.
He could have slid around, or he could have know that:
A. He’s not a fast runner
B. Abreu has a strong arm
C. Wilson is a good defensive catcher
So instead of maybe sliding and getting tagged out, he made a split second decision and he did what will happen another 100 times this season and there was a collision at the plate.
I am not disagreeing with you. collisions happen in baseball as i stated. i do not think it was dirty though. he tried to slide it was just late when he decided too. the catcher was standing in front of the plate to the right field side. usually when you see something like that usually you think to yourself that you can get in without sliding. collisions are part of the game sometimes, and this is coming from a Red Sox fan. If anybody would say it is dirty it would be me, and i just do not feel it is.
No one has made the point that Tex flew right over home plate in order to make the contact, had to touch it afterward, and was clearly more interested in leveling him than making it home safely. If the catcher is up the line from the plate and completely blocking the path, then the runner must attempt to knock the ball free with a collision. 1) Wilson didn’t have the ball before Tex arrived, 2) Wilson wasn’t completely blocking the path. Because of this and him flying over home plate to make the contact, call me crazy but a suspension is in order, and it’s not pansy baseball to call for a suspension. Tex could have slid easily to the corner of the plate, Wilson was giving him the lane and never caught the ball. I just wish Tex would have suffered a shoulder seperation from his actions. I’m also surprised this didn’t cause the Angels dugout to come onto the field, and with Tex not even so much as looking back to show half-hearted compassion.
There was no attempt on Tex’s part to actually touch the plate, instead his entire action was to create a collision (actually flying over home plate in the process), which should only be done if the catcher has the ball before the runner and is completely blocking the plate- neither of which were true. There has to be a line in the rule book about the runner making a good faith effort to touch the plate, or else he should be called out, and I’m actually surprised the Angels bench didn’t clear on this one.
The collision was just payback for being hit. It was heat of the moment as Torii Hunter said:
“He had the plate, we know that. He could have slid feet-first or gone to the right and swiped it with his hand,” Hunter said. “But that’s baseball. Sometimes, catchers get hit. We can sit here and analyze all day if it was dirty or bad, but there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s early in the game, the third inning, and you don’t expect something like that. The guy’s upset. He’s on a mission. Tex is a great guy, but even good guys get upset sometimes. I’ve been there.”
I just saw the replay and that was definitely a bad hit. Wilson was barely blocking. He only came across the plate for the tag and Tex had already destroyed him. He definitely could have slid and swiped the bag but ran right into him. It’s bs if you call that him “trying not to be injured”. He might as well have run right by the plate. I’ve see guys like Hanley Ramirez and Cam Maybin do it all the time, and slower guys like Uggla too. Whether it was retaliation or not, it wasn’t necessary.