Blocking the Plate With Buster Posey

Posey's collision with Cousins

On Wednesday night Giants Catcher Buster Posey was injured in a collision at home plate with Marlins Outfielder Scott Cousins. Word came on Thursday that Posey's fibula was fractured and his ankle severely sprained putting him out of action for at least 6-to-8 weeks. It is an unfortunate injury for the budding young star and former Florida State Seminole and also a crushing blow for the defending World Series champions. Also on Thursday Giants' Manager Bruce Bochy's speaks in the absurd:

Bruce Bochy

"It's part of baseball, I understand that, guys running into catchers. Being a catcher, I've been in a few of them. You're in harm's way there," Bochy said. "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. And not just a little bit, had their careers ended or shortened. And here's a guy who's very popular in baseball. Fans want to see him play."


I'm still shocked by the quotes from Bochy, an ex-catcher. Collisions happen at the plate because of how much protection the catcher has on a play at the plate- both physical and metaphorical. Catchers routinely block the plate on these plays using their gear against runners whose only weapon is speed and the force it creates. Baserunners choose to run-through a catcher because that is their safest option. A headfirst slide into a blocked plate can lead to serious injury- the frightening, life-altering neck and head kind. A foot-first slide into home is also extremely risky- but for runners only. This kind of slide can lead to the very leg injuries Posey incurred on Wednesday night- but for the runner only. Catchers' safety is marginally in peril in this case. They are taught to forcefully plant their protected left knee and shin as the runner attempts to score a run. In other words backstops hold the upper hand on every play at the plate save for a collision. Which is why its the preferred method for many players.

Posey, as a SS at FSU

I also have to wonder what rules Bochy suggest be enacted. Posey's injuries could easily be placed on his inexperience in these situations. Whats to blame for this inexperience? Home-plate collision rules in amateur baseball- which Posey played until just under two years ago (yes he also played little catcher in college- he was mostly a shortstop). One can understand the rules for younger leagues- perhaps even through high school. But in college this rule borderlines negligent. Runners 18-22 years old are required to slide- no going around, over, or through the catcher- at home plate. Violators are out, often thrown-out and suspended. All this to spare the catcher- the one man wearing loads of protective equipment- and put another, less-protected player at risk. Imagine if, after breaking through into the secondary, a running back was required to slide at the feet of the free saftey- no going through, over, or around him. Thats an exaggerated expression of course but I stand my ground on the issue. Home plate collision rules need to be relaxed at the college level, giving runners fair consideration as well as their most safe option. And as for pro baseball, the rules need no altering whatsoever, Mr. Bochy.

College Baseball: NCAA Tournament Field Projections

Vanderbilt hurler Sonny Gray

The NCAA Tournament Committees have a tough job across the board. It is hard to weigh the merits of schools from different regions of the country with few, if any, common opponents. This is especially true for baseball with the sun belt areas and California boasting a wealth of talent and tradition, meaning a few conferences hold the majority of the talent and depth. Also the committee must pay extreme attention to geographic concerns in baseball seemingly arbitrarily picking which schools must travel west or south to fill regionals in those locations. My "projections" are essentially just guesses especially when considering I used the regular-season leaders in the one-bid conferences. If I can guarantee anything from this post it is that not all of those conference #1 seeds will win their tournament and, depending on geography of these tournament winners, destinations will change.

Southern Miss Shortstop BA Vollmuth

My top 8 seeds are:

1) North Carolina
2) Virginia
3) Florida
4) Vanderbilt
5) Florida State
6) South Carolina
7) Arizona State
8) Texas

These eight schools would host regionals along with Georgia Tech, Texas A&M, Cal St.-Fullerton, Oregon State, Arkansas, Southern Miss, and Rice. I've also picked Stetson to host a regional as a 2 seed with Clemson receiving the #1 in Deland. My sole reason for Clemson not hosting is the ACC's dominance. It sounds counterintuitive but I do not think the committee will award the ACC more than four regionals. I also have the SEC hosting four but that conference really has no fifth school in contention to host. It will be interesting to see how the committee handles the hosting situation with the ACC. Also of note there is no northeast or midwest option for hosting this year. That throws much of my guessing to the wind as many of the one-bid conferences are based in the northeast and their regional destinations are tough to predict. Arkansas hosting is a tough one to call as their RPI separates them from other SEC West opponents Auburn, Alabama, and Mississippi State but their conference record has not reflected that separation as much. Their performance in the SEC Tournament will factor greatly on their hosting resume. You may also notice I have ten SEC teams in the field. I am not sure the committee will allow that to happen. Both Ole Miss and LSU appear in my field and have the high RPI to back that up despite failing to qualify for their own conference tournament. That will be another interesting decision to watch when the field comes out.

Chapel Hill Regional
1) UNC 2) East Carolina 3) Elon 4) Charlotte

Charlottesville Regional

Troy ace Tyler Ray

1) Virginia 2) Stanford 3) UConn 4) James Madison

Gainesville Regional
1) Florida 2) Miami 3) Auburn 4) Bethune-Cookman

Nashville Regional
1) Vanderbilt 2) East Tennessee State 3) Kent State 4) Austin Peay

Tallahassee Regional
1) Florida State 2) Central Florida 3) Troy 4) Navy

Columbia Regional
1) South Carolina 2) NC State 3) Coastal Carolina 4) Monmouth

Tempe Regional
1) Arizona State 2) Fresno State 3) UCLA 4) Stony Brook

Austin Regional

UCLA's Trevor Bauer

1) Texas 2) TCU 3) Texas Tech 4) Oral Roberts

Atlanta Regional
1) Georgia Tech 2) Florida International 3) Georgia 4) Wright State

Deland Regional
1) Clemson 2) Stetson 3) Florida Atlantic 4) Jacksonville University

College Station Regional
1) Texas A&M 2) Oklahoma 3) LSU 4) Manhattan

Fullerton Regional
1) CS-Fullerton 2) California 3) Alabama 4) Princeton

Corvallis Regional
1) Oregon State 2) Arizona 3) UC-Irvine 4) Gonzaga

Fayetteville Regional
1) Arkansas 2) Oklahoma State 3) Creighton 4) Michigan State

Hattiesburg Regional
1) Southern Miss 2) Mississippi State 3) Ole Miss 4) Alcorn State

Houston Regional
1) Rice 2) Baylor 3) Texas State 4) Kansas State

Last 4 in: UCLA, Texas Tech, Jacksonville University, Kansas State
First 4 out: Southeastern Louisiana, St. John's, Washington State, Dallas Baptist

Washington State has played one of the hardest schedules in the country and is currently below .500 by a few games. If they manage to get back above that mark they would almost assuredly make it in over either Kansas State or Jacksonville.

Lance Armstrong: Under the Gun

7-time Tour de France winner Armstrong

Former American cyclist and seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong has come under scrutiny once again for his possible use of performance enhancing drugs, further dragging the sport under as it attempts to rid itself of the PED image. According to ESPN and 60 Minutes Tyler Hamilton, George Hincapie, and Frankie Andreu, all ex-Armstrong teammates and veteran cyclists, have testified they took and saw Armstrong take PEDs including EPO , testosterone, and illegal blood transfusions. These cyclists join Floyd Landis, the stripped 2006 Tour de France champion, in tabbing Armstrong as a persistent user of banned substances.

On Friday morning ESPN reported that Hamilton had written a letter to members of his family admitting to use of EPO on multiple occasions throughout his career including as a member of the US Postal Service team from 1999-2001. The network also reported he would appear on CBS's newsmagazine 60 Minutes on Sunday and state he saw Armstrong inject banned substances multiple times over the same period and that he had testified as much to a grand jury in 2010.

Hamilton's professional career was dotted with PED controversy including suspicion at the 2004 Olympics where he won gold in the Individual Time Trial, drug test failures, and eventually a two-year suspension. He built the reputation as a reliable protecting-rider as a teammate for the first three of Armstrong's Tour de France titles. Word came late Friday that he had returned his Gold Medal to the United States Anti-Doping Association following his admission of guilt.

Tyler Hamilton racing for Phonak

The show also reports Hamilton will confirm one of Landis's most outlandish and damaging accusations. Following what Landis and Hamilton say was a positive EPO test at the 2001 Tour of Switzerland Armstrong bragged that a financial settlement between he and cycling's governing body, UCI, prevented any action from being taken.

Also set to appear on 60 Minutes is Frankie Andreu, another former teammate of Armstrong's. Andreu will reportedly admit to using PEDs after seeing what he deemed lesser riders having more success than himself. Andreu's wife has reportedly stated Armstrong has openly discussed his banned substance use with friends. Word also came late Friday that tossed  another former Armstrong teammate, George Hincapie, into the fire. He also reportedly met with a grand jury looking into PED usage in cycling and stated he saw Armstrong use banned substances. Armstrong has previously referred to Hincappie as a "brother to me."

Floyd Landis, also with Phonak

The walls on Armstrong have been slowly closing for a number of years now as several stories in Sports Illustrated as well as Floyd Landis's admissions and accusations have brought more and more to light on the subject. Friday's news that three former trusted teammates and friends all have similar stories regarding Armstrong and have testified to a grand jury in California is the most damaging information yet. Doping scandals have been a regular occurrence in cycling since the 1990s and the sheer amount of positive tests have lent credibility to the belief very few, if any, were clean during that time span. Armstrong's dominance during his unprecedented streak of seven consecutive wins at the Tour de France raised eyebrows at the time especially considering his grave condition just a few short years before as he was being treated for testicular cancer. Armstrong has also often swiftly and completely attacked the lives and credibility of those accusing him of wrongdoing. His strongly worded statements and actions, including the quick formulation of a rudimentary website attacking Hamilton, Andreu, and Landis, reek of overcompensation in public self-defense. His popularity across the globe in-part stems from his survival of cancer and work to combat the disease. After all, most everyone has been affected in some way by cancer and this experience and philanthropy has allowed Armstrong to transcend cycling and sports in general. It is becoming more likely that the carefully crafted public image of Lance Armstrong masks his true character as a liar and cheater. If this becomes reality one would have to wonder where Armstrong ranks on the all-time list of American frauds.

Harmon Killebrew

Former Twins and Senators great Harmon Killebrew passed away today at the age of 74 just days after he announced he would end his fight with esophageal cancer and enter hospice care. The Hall-of-Famer was most notable on the field for his 573 home runs but was also known as one of the game's genuine nice guys off of it.

Killebrew signed with the Senators in 1954 under MLB's oft-forgotten bonus rule meaning he made his Major League debut at age 18 and would spend five seasons playing infrequently for the big league club,  in the minors, or some combination of the two. He tied down a full time job in 1959 and hit 42 homers in that first season with regular at-bats. He would top the 40 mark six more times in his career on his way to ranking 11th on the all time list. Six steroid-era players rank ahead of the slugger from Idaho including suspected juicer Sammy Sosa and admitted users Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, and Alex Rodriguez.

He finished in the top four of MVP voting six times including winning the award in 1969 when he lead the American League in home runs, RBIs, walks, and OBP. In what must be a sign of the times he finished 11th in MVP voting in 1961 behind five Yankees and four Tigers. What cannot be found on the stat sheet is his colossal power, hitting a ball out of Tiger Stadium to left field and a legendary 500+ footer at Metropolitan Stadium in Minnesota that is still honored inside the Mall of America years after the stadium's destruction on that site.

This light-tower power and Killebrew's unassuming, team-first attitude combines with an eye-popping stat-sheet to make him one of the more unforgettable Major Leaguers of all time.

A Gay Sports Executive: So What?

Suns executive Rick Welts with NBA Commissioner David Stern

Over the weekend amidst the snooze-fest that is the NBA Playoffs there was a slightly different NBA story grabbing attention across the country. The president and CEO of the Phoenix Suns came out as a homosexual in a New York Times article. Over the past few decades the sporting world has earned a reputation as impenetrable by homosexuality, the ultimate taboo subject when it comes to locker rooms and male-on-male competition. Rick Welts has been involved in the league for most of his life, starting out as a ballboy for the Seattle Supersonics before holding multiple jobs in a variety of capacities. His contributions include the idea of the NBA All-Star Weekend (including the Slam Dunk Contest) and the WNBA, the oft-criticized sister league of the NBA that has remained afloat thanks to the partnership with its male-counterpart. Clearly Welts is a talented executive and his homosexuality should play no role in his professional life.

Debating the source and acceptability of homosexuality can be one of the tougher tasks this side of a haystack. Here in the South it runs parallel to the abortion debate. The fundamental source of evidence for many in this area is the Bible. Those who argue for its supreme reliability are unlikely to accept anything that contradicts the text. For this reason many still believe homosexuals make the sinful choice to join a group that is often harassed, shunned, and discriminated against. I personally find it hard to ignore scientific findings that show gender-specific brains that do not necessarily match the body in which they are found. Certainly my beliefs are not more special or inherently correct than others and I also fill in scientific dots with what I see in the real world around me. I do not expect my beliefs to suddenly become the norm amongst people who see things differently than do I. However I think the sports world will continue to become slightly more accepting of homosexuals, chipping away at long-held belief that they cannot exist in that culture.

Rick Welts has made many contributions to the NBA as an executive and now the revelations about his personal life, and the classy way in which he handled it, have set the stage for what could be a far greater contribution to sports and society in general.