San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey is likely out for the remainder of the season after suffering torn ligaments in his ankle and breaking his leg in a home plate collision with Florida Marlins outfielder Scott Cousins.
That, of course, is highly disappointing, both for the Giants, the defending world champions, and for the game itself, which can use all the young stars it can get. In the aftermath of Posey’s injuries, there were calls for rule changes – from, among others, Posey’s agent – that would ban such collisions.
Cousins was attempting to score on a single to right field, but Posey had the ball and blocked Cousins’s path to the plate. Cousins did what any competitive player would have done – he tried to bowl Posey over and score the run. And he succeeded in doing both, as the ball was jarred loose and Cousins was ruled safe.
No one wants to see players injured. Catchers are especially vulnerable, given the nature of the position. But outlawing collisions on the basis of a single injury is not how baseball should respond. This smacks of overreaction of the worst kind.
This has hardly reached epidemic proportions. Rather, it is a somewhat isolated incident. What is next? Outlawing head-first slides into bases because some players jam or break fingers in the process?
Posey’s loss is significant and highly unfortunate, but it is not enough to change the rules.
