Sabean rips into Cousins for vicious hit on Posey..

[Upton]

San Francisco Giants GM Brian Sabean took to the airwaves Thursday and ripped into Florida Marlins reserve outfielder Scott Cousins for his vicious -- and very intentional -- home plate collision last week with catcher Buster Posey.

Sabean told KNBR host Ralph Barbieri that the Giants will have a "long memory" of that play and that everyone in the Giants organization would be happy if Cousins never played again.

Seabean said Cousin's hit on Posey was malicious, unnecessary, and premeditated. He went on to say that if he never hears from Cousins again, or Cousins doesn't play another day in the big leagues, "I think we'll all be happy."

"Cousins chose to be a hero, in my mind," Sabean continued. "If that's his flash of fame, that's as good as it's going to get. We'll have a long memory. We talked to Mike Matheny about how this game works. You can't be that out-and-out overly aggressive." He ended by saying, "There's no love lost and there shouldn't be."


http://www.22gigantes.com/2011/06/sabean-rips-into-cousins-for-vicious.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+22gigantes%2FySKM+%2822gigantes%29

I don't know if it's a good idea for Sabean to go after Cousins a week after the incident. Then again, I can't blame Sabean or Posey for being pissed..this injury has the very real possibility of ending Buster's career..The injuries to his ligaments are particularly troubling....Will he ever be the same again?

[joeybee12]

1. He's the first person I've heard say it was dirty and intentional...nt

[Upton]

2. The hit was unquestionably intentional

Cousins had a clear path to the plate. Instead he chose to veer towards Posey and collide with him as Buster was actually in front of home.

According to current MLB rules though, the play was clean...I think Sabean is reacting to the severity of the injury and the fact that Cousins didn't have to hit him.

Sabean is probably going to hear from the league office..but he's standing up for his player. That's what a good GM does.

[joeybee12]

3. Sounds like he's shooting for a vendetta...way overboard comments IMHO

Sucks for Posey and things have gotten out of hand, but I doubt Cousins would have been the only one to do that in the situation.

[Auggie]

5. I agree

I'd expect a little more decorum coming from the GM position

[Upton]

8. Decorum?

Are you joking? You know what Posey means to this franchise. Personally, I like a combative GM. The last thing I need is some guy bending over and just accepting a horrendous injury that truly didn't need to happen..

Sabean will take a lot of flack over these remarks, but I believe they reflect his and the team's frustration over the uncertian prognosis as it pertains to Posey's future in MLB..

[Auggie]

9. It's over. No good can come from beating this dead horse.

Sabean needs to stay on working terms with the Marlins and Cousin's agent, who also represents Freddy Sanchez. Of course he can vent his frustration and I expect him and the organization to give Selig an earful about rule changes etc., but Brian went a little too far on the personal attack IMO.

Lighten up... Pablo comes back in a few days. Maybe Huff and Ross found their strokes. And maybe Whiteside will throw out a base stealer someday. Maybe.

[RockaFowler]

4. There's no crying in Baseball

And both Posey and Sabean are a bunch of whiners.

Take this in perspective from a catcher who was out for The Marlins after his collision at the plate last year:

I know that Buster Posey is a rising star, but let's rewind to last season when Nyjer Morgan(notes) went out of his way to hit Brett Hayes(notes) (effectively ending his season and sparking an ugly brawl the next day) in what was clearly a dirty play. How come no one was on PTI arguing for a rule change then?

And if it wasn't Cousins who hit Posey, but instead someone like Tulowitzki, or Pujols, what then? Would the term "dirty play" be used? Apparently, to get some attention in baseball you have to be a star with a World Series ring. Don't worry Hayeser, I've got your back (so does Gaby).
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/John-Baker-Posey-injury-should-lead-to-rule-cha;_ylt=AjaF9mV.ZfaDXwL1mZSttp2FCLcF?urn=mlb-wp8044

People get hurt. It's part of the game. If they didn't want him to get hurt, I guess they could have put him at first. Or wait, maybe someone would have stepped on his big toe and he would be out another year.

:eyes:

[Upton]

7. Unfortunately this is much more than just being out for the year..

this injury is threatening Posey's career...all because some punk pinch runner made the wrong decision. Maybe that's okay with you, but it's not okay with the Giants GM, nor should it be.

So far, least as far as I can tell, the Marlins have been somewhat quiet over this incident. Perhaps you can remedy that situation by encouraging the Marlins players to make some comments along the line of yours...That will ensure the next time the 2 teams meet, Mike Stanton or perhaps Hanley Ramirez can take one right next to the ear. Then we will see who does the whining..

[RockaFowler]

10. What are you talking about??

Did you read what I posted??

Brett Hayes was injured last year because someone plowed into him (Nyjer Morgan). No-one whined or cried. No-one wanted Nyjer murdered (well they did have a melee' the next day). And Brett Hayes was out for the rest of the year. The Marlins didn't ask for a rule change. Jeffrey Loria didn't ask for Morgan's head on a platter. The game went on. Sabean and Posey are just what I said - whiners. The kid was hurt because of the way HE LANDED. He went back for the ball at the same time that Cousins was coming to the plate.

Please get over it. It's an injury in baseball. It happens everyday.

[joeybee12]

6. Cousin's Agent responds...

Matt Sosnick, the agent for Marlins outfielder Scott Cousins, has responded to the harsh comments that Giants GM Brian Sabean made about his client Thursday afternoon on a San Francisco radio station.

Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News has all the goods from Sosnick, who said Cousins has been receiving death threats since the late-May collision that ended Buster Posey‘s season.

Sosnick also claims that Cousins has tried to apologize directly to Posey on several occasions but has been denied access to the young star catcher.

“What Cousins did was not malicious,” Sosnick said. “A statement that anyone makes implying that he did something on purpose to be hurtful or malicious to Posey is untrue. Those people are misinformed. You can’t determine on a replay if there was a sliding lane for him to get into. It’s impossible.”

“I’d say Brian’s opinion is in the vast minority in baseball. I can understand the disappointment that Posey is out. I’m disappointed. My family is disappointed and I don’t even represent him. I can just tell you that if you know Scott Cousins, you know it was certainly not intentional.”

The Giants and Marlins meet up again in early August for a three-game series. If Cousins is still on Florida’s active roster — he’s batting just .159/.245/.250 in 49 plate appearances — there could be fireworks.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/06/02/scott-cousins-agent-responds-to-brian-sabeans-comments/related

[El Supremo]

11. The Great Joe Torre is going to call Sabean today.

And tell him to STFU!

IMO, whenever the catcher blocks the plate he risks injury. And he knows it.

[Auggie]

12. Just to be clear El,

Posey was well in front of home plate -- he had been coached not to block it. Cousins had a clear lane to score but made a decision to run out of that lane and into Posey. It's a valid play, yes. But Cousins could have chosen not to make it. That's what has everyone in San Francisco steamed.

[El Supremo]

13. Those observations are debatable.

I saw the replay differently.

[Auggie]

16. Debated for decades I guess, judging by your response...

Meanwhile, there's ball to play. Cain vs. Nicasio tonight. Nicasio had a nice debut last Saturday againts the Cardinals.

[Upton]

17. Doesn't look debatable to me..

As you can see, Posey is in front of the plate and Cousins veers out of the baseline and heads right for him..

[RockaFowler]

18. Looks like Cousins is right on the line

I was always taught to follow a line as a kid - even in baseball. If you take another snapshot you will see that Posey went back for the ball that he dropped. Then he was right on the plate.

[Upton]

19. Posey never had possession of the ball..

not that Cousins noticed, he was too busy launching himself into Posey.

Cousins had a clear path to the plate...he chose instead to go after Buster who is just as clearly in front of and not blocking home..

I know Cousins didn't hurt him on purpose, but what folks outside of the Giants organization don't seem to understand is this is more than just a season ending injury. Posey's career is literally in jeopardy...and that's why Sabean and Giants fans are pissed. It didn't have to happen.

Btw, I wish the Giants would shutup about the rule change and just take it out of the Marlins' hide next time they meet..

[MrSlayer]

14. Wahhhhh. What a wussy game baseball has turned into.

Bring back the sharpened spikes and chin music. That's when baseball was tough.

[Kingofalldems]

15. Looks like he should have made sure his catcher was properly trained

[RockaFowler]

20. Logan Morrison Fires Back at Sabean

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/06/03/this-is-getting-fun-logan-morrison-fires-back-at-brian-sabean-buster-posey/

Marlins’ outfielder Logan Morrison was on Sirius/XM with Casey Stern and Jim Bowden this afternoon, talking about the Buster Posey/Scott Cousins collision and Brian Sabean’s comments from yesterday. Not surprisingly, Morrison pulled no punches, especially with respect to Sabean:

“First of all, it’s wildly unprofessional for him to make any comment on the situation. When has he played in the big leagues? When has he played in the minor leagues? Correct me if I’m wrong but he’s never been in a situation like that. It’s terrible. Why would you wish anything like that on anybody? … He’s taking this very hard without the comments that ’s made. He’s getting death threats from people. This is his hometown, San Francisco. He’s worried about his family and his friends that are there. And now he’s going to make comments like that? It’s ignorant, it’s inappropriate and he has no idea what the hell he’s talking about.”

He went on to say that, while he understands that Posey may be angry about all of this, he should “be the bigger man” and accept the phone calls Cousins has been trying to make to him to apologize. When prompted by Stern, Morrison agreed that Posey was being “very immature and unprofessional.”