Brian Sabean vs. Scott Cousins and the world

[Madman81]

Eat a bowl of Barry Zito's shit, Sabean

[Miamarlin21]

What a pussy. If you're gonna say it, fucking say it. Don't go back you little bitch.

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

I hope we're almost done with this (it should have been over with last week) but here's some more from some other Marlins. LoMo is not the only one who would like Posey to at least take a phone call from Cousins.

Marlins players reacted angrily to comments made by Giants General Manager Brian Sabean about Scott Cousins, saying they have lost respect for Sabean and he should be held responsible if anything happens to their teammate.

The Marlins believe Sabean is fanning the flames with comments he made during a radio interview Thursday in which he called the collision "malicious," adding, "If I never hear from Cousins again or he never plays another game in the big leagues, I think we'll all be happy."

Sources close to the situation said Sabean has asked for Cousins' phone number Friday and is attempting to contact the Marlins outfielder.

Marlins outfielder Logan Morrison said Sabean "should be liable" for his comments.

Aside from anger over Sabean's comments, Morrison and outfielder Chris Coghlan are angry at Posey for not acknowledging Cousins' apology. Cousins wrote Posey a two-page letter and he has attempted to contact him by phone.

"It's troubling that (Posey) couldn't at least have the decency to say, 'hey I appreciate that you care,' Coghlan said. "I think it portrays anger to the fans."

Third baseman Wes Helms called the comments "Little League."

Commissioner Bud Selig is not happy with Sabean, according to a person familiar with the situation, and plans to speak to the Giants GM. Joe Torre, who oversees baseball operations for MLB, also plans to call Sabean.

Florida Marlins angry at Giants GM Brian Sabean for bashing Scott Cousins

There's more to the article but the comments have already been posted in here.

[Beef]

fm21, you've said lots of things on here and then later said something to the effect of oh, I shouldn't have said that and apologized.

[Miamarlin21]

But it was a week later. If it was the day after or whatever, I would understand, but it's a week later.

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

Okay, unless something major like discipline to Sabean happens, this is the last thing I'm posting on this. It's Hayes' take on the whole thing, including the actual collision.

"As a catcher, when you put the gear on, you know the possibilities that could happen," Hayes said. "You know that there is that chance you can get run over and get hurt. You don't put the gear on not knowing that. It's part of the game. It's part of the position. That's why it's the toughest position to play.

"Those guys who have played 10-plus years, that's amazing because of how tough they are. Buster Posey is a tough guy. We know that. Everyone knows that. It's unfortunate. He was in an unlucky position. He got his foot caught. It was awful. But it's baseball."

Hayes doesn't favor changing the rules, nor had he ever heard anyone hint at it before Posey's injury. And the Marlins catcher noted that there was no outrage over Astros catcher Humberto Quintero getting hurt at home plate two days after the Posey incident.

"I think this is all an emotional situation going on," Hayes said. "This is not the first time somebody has been run over. Trust me, I know. I know what it feels like. But all this stuff that is going on, honestly, I feel like it's out of control.

"No one cried foul when I got run over. No one cried foul when Quintero got run over. If Buster Posey doesn't get hurt, we're not talking about this. If Mike Stanton runs over Buster Posey, we're not talking about this. Let's all be honest."

Hayes missed the final month of 2010 because of his injury, and it took him about three months to get fully healthy.

"That was being good to go," he said. "That was no baseball. That was just being ready to go. By the time Spring Training rolled around, I was good to go. Buster got hit in May. If I got hit in May, it's the same, I'm out for, who knows? Trust me, I've been there. It's awful to be the one who is hurt."

Hayes says if MLB wants to debate rules for plays at the plate, he is fine with that. But he notes that whatever is decided would have to be clear-cut.

"If they want to make a rules change, I have no problem with it," Hayes said. "But you can't have a 'you can only slide here, or you can only go to here.' It has to be black and white, because in the game, everyone is going 100 mph, decisions can't be made that fast.

"There is no thought; it's all reaction. You've got to make it black and white. I favor leaving it the way it is."

Catcher Hayes offers take on Posey debate
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Okay, I lied but this is kinda funny.

Ken_Rosenthal: Tweeps on fire: Many saying that Cousins should make like Posey and not take Sabean's call. #SFGiants #Marlins #MLB

/Twitter

[emkayseven]

Hall of Famer Johnny Bench says Buster Posey's season-ending injury was the result of a mistake -- on the Giants catcher's part.

Bench, who knows all too well the physical toll of playing catcher in the major leagues, says knowing how to prevent collisions at the plate is a major key to the success of any catcher.

"Buster was a finalist for the Johnny Bench Award (as the top collegiate catcher in 2008) and is a great kid -- I called him after the World Series last year," Bench told the Tulsa World this week. "When I heard about the injury, I was anxious to see how this happened. Buster put himself in such a bad position."

Posey, last year's NL rookie of the year, was knocked out for the season on a play at the plate with Marlins outfielder Scott Cousins last week, a sequence that resulted in widespread, vexing rhetoric -- and apologies from both sides.

Bench, a spring training instructor for the Reds, was playing in his third All-Star Game in 1970 when Cincinnati teammate Pete Rose barrelled over Ray Fosse at the plate for the game-winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning.

Fosse, a rookie catcher for the Cleveland Indians, was seriously injured on the play, his promising career permanently scarred.

"First of all, my catchers don't sit in front of home plate. They stand away from home plate and work back to the plate," Bench told the Tulsa newspaper. "But we (catchers) are just fair game. You've got a guy running around third base at 210 to 220 pounds with 3 percent body fat and with sprinter's speed."

Cousins, a rookie, has been receiving death threats despite repeatedly apologizing for the May 25 collision that left Posey with a broken bone in his lower left leg and three torn ligaments in his ankle. He's had surgery and is done for the season.

"I teach my kids to stay away from the plate when you don't have the ball so the runner actually sees home plate and his thought is, slide," said Bench, who has undergone hips replacements on both legs in the past seven years after a 17-year career that ended in 1983. "But Buster is laying in front of home plate, and it's like having a disabled car in the middle of a four-lane highway. You're just going to get smacked."

Posey has said he felt Cousins could have slid around him but also said it was a legal play.

"Show them the plate," Bench said. " You can always catch the ball and step, or step and catch the ball, as long as you've got the runner on the ground. And if you have the runner on the ground, there's less chance of any severe collision."

Giants general manager Brian Sabean criticized Cousins on his weekly radio show, calling the play malicious and unnecessary. Sabean also said "if I never hear from Cousins again, or he doesn't play another day in the big leagues, I think we'll all be happy."

Sabean's comments got the attention of Major League Baseball, and executive vice president of baseball operations Joe Torre spoke with Sabean on Friday. The Giants also issued a statement saying Sabean's comments were made out of frustration, and the GM was trying to reach Cousins.

"We intend to move beyond conversations about last week's incident and focus our attention on Buster's full recovery and on defending our World Series title," the team said in the statement.

Cousins also issued a statement Friday and apologized again for the collision.

Florida manager Edwin Rodriguez said before Friday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers that he doesn't have to defend his young outfielder because Cousins didn't do anything wrong.

"As a team we don't have anything to say," Rodriguez said. "If people want to keep talking about that, let them talk."

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6625504

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

Sabean definitely is looking like he's out on an island on this. Even third party players on other teams are disgusted by his comments.

Padres catchers Nick Hundley and Rob Johnson took exception Friday afternoon to comments made by Giants General Manager Brian Sabean on Thursday criticizing Florida’s Scott Cousins for the home-plate collision that sidelined Buster Posey for the remainder of the season.

“For a general manager to go as far as he did with those comments is unacceptable and disrespectful to guys who play the game hard,” Johnson said. “Those comments were totally uncalled for.

“I thought it was a great baseball play. As catchers, we sign up for that. I respect Cousins. I tip my cap to him. He didn’t go out of his way to injure Posey. I’ve been cleaned out before. It’s part of the game.”

On Thursday, Sabean called Cousins’ collision with Posey “malicious” while speaking with Ralph Barbieri and Tom Tolbert on their afternoon KNBR radio show in San Francisco.

“If I never hear from Cousins again or he never plays another game in the big leagues, I think we’ll all be happy,” Sabean said.

Asked later in the interview if perhaps those words were too harsh, Sabean didn’t back down. He implied that the Giants might retaliate.

Said Sabean of Cousins: “He chose to be a hero in my mind, and if that’s his flash of fame, that’s as good as it’s going to get, pal. We’ll have a long memory. Believe me, we’ve talked to (former catcher Mike) Matheny about how this game works. You can’t be that out-and-out overly aggressive. I’ll put it as politically as I can state it: There’s no love lost and there shouldn’t be.”

The Marlins on Friday confirmed that Cousins had received death threats.

“Cousins played the game the right way,” Hundley said. “He went in hard and knocked the ball loose. If Posey hadn’t gotten hurt, no one would be talking about this.

“(Sabean’s) comments are completely wrong. It’s completely disrespectful for someone in a front office to say that. It’s so embarrassing.”

Padres catchers rip Sabean over diatribe

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

Giants catcher Buster Posey releases statement through Giants about Scott Cousins. Courtesy of Extra Baggs blog.

“I appreciate the continued support of Giants fans and others as I begin the process of working my way back. But in no way do I condone threats of any kind against Scott Cousins or his family.

"As I said last week, I’m not out to vilify Scott. I appreciate that he made the effort to reach out to me on the night of the play, but I was in no physical condition to talk to anyone. I have not been back with the team since that night, so I haven’t even been aware of any other messages he’s left for me. We all need to move on, so it isn’t necessary to have a conversation with him at this point."

"My only focus right now is looking forward, getting healthy and returning to catching for the Giants.”

Buster Posey releases statement on Scott Cousins

[Miamarlin21]

Ehhh I thought I saw footage of him with the team? Or even read about the guys hating seeing him limp around.

[Namaste]

J Bench took the words right out of my mouth. Want to block the plate? Prepare to get freight trained.

With that said, if Buster doesn't want to talk to Scott, WHO FUCKING CARES. Buster probably can't wait to get back behind the plate so he can give "94 MPH fastball in the upper back" signal to whoever is on the mound next time Cousins steps in the box.

*totally not saying Cousins did anything wrong

[Ramp]

Cousins and Sabean had a talk this weekend.... everything went well

they are back to being BFFs and Sabean will signed him to a 3 year deal when Cousins turns 37