So, eccentric San Francisco Giants general manager Brian Sabean has suddenly raised his voice over the nature of the Buster Posey injury via the run-in with Scott Cousins. He says that collisions between base runners and catchers protecting the plate should never happen, and Major League Baseball needs to lock down on these issues.
Unfortunately, as Larry Granillo of Baseball Prospectus points out quite clearly, Sabean hasn't been quite so consistent in his viewpoints in previous situations. Bullet point details after the jump (click the link to BP for video!).
- 2006: Prince Fielder collides with Giants catcher Todd Greene. Giants manager Felipe Alou makes the usual "it's part of the game" argument. No official rebuke from Sabean or Giants management.
- 2008: Nate Schierholtz (Giants farmhand at the time) pounds into Chinese catcher Yang Yang at the Beijing Olympics.
- Last year: Pablo Sandoval takes out Ryan Doumit. No official word of rebuke from Giants management.
Sabean has obviously accomplished quite a bit for the Giants in constructing a World Series Champion-caliber team. But it might be best for him if he sits out these battles and let the Posey injury go.