Ken Rosenthal, Welcome to Thunderdome

This article about Brian Sabean is a bit much.

Evidently, Brian Sabean has forgotten the final play of the 2003 NL Division Series, when the Giants' J.T. Snow barreled into Marlins catcher Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, trying to dislodge the ball.

Nope. Bet you he hasn't forgotten. Bet you he still sometimes wakes up at night (maybe not since the world series win last year, but still) and has visions of one of the more excruciating ways to lose in the playoffs.

And, J.T. snow "barreled into" Pudge? Really? If anything, that is a phenomenal play by Pudge, diving back in front of Snow as he attempts to dive through a wide open window to home plate. It is in no way the same thing that Cousins did the other night, when he chose to dive back towards the field where Posey was crouched, as opposed to pursuing the path of least resistence towards the backstop. I'm not saying what Cousins did was dirty, but it's not the same thing that J.T. Snow did (or really, what Pudge did).

Evidently, Sabean is unaware of the argument that the Giants’ Buster Posey had his feet in the wrong position, leaving himself vulnerable to his season-ending hit by the Marlins' Scott Cousins.

No, I would bet that he's heard that ridiculous argument and the reason why he is speaking out now, a full 8 days after the injury (which you'll lambast him for in a second) is because that argument has gained so much traction in the last few days.

Were Posey's feet in the wrong position? Seems likely, even though the inestimable Tim McCarver was the first to posit this point. But you know under which circumstances the placement of Posey's feet wouldn't have been an issue? If Cousins didn't choose to go towards the front of the plate and kamikaze him.

I bet Posey would do it differently if he had the option, but in an article about whether or not Cousins should be blamed for running into a catcher, this is a decidedly irrelevant argument to make.

Evidently, Sabean is suffering from a baseball form of post-traumatic stress disorder.

I hate when people tell me not to take sports seriously, so I won't do that. But don't trivialize mental conditions with crappy comparisons to sports, especially conditions that gained traction through the suffering of war vets.

Everyone who loves the sport is upset by Posey’s injury. Lots of us believe Cousins' hit was misguided. But the Giants general manager went too far Thursday when, in an interview with San Francisco radio station KNBR, he wished for the end of Cousins' career.

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

“(Cousins) 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,” Sabean said. “We'll have a long memory."

Sabean is angry. And understandably so. If "everyone who loves the sport" is upset by this hit, why wouldn't the guy in charge of the team be exponentially more upset?

And I honestly don't think Sabean was wishing for the end of the guy's career. If he was, then my defense of him holds considerably less water. But taking for granted for a second that he wasn't wishing ill will to this guy, it's very possible that the longest tenured GM in baseball thinks Scott Cousins (.222/.276/.346 in 66 ML games and, granted, only 44 ABs) is not very good at baseball and won't be around for all that long. Even in AAA Cousins only OPSed .792 in 118 games, so it's not absurd to think that these might be some of the few days we see of Scott Cousins in the majors and that this might seriously be the only noteworthy thing he does.

“Believe me, we're talking 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.”

This was probably a bit much. Hit him next time, but don't talk about it.

I could maybe understand Sabean's reaction if it occurred in the heat of the moment — the night of Posey's injury or even the day after. But eight days later? Sabean had plenty of time to sort through his emotions.

"Yep, thought about it. Still pissed."

MLB, WWE, it's all starting to sound the same.

Not quite, but Ken Rosenthal might me on to something here! I think Brian Sabean should challenge Scott Cousins to a ladder match on homeplate at AT&T Park. We'll put the MLB rule book up top, and whoever gets up there first gets to decide whether the collisions rules will be amended! Oh this is awesome! Somebody get Vince McMahon on the phone, we've got tickets to sell!

I've got no problem with the Giants being upset.

Really? Seems like you've got a tiny issue with Brian Sabean being upset...

I've got no problem with manager Bruce Bochy lobbying for a change in rules. Baseball should better protect its catchers, not because it was Posey, the reigning NL Rookie of the Year, who got hurt, but because it's the right thing to do.

Is this the first catcher injury of the year? I'm not sure and I don't feel like looking it up, but I feel like this has A LOT to do with the fact that it was the reigning NL ROY. Nobody is going to shed tears over Ronnie Paulino getting trucked (if and when that happens).

MLB on FOX's Tim McCarver had a good suggestion — a base runner who hits a catcher near the head should automatically be ejected and fined, his run taken off the board.

Well it's a suggestion. It's not a good suggestion. You want umpires to be able to judge hits to the head? Have you seen how much trouble the NHL has had with that this year? They still sometimes get it wrong (allegedly) days later after hundreds of rewatchings. And you have to be aware of how contentious the instant replay issue has been in baseball. Are you going to be willing to let umpires slow down the game to see if there was intent in the contact? If you're not planning on it, you should be, especially if we're gonna start negating runs all willy nilly.

FOXSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi also had a sound proposal — a base runner should be called out if he initiates contact with a catcher who is not blocking the plate.

Cousins might have been called out under the McCarver Rule. He certainly would have been called out under the Morosi Rule.

I think you've got that backwards, chief. Watch the video again. Cousins puts his shoulder into Posey's chest protector. No contact with his head whatsoever. The first thing that Posey's head hits is the dirt when he places his forehead on the ground and claws at the ground like he's crawling out of a foxhole with no legs (which might be exactly what that felt like based on the subsequent medical reports).

And he most certainly COULD have been called out under the Morosi rule. You know who thinks so? Morosi. That's why he wrote the article. From this article (on FoxSports.com - - the same goddamn site posted Rosenthal's article, too.)

"If that rule were in effect Wednesday, Florida's Scott Cousins would have been called out after initiating contact with Posey -- rather than sliding -- on a play at the plate in the Marlins' 7-6, 12-inning win."

Research, people. Simple research.

But let's assume Morosi didn't write that. What sort of collision do you think that would apply to, Rosenthal? Josh Hamilton belts a homerun, trots around the bases, then throws a Superman punch to Kurt Suszuki's face before he puts him in a suplex on home plate? I don't think some of the contact in Baseketball would get people ejected in the MLB if Ken Rosenthal was in charge. (PS - I'm really digging this MLB/WWE idea. I think we've really got something).

Here's what Morosi had in mind as justification:

"Posey was not in possession of the ball as Cousins arrived with what proved to be the winning run. Nor was Posey completely blocking the plate. Cousins had an alley to slide in safely, around the tag. He didn't take it."

Not, "Posey was standing approximately 4 feet from homeplate when Cousins pointed to the stands and asked, 'Is that your, Mom?' before he donkey punched Posey in the back of the dome."

But it is wrong to demonize Cousins for a play that was not outside the present rules, a play that even some Giants said was clean, a play that required an instinctive, split-second base-running decision in the 12th inning of a tie game.

Posey set up in front of home plate, leaving Cousins a lane in which to slide. In retrospect, Cousins should have used that lane. But that's easy for others to say.

Let's take the second point first: you admit that Cousins shouldn't have done that? What have we been talking about all this time? And who are the others? Are they the same others who are finding it really easy to criticize the avenue through which Brian Sabean expressed his outrage. The others are assholes.

And as for the first point (not demonizing players for things that weren't against the rules at the time), uh, what do you call all of these?

Steroid use should affect baseball and somehow SABR nerds are also to blame
Players who get DUIs should be punished via non-existent DUI rule
Actual article title: Was it really worth it, Barry?
Mark McGwire's apology not good enough for Rosenthal
Video: Punish A-Rod and Tejada
Indignation over Sammy Sosa being on that stupid list

This is just a sampling of Rosenthal's righteous commentary that does EXACTLY the same thing he just spoke out against. I got tired of looking at these, but there are plenty more if you're interested.

Consistency, people. Simple consistency.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

Having re-read this, I now see that Rosenthal said he WOULD be called out under the Morosi rule. Certainly steals some ire away from my argument, and it should be noted that Rosenthal wasn't nearly as wrong in writing this as I first claimed.