June 7, 2011
Buster Posey, the San Francisco Giants’ star catcher, is out for the rest of the year. He broke his leg on a play at home plate on May 25, 2011. The experts say it was his own fault because he positioned himself poorly as the runner, Florida Marlins’ outfielder Scott Cousins, approached. However, Giants’ General Manager, Brian Sabean, in an angry radio outburst, attacked Cousins, calling the play “malicious.” 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.” You may think Sabean loyal for sticking up for his player, but he was out of line. As we all know, anger doesn’t solve anything.
Of course, Sabean apologized with the usual platitudes. But you’d think a Giants’ GM would have a better handle on this stuff. Earlier this year two Dodger fans beat up a Giants’ fan outside of Dodger stadium and he died from his injuries. Scott Cousins has been threatened with death himself, and while Sabean’s comments probably didn’t cause the threats, they certainly didn’t help.
Hall of Fame catcher, Johnny Bench, summed it up by saying that Posey had put himself in a bad position. Bench said, “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. 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. Show them the plate. 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.” Rockies’ catching expert and former major leaguer Marv Foley, agreed with Bench’s analysis.
Why do I mention a baseball incident in a political blog? It’s simple. There is an analogy between Brian Sabean’s reaction and people who debate political issues. Some fly off the handle and become unhinged, while others take a more rational approach. I want to point out how easy it is to react with emotion. It’s more difficult, but better to be thoughtful and understanding about things when they don’t go your way. Analyze, think, then think some more. After you understand the situation completely, react, but use your best judgment. Don’t attack anyone, and remember, we’re all human beings, and we all have feelings. Isn’t this how you would want your children and/or grandchildren to behave?
BLOG ROLL:
BLOG-PING SITES:
Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative blog, Mark A. Cohen, From The Left to the Right, Brian Sabean, Scott Cousins, Buster Posey, MLB, baseball, San Francisco Giants, Florida Marlins
Keyword Phrases: "Conservatism”, “Conservative blog”, “Mark A. Cohen”, “From The Left to the Right”, " Brian Sabean”, “Scott Cousins”, “Buster Posey”, “MLB”,
“baseball”, “San Francisco Giants”, “Florida Marlins"
See Mark's 'Author of the Month' page at Castle Rock's Local Gathering Place
Mark A. Cohen is represented at AKA Literary by Agent Terrie Wolf. This page scrolls through authors whose last names begin with either an A, B, or C. You can either wait for the scroll, or click on his name there.
Conservative Blogs Central. Once on page 21, go to the bottom (scroll down), it shows and points back to this blog.
From the Left to the Right - Follow this link to Facebook
No comments:
Post a Comment