Jeter: “Even now, it means a lot to us”
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Sep 12, 2011 
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It kind of got lost on the blog yesterday, but the Angels pregame ceremony in memory of September 11 was outstanding. It was understated and emotional, and the Angels did a nice job keeping the Yankees involved from start to finish.
“Obviously we have an opportunity to wear New York across our chest, and we take a lot of pride in that,” Derek Jeter said. “This was something that affected the whole country, but during that time right after September 11, when we were playing in the playoffs, and even now, it means a lot to us.”
Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera caught ceremonial first pitches from first responders who were part of that tragic day in New York. Afterward, all six — the heros and the players — mingled in the infield, with the Yankees signing autographs and making small talk.
“A lot of Yankees fans,” Jeter said. “A lot of the guys were pulling for us. It’s always good to hear. You meet guys that are true heroes and they say how much they appreciate the way you play. It makes you feel good.”
I realize it’s a day later, but we’ll have plenty of time to talk baseball today, and event seemed to really mean something in the Yankees clubhosue. Joe Torre was a surprise guest — no one seemed to know he was going to participate — and it was hard not to have an emotional reaction as the first responders and members of the military were introduced.
“It was a wonderful ceremony,” Rivera said. “They did a tremendous job. They gave us an oppoortuity to be there and be a part of it, which was awesome.”
Here’s Jeter. You’ll be shocked to learn he was terrific talking about the ceremony before shifting gears to talk about the game and the team’s need for a win.
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Blake
Romine said he had caught Mo in ST
here is the link (hopefully) to all the post game interviews, including his
http://web.yesnetwork.com/index.jsp
From our office my coworkers and I could see these huge plumes of smoke and we wondered what it was. What I most remember from those days was that there was pan almost palpable feeling of patriotism for weeks afterward. I always turned the radio up when they played Lee Greenwood’s song God Bless the USA and Ray Charles’ version of America the Beautiul
AL Wild Card standings :
Boston …… 85-61 -
Tampa Bay .. 81-64 3 1/2
L.A. Angels .. 80-66 5
very classy of the Angels to include Jeet/Mo/Po in the pregame ceremony
Kate,
Oh…I didn’t know that. Thanks.
Hats of the the Angels on a nice job…..and I also thought it was cool when they gave Jorge a nice ovation when he came in to catch the other night..
craigcalcaterra
Boston has seven of their last 16 games against the Orioles. I’d say panic is premature.
Playoff fate in the hands of the Fighting Showalters?
Yes, that was nice for Po. In listening to the games, you could clearly hear “lets go Yankees” and other Yankee chants. I thought I heard roll call during one of the games.
Pat-
Yeah. And 7 of those game are with TB and us.
And their rottaion is in shambles.
They’re not gonna take all the Baltimore games.
If I were a Sux fan I’d be very worried.
The Orioles always play Boston tough…..and they will consider it their WS to try and take down one of the big dogs. As long as Boston is throwing out Lester and the scrubs for a rotation they are going to have to slug like crazy to win……and their lineup has been slumping.
sp: rotation
I wish I had gotten to see that ceremony. Sounds very cool.
Jorge had that little snap early in the season…..but other than that he’s handled himself with a lot of pride and dignity this year……it has had to be a tough year for a very proud guy.
He’s one of my favorite Yankees ever……
blake September 12th, 2011 at 9:28 am
Hats of the the Angels on a nice job?..and I also thought it was cool when they gave Jorge a nice ovation when he came in to catch the other night..
**********************
blake, that was awesome. I loved Teixeira’s reaction when Posada came in.
blake – Totally agree on Jorgie, he’s been one of my favorites as well. I sometimes feel like I grew up with him and Derek..
Still makes me nervous he was telling the media he can still catch next season though. I’m hoping thats just talk and he’ll come to his senses.
The Yankees may carry 3 catchers again next year.
Martin
Montero
Romine
I think that there are many here that have no idea how highly regarded and respected Posada is on the Yankees and all of baseball.
“Still makes me nervous he was telling the media he can still catch next season though. I’m hoping thats just talk and he’ll come to his senses.”
so if jorge does not have PCS that would prevent him from catching the other night, why was he never used as a catcher this past summer when at times martin and cervelli were banged up and/or really bad?
you might notice that varitek has had a very solid year as a back up after having a couple real stinkers that made him look in serious decline. sometimes players come back some from decline.
fisk caught till he was about 45.
if jorge doesn’t have PCS, why couldn’t he be a back up catcher for some team looking for the experience of 5 rings to pass on to young players on an up an coming team?
plus any positive offensive stats posada adds to his hall of fame resume can only help his hall of fame chances.
if his PCS is not a problem, i wouldn’t mind seeing jorge play another year or two somewhere if it helps his hall of fame chances. he’d be wearing a yankee hat for sure if he gets in.
Randy-
IMO what you saw with Posada was a pure emergency move.
He has been advised not to catch.
No idea why they were so reluctant to use Montero. He’s not terrible.
Jorgie is at liberty to do whatever he wants.. the organization has already made it clear this season that its going to move on without him. I don’t really have a problem with either side, I understand both. But concussions are nothing to fool around with.. once youve had one, you’re much more susceptible to having more and Jorge has had more than a couple in the past few seasons. I’m not sure if Veritek or Fisk ever had to battle that particular type of injury. I mean, it could be unlikely, but even one foul ball off the mask could end up doing irreparable damage. If Jorgie wants to take that risk its his prerogative but I don’t blame the organization for being unwilling to do the same.
Yeah I agree w/ MTU, it was an emergency. Concussions should not be taken lightly. I would rather see Po go out w/ something still left in the tank.
Kate-
Unfortunately Cervelli has had his bell rung too many times too.
Which is unfortunate. Cisco is a perfectly adequate BUC.
No idea why they were so reluctant to use Montero. He’s not terrible.
__
Because he was already the DH in that game and moving him to catcher in the 2nd inning would have forced the pitchers to hit.
For admittedly very selfish reasons I hope Posada will retire at the end of the season, because I would hate to see him in another uniform. That just has “wrong” written all over it.
I can barely remember a time when he wasn’t the starting catcher.
Kate-
Yeah. Hope it isn’t as serious as I suspect.
Morneau has been having terrible concussion probs.
It’s nothing to fool with.
ac1 -
I meant in general.
Yea….we never have heard the real scoop on Jorge and if the concussions really we’re the deciding factor in the decision that was made. If they weren’t……then he should have been the backup catcher this year if that role wasn’t given to Montero right out of ST. It would have given Jorge a lot more value and would have given them a lot more latitude at the DH position.
Im still assuming it was a medical decision because that’s the only way it makes sense.
I think they should get Jorge a job in the organization…..he looks like a future coach to me…..don’t know if he has those aspirations or not…..if he could still.catch he could extend his career as a back up the way Varitek has.
If Jorge’s concussion situation is so fragile then why did he catch at all?
Surely his health is more important than losing the DH in the 3rd inning of a relatively meaningless September game.
Jorge doesn’t have to catch to offer the experience of his 5 WS rings to a team.
Bench player? Coach? Would he take a $1M contract like Bernie did his final year?
LGY-
I think they took a gamble.
Boston will throw Wakefield and Lackey against Morrow and Romero to try and break their losing streak……ouch…….their own better make the most of their off day
LGY,
Its a very good question…..
I was actually surprised at how comfortable Jorge looked back there…..wonder how sore he is
Their “pen” better make the most of their.off day….stupid phone.
Blake-
Being back at the sardine can might help a little.
One of the reasons I never really liked most knuckle ballers is they have no in between.
They’re either great or they suck.
Should be fun to watch Bautista teeing off against Lackey too.
I want 2 of 3 from Seattle. No excuses.
“Yeah. Hope it isn’t as serious as I suspect.
Morneau has been having terrible concussion probs.”
They really are dangerous. Sidney Crosby might never play hockey again because of them and he’s probably one of the most talented guys to ever play the game.
LGY – I thought bringing him in set a pretty poor precedent as well.
PCS led Jorge to forget he shouldn’t have been behind the plate, while the Robber Barron Yankees were all to happy to exploit him for those perilous innings.
LGY September 12th, 2011 at 10:13 am
If Jorge?s concussion situation is so fragile then why did he catch at all?
*************************
He’s the emergency catcher. I’d say that situation was pretty close to an emergency. Yes, they could have put Montero in, but it was pretty early in the game, and why risk CC getting hurt having to hit?
I dunno Erin, I agreed with the move to a point… but then I remembered how good of a hitter CC is lol and sorta wished they just let him swing away.
CC was already struggling w/ his pitching. Why send him out to hit?
Has anyone ever read or heard the Yanks or Posada say that PCS is the reason he is not catching?
JT – I believe Cashman has stated that, but the other posters here may have more specific info like article links.
Shame-that’s true. LOL I can see both sides, and I did think of the health risk right away. But I have to admit, I did like seeing him run out there with his catcher’s gear on.
JT-
I think early in the season statements were made that Jorge had been advised by Physicians not to catch any more.
Don’t have a link though. Might have been just rumor and/or hearsay.
I tend to believe it though.
JT-I believe Cashman (and perhaps even Girardi) have mentioned something to that effect
I do remember seeing an article that implied that he had been advised not to catch.
Found the article: “When Jorge Posada complained of headaches during spring training, the Yankees sent him for tests that led to him taking medication and put an end to him being a catcher — even if the club and former catcher disagree on what impact concussions had on his discomfort.”
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports.....bFOcWC1FKO
Shame-
Good job.
You’re now officially a super-sleuthette.
Maybe it was reading about all of the Yankees’ future star catchers that gave Jorge the headaches. And hey, welcome, Russell Martin!
Shame-that’s it! Gold Star for you.
Cervelli has had 3 concussions that I can think of and they flew him across country and were going to catch him the next day…..
Blake-
What are you tryin’ to say ?
You agree or disagree with it ?
Thanks MTU & Erin. It was either that or do “work” and that article was much more interesting than this awful excel spreadsheet..
Blake- FWIW, the doctor(s) Cervelli saw on Saturday that recommended he go back to NYC told him it was safe for him to fly.
I’m not sure that flying is always a major risk for those who’d been recently concussed. I remember the Mets had issues with Ryan Church a few years back and the team was criticized for having him take a trip.. but I’m not sure if the issue was him flying or the fact that they were flying specifically to Colorado where the air would be thinner when he arrived.
MTU,
Just saying that from a distance the stuff with Posada and the concussions sounds strange…..
Erin,
Was he checked before they left baltimore?
Anyway….I hope Cervy is ok. He’s taken a bunch of hard hits over the last couple of years……they need to err on the side of caution with him.
Chris Carpenter no longer an option for the pitching staff next year:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_.....-extension
blake-not that I know of.
RADickey43
For all those upset that we didn’t wear the hats, I understand your anger. However, they physically took them from us after the ceremony.
MLB really does like to sweat the small stuff.
Dog walk time.
pat-Selig is such an idiot. Even Roger Goodell allowed the NFL players to wear red white and blue!
Jesus Montero got the first start of his career behind the plate yesterday because Cervelli’s problems with concussions.
Cervelli was in part catching so often this season over Posada because of Posada’s own problems with concussions.
It’s very possible that Montero is going to be the guy the Yankees attempt to build their line up around for a decade.
So watching Montero catch yesterday under those conditions – conditions highly defined by Cervelli and Posda’s head trauma related problems – it was just remarkable to sit there and watch Montero wearing one of those flimsy, ridiculous, and stupid plastic helmets with the pull over catchers mask.
Just think about how outright dumb that is. Cervelli and Posada both are suffering from concussion problems. Which was the reason that Montero (and Romine) had to play.
And rather than try to address the core root problem – the level of protection to the head for catchers – the Yankees simply keep the wheel of stupidity in baseball churning. Let’s keep making the same mistakes over and over and over so that in a few years we can pull Montero from the line up due to concussions and given Gary Sanchez a start. Let’s not increase protection to the head.
It’s just amazing how dumb baseball is as an “industry.” The helmets they use for both hitting and catching are for the most part arbitrarily designed. It’s as if you were to use a seat belt that isn’t systematically tested. Just someone one day said, “you know – that’ll do. I think that should be strong enough. My gut tells me that’s ok.”
Players keep using this garbage equipment – and concussions just keep growing as a problem in the game.
But no one is committed to doing anything about it. Not the commissioners office, not team management – not even the players who are losing millions out of their pockets in income.
And the one helmet that actually has been systematically designed to withstand at least some of the likely impact trauma inherent in the game is derided and laughed off as a “space” helmet and hardly ever used – not even by players who have had their careers already enormously changed by concussions.
Unfathomably stupid. Montero could be worth hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars to the yankees over his career. And they just sent him into the game to replace Cervelli with the same protective equipment that failed Cervelli.
And yes it might be difficult to simply switch equipment suddenly, but this is why Montero should have been using enhanced protective helmet equipment not only for hitting in the minors but also behind the plate and the Yankees should have outright told him this is what you are going to use for your entire career. Look at what’s happened with Cervelli and Posada.
Erin
It was Torre’s decision.
pat – Was reading about all that this morning.. so confusing to me. I sorta wish the Mets would’ve just worn them and let MLB “punish” them for it. Imagine that PR disaster..they’d deserve it.
“IMO what you saw with Posada was a pure emergency move.
He has been advised not to catch.”
mtu-
what lgy said :
“If Jorge’s concussion situation is so fragile then why did he catch at all?
Surely his health is more important than losing the DH in the 3rd inning of a relatively meaningless September game.”
i hate starting the day off with agreeing with lgy, but those were my thoughts exactly.
someday someone is going to have to see the yankees lose the DH and realize the baseball world doesn’t come to an end. it’s no big deal. the manager pinch hits for the pitcher. brings in a reliever.
life goes on.
I have every confidence that the combination of the Yankee doctors, medical staff and the players personal doctors are intimately involved in evaluating Cervelli and Posada and that nothing will be done to reasonably jeopardize their health. That is just the way it is. If Posada played, it’s because this has already been discussed with the doctors and it’s ok. Say what you want about Girardi between the lines, but no chance at all he does anything that could harm a player.
LGY September 12th, 2011 at 11:01 am
Erin
It was Torre?s decision.
**********************
CB – Interesting points, reminds me of the ‘shield’ in hockey that many players refuse to wear to protect their eyes because its perceived as something used by ‘weak’ players.
The new catchers masks look a lot more like those of hockey goalies, but you don’t see many catchers wearing them. I wonder if they improve the protection of the head that much more or if it was used simply to protect the neck area more efficiently.
Cervelli was wearing that more protective helmet at one point in time. Wonder why he switched back.
There is so much more awareness regarding the danger of concussions these days, even for youth sports. MLB made the 1B/3B coaches wear helmets. It would seem they could be more proactive.
“it was just remarkable to sit there and watch Montero wearing one of those flimsy, ridiculous, and stupid plastic helmets with the pull over catchers mask.”
CB-
you mean the same kind of face mask i used in 1967 in high school and the same piece of equipment in 1989 that willie mays aikens with his charlie lau one hand swing hit me with his follow through in the back of the head, knocking me to my knees and making me woozy for a few days.
oh, that piece of equipment.
yes, of course, all catchers should wear a better face mask and helmet and should wear the new batting helmet. it’s a no brainer, pun intended.
Erin
I’m serious!
These players are stars and stars want to be cool, and when a player puts one of those extra padding helmets on they are called “Gazoo”. I think that’s the main reason, really. I don’t think it really has anything to do with the slight extra weight. If anything I would think the extra weight would sightly help keep your head from moving as much when swinging.
Oh yeah, I miss Cervelli’s “Gazoo” look.
CB,
Great points…..it makes.very little sense……if everyone used the safer equipment then soon it wouldn’t look dumb anymore because folks.would get used to it.
What did you think about Montero behind the plate yesterday?
I thought Jorge looked better behind the plate than Montero did. If they are going to let Montero catch this year, catching Colon might be the way to go.
no one used to use helmets for skiing either, or for biking…times change as people become more aware of the danger of head trauma
LGY-really?
Count on CB to make a good point.
He’s absolutely right, of course. I wonder if baseball’s decision (or lack thereof) on this is predicated on the lines of “let the players decide”. Yet, how many times have players tried to play through injury? How much of the players’ reluctance to use the improved batter’s helmet is due to a macho attitude (what my wife calls “testosterone poisoning”) ?
And it’s not just the catchers on the Yankees. Look at what happened to Mike Matheny of the Cards.
It’s relatively easy to do. Get the appropriate engineers to design something, test it (similar to testing bike helmets and the Gizmo batting helmet), and start using it. All it takes is the will.
Chad – who can we suggest this to?
What headgear has Montero been using in Scranton? Anyone know?
That’s a great deal for the Cards with Carpenter…….it reduces their payroll for.next year and locks up their #2 for 2 more years at a decent rate……that contract was what I was hoping the Yanks coukd get him for if he hit the market.
Technical study on both types of catcher’s masks.
Mar. 30, 2007
Foul tip trauma Inspired by the story of Mike Matheny’s retirement, four Kettering students test catcher’s masks to see how well they protect major league baseball players.
http://www.kettering.edu/visit.....orynum=552
The students determined the traditional style mask is most protective against frontal impact, while the hockey style mask protects better during side impact. “The reason why the hockey style mask protects better against side impact can be attributed to the flex properties of the material used,” according to their report. The flex of the helmet was observed from the images recorded by a high speed camera in the crash test lab.
Their conclusion, based on test results, was that the traditional two-piece system needs to be improved on the area of the helmet, with no change to the cage. “Overall, the testing would support the theory that a traditional style catcher’s mask would protect better against a foul-tip and a hockey style catcher’s mask would protect better against a hitter’s backswing,” they said in their report. The front impact location was where the foul-tip that ended Mike Matheny’s career struck on the hockey style catcher’s mask.
Players could make the decision to wear more protective gear on their own but to make it mandatory might require a change in a CBA agreement.
Beltre a couple of years ago gave everyone a glimpse at players foregoing safety equipment to their own peril and still not learning from it.
“you mean the same kind of face mask i used in 1967 in high school ”
randy,
This just drives me crazy. And it’s not just montero yesterday. I’ve posted about this before many times.
I honestly can’t get over this. As you said – it’s as if the world stopped 50 years ago.
And as you well know – part of the reason why catching equipment is so bad is that catchers have generally been considered commodity inputs into the game. They just aren’t generally that good so what’s the big deal? Just find another guy.
But to take this risk with Montero is strategic suicide for the yankees. It’s not as if they aren’t taking a big enough risk having a potential franchise bat subject to the physical stress of catching.
And it’s not just the helmet either. Not only should the yankees mandate that Montero and all other catchers wear state of the art technology at all times – they should also tell Montero in no uncertain terms that he is not allowed to block the plate (unless it’s some extraordinary circumstance like the world series).
Baseball should do the same for the game at large. Players should not have a choice in helmets – because if you give them a choice machismo takes over and high school level stigma ensues. Silly as they are – they are have a real impact on behavior and decision making.
Montero may be the best young bat the yankees have developed since Mantle. They may have to wait decades before they find a player with the kind of swing and tools Montero has. They cannot allow this players career to be cut short due to concussions.
The Yankees should sign Martin to a 2-3 years deal after next season and have him catch 80-90 games with Montero catching the rest. Or the if they like Romine better than Martin – do the same with Romine.
I don’t think you can just take a bat that is the foundation for an attack and play him 140 games behind the plate. He’s going to wear down and risk injuries. If they want to transition Montero to ultimately catch 100 games or so a season that’s probably fine. But I wouldn’t push it past that.
Play him enough behind the plate so that he improves his catching skills, feels like he’s still a catcher, and most importantly – is adequate enough to play behind the plate during away games to NL parks during the World Series (and interleague). Otherwise – he’s fine to DH for now and ultimately replace Tex at 1b.
Erin – No he was being serious, its in our papers that Joe had a hand in it. Apparently, MLB wanted the rules to be ‘uniformed’ for all of the teams… SMH…
CB–
Great points, which is why I have been calling for the Yankees to stop playing Montero as catcher, and just make him permanent DH.
Thanks Shame. Wow. Whatever.
I’m actually still impressed Goodell “bent the rules”. LOL
no doubt MLB wanted to profit on sales of the commemorative hats
To be honest I don’t think the Yanks see Montero’s future at catcher. If they did would they have sent an APB out for Romine?
“It’s relatively easy to do. Get the appropriate engineers to design something, test it (similar to testing bike helmets and the Gizmo batting helmet), and start using it. All it takes is the will.”
This is not a difficult engineering problem in any way. It’s been done in many other industries.
There’s no reason for catchers to make any kind of trade offs between the traditional mask/helmets or the hockey style. Ultimately, both are far from optimal and can be improves upon.
Make the helmets out of materials like carbon fiber, etc. to keep them light. Do something different and better engineered.
1B will open up when Montero is around 26…..just entering his prime age
To be honest I don’t think the Yanks see Montero’s future at catcher. If they did would they have sent an APB out for Romine?
–
They had 1 catcher available on the roster and romine needs to go on the 40 man anyways?
Why mandate catching gear to protect players — while baseball allows chewing tobacco, something that is factually proven to cause harm while setting a bad example for kids who emulate their heroes?
Smokeless tobacco contains 28 cancer-causing agents, is a known cause of human cancer; it increases the risk of developing cancer of the oral cavity and is also strongly associated with leukoplakia—a precancerous lesion of the soft tissue in the mouth. Smokeless tobacco is also associated with recession of the gums, gum disease, and tooth decay.
Wave,
Eh…..they don’t see Dickerson as.their.future RFer and they put him in for Swisher late on games. I don’t think that’s a huge deal or that indicative of anything.
CB-
Included a study @ 11:34 comparing G-forces of both styles catcher’s helmets.
Here’s another piece of protective eqyipment, developed by a plastic surgeon to help prevent maxillary and mandibular trauma. Unfortunately I’ve seen players attach the C-Flap to their helmets, AFTER, they have suffered a fractured cheekbone or mandible.
http://www.markwort.com/featured_tab/cflap_big.asp
Erin,
Yeah. The reports are that Torre had the final decision on the matter. Here are a couple of tweets about it from last night.
@DPLennon David Lennon
Torre, who made MLB decision, told AP that wanted teams to be “consistent” “Certainly it’s not a lack of respect,” he said of #mets ruling.
Buster_ESPN
I can remember Torre wearing a hat w/Port Authority logo after 9/11,and speaking proudly of it.His decision not consistent with that spirit.
The Sox are really in trouble…
Upcoming pitching matchups:
Wakefield VS Morrow
Lackey VS Romero
Miller VS Hellickson
Weiland VS Shields
Lester VS Niemann
Wakefield VS Price
2-4 seem about right?
“I don’t think that’s a huge deal or that indicative of anything.”
blake-
They call Romine’s girlfriend to get Romine on the road, fly him immediately to LA, zoom him to the Stadium and put him in the game when he gets there because they love Montero behind the plate?
Maybe, but call me unconvinced.
Before making a big deal about Montero’s catching headgear yesterday, I’d like to know what his catching headgear was in August.
I don’t think that they consider Romine is a better defender at this point means that they don’t think Montero can catch though……I think that decision was about trying to control the running game and trying to keep Scisica from running
“What did you think about Montero behind the plate yesterday?”
Blake,
Yesterday was a very difficult game to make your major league debut in behind the plate.
The angels are just about the worst team have to face as a catcher for a variety of reasons (including calling pitches due to the odd way they swing the bat and structure the attack).
On top of that Garcia pretty much had nothing and had to get through the game on guile and that split change. The split was by far his most effective pitch.
So on the whole, I think Montero did ok. He has a very strong arm and a good release. We’ve known that. And as we’ve also known, the thing that he has to work on more is his footwork behind the plate on balls in the dirt.
He’s only 21. He’s lost a considerable amount of weight over the past 2 years to become more agile. He’s highly motivated. I think he’ll be at least passable back there much like Piazza was given the bat.
My concerns with him not catching too much are more driven by the wear and tear of the position rather than shortfalls in his defense.
It’s just so hard to have the foundation for the offense subject to the risk for injury and grind of catching.
Just look at Mauer. Look at how the Nationals announced Bryce Harper as an outfielder when they drafted him.
Given the wealth of strong catchers the Yanks have in their organization (Gary Sanchez in particular) hopefully they will be able to keep Montero fresh.
But as far as his defense yesterday – pretty much as expected under very trying circumstances. We’ll need to wait and watch how he develops before making any conclusions.
But everything he does with the glove must be interpreted in the context of that bat. Because that is as special a swing as we’ve seen a young player have in baseball in quite some time.
I just don’t get all the hoopla about those hats… I think the 4th of July hats are far worse.
LGY-thanks for the tweets. Very strange.
When the Yankees play the Blue Jays next weekend they’re scheduled to face:
lefty Cecil 4-9
righty rookie Alavarez 1-2
righty Dustin McGowan 0-0, hit hard in his last 2 outings with Boston and Baltimore
The pressing question about Romine is why did he move to Kentucky?
“Before making a big deal about Montero’s catching headgear yesterday, I’d like to know what his catching headgear was in August.”
Same as it was yesterday. I was only highlighting the point due to context.
It was dumb in August as well. The rule for using better helmets in the minors doesn’t apply to catchers as far as I know.
And I’ve posted about this many times before. This isn’t just something spurred on by yesterday’s game.
Anyway – got to run. Take care everyone.
CB,
I agree and posted that very same thing a couple of.days ago…..about how Montero may be the type of bat that you don’t want beaten to a pulp behind the plate.
A good plan may be to.do just what you said…..catch him 80-100 games (which would give Alex and Jeter DH days) and DH him the rest of the time while Martin catches……then transition him to 1B when Texs contract is up and let him play there from age 26/27 on….
LGY
maybe b/c his GF is there?
Montero has to play in the majors now. But he isn’t going to be the Yanks’ everyday catcher. He didn’t look to me like one yesterday. He isn’t going to improve vastly catching once every 5 days behind Martin. He’s ultimately going to be a DH or some other team’s first baseman IMO.
” I think the 4th of July hats are far worse.”
4th of July hats are licensed by New Era.
MLB likes to try and hide behind virtuos deeds rather than just admit they are a profit maximizing corporation.
It was reported this morning the White Sox wore green hats Saturday night to commemorate
half way to St. Patrick’s Day. No problem with uniformity then because the caps were made by New Era.
YT-
I saw that. Thanks. Overall – it’s still not good enough. Both the hockey mask and pull over designs aren’t good. So they are comparing two flawed alternatives in that first study.
Baseball should start funding research in this area and get some reputable biomedical engineers and doctors to design better head protection.
Concussions are having a huge toll on the industry. Can’t just let this continue when there are better alternatives.
And with that – goodbye!
joe from long island-
another thing besides better equipment is improving the medical knowledge with concussions. with all the new imaging and brain scanning devices more and more is being learned each year about concussions.
from my understanding there is a window after a concussion when the brain tissue is still damaged that more damage can be easily done. the length of this window is different for each case. it is not an exact science by any means so anyone who says the yankees know exactly what they are doing would be wrong because the present technology makes any diagnosis of concussion severity a guess.
because of learning more and more each year about concussions, it would be wise for anyone to err on the side of caution with concussions. it is highly unlikely the new brain imaging technologies will lead experts five years from now to say they overestimated the dangers of concussions.
i’m almost certain, as a lay person with an interest in concussions because i’ve had at least five, that the more medical researhers learn they will find out concussions are more serious than previously thought.
My point is that you might not want to change Montero’s usual headgear in his first ML start behind the plate.
LGY September 12th, 2011 at 11:51 am
The pressing question about Romine is why did he move to Kentucky?
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Must have something to do with the girlfriend.
How do you tell a player like Romine that we like Montero’s bat too much to risk injury, and you’re not as good so it’s ok for you to be the catcher because you’re expendable?
As far as the hockey style mask over the cage mask that Montero has always worn, many catchers prefer the cage because they say the range of vision is better, more comforable and easier to catch high pop-ups.
what are you going to do with Sanchez? His bat is supposed to be on the same level as Montero’s. Pretty soon, you’re going to run out of expendable catchers.
kate-great minds think alike.
” He didn’t look to me like one yesterday. He isn’t going to improve vastly catching once every 5 days behind Martin. He’s ultimately going to be a DH or some other team’s first baseman IMO”
wave your hat-
think how valuable having a dh that can be a third catcher is on a team .
at the very least, having montero being able to be a third cacther is a big plus and cmpetitive advantage for the yankees over other teams.
i see the same things you do how montero is a bit awkward behind the plate. i think some of that can be cleaned up with coaching and a commitment to getting better each year by montero. there are teams and pitchers where montero’s skill set will be adequate behind the plate , and in those games against those teams the yankees will likely have an offensive advantage at cacther/dh.
that’s a big plus if it can be done 80 times a year.
80 games is all i want montero to catch anyway. like i said last night, the yankees need to redefine the offensive catcher position. if the twins had done this with mauer, he’d likely be in much better shape as a player and be more valuable to the twins.
montero is going to be a serious offensive force for the yankees no matter what, but having the option of him catching really separates the yankees from other teams.
I thought Montero looked decent behind the plate. He obviously let one ball through between his legs and battled a bunchof others. I will point out that Garcia threw about 20 pitches in the dirt. Not the easiest assignment. I also thought he could hold or frame the pitches a bit longer. I am no expert, but he didn’t look unfixable to me.
I am not sure I would start him agianst Felix tonight. He looked pretty bad against Santana and Felix is harder. I believe the next two pitchers are lefties so he could play those if Martin is still out, or he could DH.
I think they will DH Swisher for a game or two to let him hit but not throw. I hope he can do that tonight.
“My point is that you might not want to change Montero’s usual headgear in his first ML start behind the plate.”
I addressed that point in an earlier post. But my main point is that this should have been changed years ago.
There is no reason to mandate that minor league hitters use better head protection but catchers can just use the same old garbage.
And it’s even worse to allow minor leaguers who come up with better helmets to then just switch to the same dumb helmets major leaguers are using.
And remember – Montero switched the usual headgear he was using in the minors in his first ML at bat. He went from the better helmet back to the ridiculous usual variety used in the majors.
Finally – you are just too pessimistic about Montero! Look – he actually played for the team which I believe you were doubting would ever happen. Give him some time.
And now I really am leaving! Blake, Randy, Joe, Wave, Erin, LGY, Jerkface, YT, upstate kate, Shame, pat and other regulars – lots of quality there! Always nice to talk baseball.
New Post: Pitching matchups in Seattle
and always nice to see you CB
Noticed after the game that Austin Romine’s brother-Andrew, just called up by the Angels, came up and gave him a hug after the game.
Baseball has never been very proactive in protecting players and fans alike.
Hockey-little girl is killed by a puck in the corner of the arena, and within a short period all arenas put in netting to catch wayward pucks shot at goal but deflected into the corners.
Did the Rangers put up a barrier between the railing and the outfield wall to prevent further incidents of a fan falling onto the concrete below? Don’t think so.
“It was reported this morning the White Sox wore green hats Saturday night to commemorate half way to St. Patrick’s Day. No problem with uniformity then because the caps were made by New Era.”
Wait wait wait… You’re serious, pat?! A special ‘half way to St Patrick’s Day’ hat?! Wow. Before I was just annoyed by MLB, now I’m legitimately furious.
so why wouldn’t a half way to St Pattys be Oct 17th?
I mean Sept 17th
“How do you tell a player like Romine that we like Montero’s bat too much to risk injury, and you’re not as good so it’s ok for you to be the catcher because you’re expendable?”
gb7-
there you go again showing why they kept throwing you off planes. you’re always saying things other people are too polite to say.