Where men are men ...
* Back on Aug. 12, third baseman Adrian Beltre of the Seattle Mariners paid for his career-long refusal to wear a protective cup. In the ninth inning of that game, he took a wicked one-hopper off his genetic legacy. He somehow played another five innings with a ruptured testicle.
He came off the disabled list Tuesday. He still has a tear in a testicle, and there's still swelling, but he played.
And wore a cup. Under protest.
How are his teammates treating all this? Ken Griffey Jr. arranged it so that when Beltre came to the plate for the first time, the PA system played the theme from the Nutcracker.
* The photo above is of Mets third baseman David Wright wearing one of the new Rawlings batting helmets during batting practice. The S100 is said to be vastly more protective than the current models, and its use will be mandatory in the minor leagues next season, but it's getting some resistance from major leaguers more concerned with style than safety.
Not Wright, however. He got nailed in the noggin on Aug. 15 by a Matt Cain fastball, and Cain throws hard.
The first helmets were resisted. The ear flaps were resisted. The rule instituted last season require base coaches to wear helmets was resisted. I suspect players will eventually accept the ... different ... look of the S100.
* From a newsroom colleague upon learning Tuesday night that the Twins starting pitcher was Jeff Manship:
Is that his real name? ... Can I have it?
So that's the S100, huh? It'll make the major leaguers look like little leaguers!
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, it is needed. Players have enough ways to get hurt without being sidelined, seriously injured, or even killed by a high inside fastball. I'm all for it.