Pic of the Week

Cubs catcher Miguel Montero blocks a pitch, literally,
with his nose Friday in Los Angeles. He then committed
a throwing error that allowed a run to score.

Every once in a while there is a photo of a catcher whose equipment doesn't quite succeed in protecting him from the ball. Such as this one.

And I think of a bit of old-time baseball verse, penned by a former player scoffing at the softer current generation -- in 1880:

We wore no mattress upon our hands
No cage upon our face
We stood right up and caught the ball
With courage and with grace.

Yeah. Right. Sure you did.