Nightmare on King Street

So anyone have a Plan B? It was a normal San Francisco Giants game with the game tied at zero in the twelfth inning. A sacrifice fly was hit to short center field and Florida Marlins' Scott Cousins came at Buster Posey as if a mad dog was biting his butt. Somewhere between third base and home plate Cousins forgot that he was playing baseball and morphed into a linebacker. Cousins tackled Posey at home plate as he was catching the throw from the outfield. Posey never got a chance to face Cousins and was slammed as he was turning. Posey twisted and crashed to the ground in excruciating pain. A fractured fibula and severely sprained ligaments later, the Giants have a giant problem.

The initial estimate is that Posey will be out 6-8 weeks and may be able to return before the end of the 2011 season. What do the Giants do til then? The Giants have called up Stewart from the minors to back up Whiteside and there are already rumors flying around the blogosphere that Sabean is looking to pick up Pudge. To add insult to injury, Fontenot also injured his groin during the game so the Giants have also called up Brandon Crawford. Bochy also called up Brandon Belt to provide some offense for this offensively challenged team.

The Giants will be looking forward to see Pablo Sandoval returning. The past month has been full of injuries for the reigning World Series champions. Before the season started the talk around town was that the Giants pitchers are going to get hurt after pitching so many innings last year. It's May 26 and and it's the position players that can't stay healthy. With the exception of Zito who hurt himself on a pop bunt (lame), the pitching staff has remained healthy and pitching well.

Posey's injury is not only a huge setback for the team and Giants fans, it's also a bad thing for baseball in general. One of baseball's rising stars is out for most of the rest of the season. Injuries like Posey's hurts ratings especially for the World Series champs. What will come of all this? I'm sure there will be a review by the commissioner's office to see if the rules need to be adjusted to protect the catchers. One thing is for sure, Posey's transition to the infield just went from long term to short term.  The ligament sprains can't be good for the catcher's daily squat.

Everyone in the sports world will be making comparisons to Pete Rose's famous or infamous catcher steamroll. The only difference is that Rose is the enemy and Posey is the hero of China Basin. Giants will have to do without their sophomore hero for some time but until he returns the fans will look for leadership on and off the field. My heart goes out to Buster. Please come back soon, we need to repeat.