abaggarly@mercurynews.com Buster Posey will put on his customary helmet, shinguards and chest protector when he gets behind the plate in a few months. But he won’t get any additional safeguards in the rule book.

Although Giants officials remain in favor of a rule change that would protect catchers from being targeted in home-plate collisions, the matter didn’t come up officially at the winter meetings last week in Dallas. It didn’t get past Joe Torre, Major League Baseball’s vice president for on-field operations.

Torre heard out Giants manager Bruce Bochy in several phone calls over the summer but declined to recommend that the rules committee take up the matter.

“Well, listen, I knew it was more emotional than anything else,” Torre said last week. “None of us like to see that. But I really haven’t heard anything that would encourage me to change anything or recommend a change. Being a catcher for a lot of years, I knew what the consequences were.”

Bochy isn’t giving up. He spoke informally with several managers at the winter meetings in an attempt to build consensus; he said at least four or five agreed that a change was warranted. Tony La Russa, who retired after leading the St. Louis Cardinals to the World Series, was among those on board, Bochy said.

Giants vice president Bobby Evans started his own grass-roots campaign with officials from other clubs at the General

Manager’s meetings in Milwaukee in November, Bochy said.

“I’ll continue to push for it,” said Bochy, who plans to raise the issue with Torre again this spring. “Sure, I’m disappointed. But it’s going to take other managers also getting involved, and some of them believe it does need to be changed. It’s something I’ll still pursue.”

The Posey play was a perfect storm in the 12th inning of a tie game on May 25 against the Florida Marlins. Rookie baserunner Scott Cousins tried to tag up on a fly ball that Nate Schierholtz caught in medium right field. Knowing that Schierholtz has a strong arm, Cousins said he knew the ball would beat him to the plate and he’d have to break up the play.

But the throw short-hopped in front of Posey and he wasn’t able to make a clean stop. As Posey turned toward the plate, still in fair territory, Cousins clearly went inside the baseline while leading with his right shoulder. Posey had dropped to one knee and his left ankle was pinned underneath him as the force of the blow toppled him over. His fibula sustained a fracture and he tore three ankle ligaments, which required two surgical procedures to repair. Posey couldn’t walk for three months.

Although his Giants teammates called it a clean play, Posey and club officials pointed out that Cousins had a clear lane to the plate. He chose to take out Posey instead of slide.

Bochy has lobbied for a rule that would award a catcher “a safe area, a neutral zone, whatever you want to call it, where he’s protected — particularly if he’s taking a throw from right field and is vulnerable”

Torre said he couldn’t get behind that idea.

“People have pointed out, ‘He was given a piece of the plate to slide to.’ And that’s true, he was,” Torre said. “But once (Posey) catches the ball, as a runner, you know that piece is gone. He’s going to block it. That play was not Buster’s fault. He’s trying to receive the ball, retain it, and here comes the runner. … He had committed to break up the play.”

Bochy said GMs in November discussed instituting a no-collision rule in exhibition games, but there’s no chance any meaningful protection wouldn’t come before opening day. Bochy acknowledged the argument that runners could get hurt if they were forced to slide, but said there are ways to tweak the rules that would make the game safer for everyone.

“You’ll have collisions at home plate. You can’t take that away,” Bochy said. “But it’s protecting the catcher when he’s vulnerable. It shouldn’t take something really terrible to happen before something gets done. We need to change this. These runners are getting bigger, stronger and faster.”

The collision is further incentive for the Giants, and other teams with offensively gifted catchers, to think harder about moving their young stars out of harm’s way.

Torre said he hasn’t closed the book on the issue, even if he doesn’t see himself reconsidering.

“We’ll continue to listen,” Torre said. “I’ll listen to anything that makes sense, and you know if it comes from people like them (Bochy and GM Brian Sabean), they always make a lot of sense. So I’ll listen.”

If a change ever does come, Bochy would make one more request.

“I don’t want to see this referred to as a “Buster Posey rule,’” Bochy said. “This has happened before. It’s time to make a change for the good of the game.”

For more on the Giants, see Andrew Baggarly’s Extra Baggs blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/extrabaggs.

I would like to make a brief remark on Brian Sabean’s comments about the recent home-plate collision that left Buster Posey injured.  The comments by Sabean were pitiful and uncalled for. 

Let me say, I do believe the Marlins should be retaliated against.  It’s baseball.  The Giants should not attempt to injure anyone, but a Tim Lincecum fastball between the numbers on Mike Stanton’s back—or whomever the Giants choose—is well within their right, just like running over the catcher blocking the plate is well within the right of a baserunner.

But Sabean’s attitude, along with that of Posey’s agent, Jeff Berry, is deplorable. 

First, Sabean is angry for one reason: He’s built a team, it seems he feels, that can’t stand without their starting catcher.  I don’t know if that feeling is necessarily true, but if it is, he only has himself to blame.

Second, home-plate collisions are part of the game.  As a kid, I remember hearing about Pete Rose and not because he was the all-time hits leader.  As a child, my main association with Pete Rose was “Charlie Hustle.”  My main association with “Charlie Hustle” was the home-plate collision with Ray Fosse during an All-Star game. Yes, an All-Star game.

I remember that collision being pointed out as good baseball; it was supposed to exemplify how the game was played. Major League Baseball called it the greatest All-Star game moment of all time.  

Buster Posey takes a vicious hit in the minor leagues in 2009

It’s funny how these things work: That play took place in the bottom of the 12th; Posey’s collision was in the top of the 12th.

Third and most pitiful of Sabean is, if he feels that home-plate collisions are dirty plays, why has he not lobbied for for this change before?  Same goes for Jeff Berry; why hasn’t he said anything to MLB before this?

I invite you to check out this video of Buster Posey playing for the San Jose Giants in the Class A Advanced California league in 2009; before Sabean knew that this kid was going to lead his team to a World Series; before Berry knew that Posey was going to develop into an elite MLB hitter.

Mr. Sabean, did you care about your players before they held your poorly built offense together?  Before you rested your career on him?

Mr. Berry, did you care about Buster Posey before you realized that a $100 million contract could be somewhere in his future?  

The calls to end home-plate collisions are spurred by greed, not care.  Let’s remember that.

“If I never hear from Cousins again or he never plays another day in the big leagues, I think we’ll all be happy” was Giants GM Brian Sabean’s comment today on the play that shelved Buster Posey for the season.  He gave an interview today with “The Razor and Mr. T.” show on KNBR-680 AM, and he didn’t hold back at all with his opinions.

“[Cousins] chose to be a hero in my mind, and if that’s his flash of fame, then that’s as good as it’s gonna get, pal. We’ll have a long memory. We’ve talked to [former catcher Mike] Matheny and how this game works. You can’t be that out-and-out overly aggressive.”

Infield Chatter already sounded off on this, but we’re revisiting it today because of some harsh, and scornful comments made by the Giants top brass.  Let’s be clear; we love Buster, and we’re all saddened by his loss.  Losing Buster is in no way good for baseball.

With that said, the Cousins play wasn’t a dirty play, and he wasn’t out to hurt anybody.  It was the 12^th inning, and he had a ball game to win.

Sorry Brian, but when a guy rounds third and sprints for home, he doesn’t have time to evaluate who the catcher is, what the situation is, whether it’s a clear path to home, whether Posey has the ball, whether his feet are under him, etc. etc.  There were a 100 things going on during that play, and enough things went wrong that Posey is now on the DL.  That’s all there is to it; call it bad luck, call it a kick in the groin, but whatever it is, it’s still baseball and every time you step between the lines that’s the risks you’re taking.

At the very back of Cousins’ mind, back behind his to-do list of projects around the house and whether he did the math correctly on the tip for his meal the night before, somewhere behind all of that was fame.  If you want to call out the incident as being dicey or calling attention to other issues, fine, that’s your prerogative. 

But to suggest that Cousins chose to be a hero for a flash of fame is just ludicrous, and if anything it detracts from any argument of logical discussion the Giants have on this subject.

If the Giants want to solicit to change the rules, that’s their right; and according to the MLB article, that’s exactly what they want to communicate with Joe Torre about.

While the barreling over of the catcher would be difficult to spell out clearly, I doubt it would make or break this glorious sport of baseball.  But with that said, why do we draw the line at Buster Posey?  Why can any other catcher get barreled over and injured, but when it happens to a budding star, finally it’s too much?   It would be as though 1000 pitchers got hit by a line drive, but if it happened to Stephen Stasburg, suddenly that’s inexcusable and pitchers should be allowed to pitch from behind an L screen.

Buster Posey is only a second year player, but this may already define his legacy.  Does Buster Posey want to be remembered as the guy who couldn’t live with the current rules of baseball, and required a rules change in order to satisfy his career, or does Buster want to be that hard nosed player that accepts his fate, flips it off and comes back with a vengeance?

It’s all fresh, and wounds are still open and gushing.  I can see Buster’s refusal to accept Cousins’ apology as him being a guy who may have had his career derailed and who isn’t quite over it yet—and on lot of high end medical narcotics just so he can survive the day. 

But for the Giants top brass to come out with these comments, it’s doing less to encourage a change in baseball, and more to shed light on a situation of “our top guy got hurt, that isn’t fair at all!  Whaaa.”

Accept the injury, turn the page, and worry about winning.  Counter every question of “what do you think about the Posey play…” with “we’re looking ahead to the rest of the season and we’re evaluating what we need to in order to defend ourselves as the champions of baseball.”

Look ahead, don’t look back, and be positive instead of negative.  At the very least, assure people that your business is in order instead of whining about the money wrench that was thrust into your best laid plans.

It’s baseball, and it happens.  Don’t take it personal, Brian, just worry about repeating.  And Buster Posey has been written out of helping you for this season.

As Buster Posey’s fibula cracked and his ankle ligaments tore apart in the now infamous home plate collision at AT&T Park on May 25, a traumatic scene was seared into the memory of every Giants fan, one that placed the fate of the defending world champions in the balance and left them with no inkling as to what comes next.

The question now becomes, how will this story end?

Many observers of the game lamented the Posey injury as the end of the Giants’ title defense, effectively destroying any hopes San Francisco has of repeating as world champions after a magical postseason run last October.

But the doubters discount some compelling evidence that points to the contrary: the Giants still have the requisite tools to not only make the postseason, but to thrive once they get there.

 

With and Without Buster Posey

Buster Posey sparked the San Francisco Giants in 2010.  From the day he was called up a year ago last Sunday, Posey injected the fuel the Giants needed to morph from a .500 ball-club into a playoff contender and eventual World Series winner.

Posey’s rise is legendary.  His veteran demeanor and graceful display of pure baseball intuition, in just his first season in the big leagues, gave fans of the Giants and even fans of the game at large reason to pause and witness what they knew deep inside was the beginning of a historic career.

But even with his uncanny abilities and leadership qualities, Buster Posey would probably tell you that his Giants have what it takes to win and win consistently, even without him in the lineup.

And aside from skipper Bruce Bochy, Buster would be the best man to explain why: pitching, pitching, and … ah yes, pitching.

 

Remembering What Carried San Francisco in 2010

In 2009 the San Francisco Giants won 88 games and missed the postseason.  In 2010, they won 92 games and became world champions.  While the presence of Buster Posey in 2010 was much greater than just the four additional wins would indicate, the fact remains that San Francisco won 88 games without Posey in 2009.

That’s right, with all of the magic and excitement that embodied 2010 for San Francisco baseball, the difference between defeat and ultimate victory was a mere four games.

The Giants are not a team built to run away with a division title, and they proved that last season by clinching the NL West on the final day of the regular season.

But the number of wins a team records means little when it comes to the postseason.  The playoffs mark the beginning of a new season, a fresh start, a clean slate.

When a team reaches the playoffs, all that matters is winning eleven games, because that’s how many it takes to win the World Series.

So how did the 2010 Giants, who won just four more games than in 2009, manage to win it all?  Pitching.  Simply put, the Giants out-pitched every other team in the 2010 postseason and ended up with the commissioner’s trophy when all was said and done.

San Francisco’s arms produced four shutouts, posted a 2.47 ERA, and held opponents to a meager .196 batting average in the 2010 postseason.  Their performance was historic, and it led to a historic outcome.

The Giants also, believe it or not, scored the second-most runs out of any team in the postseason (59), showing just how hot they were in October.  Though as a team they only hit .235, the offensive production stood up because of the outstanding pitching.

While Buster Posey hit well in the postseason (.288), he was not the club’s leading run producer.  Cody Ross and Aubrey Huff were second and fourth, respectively, in the entire postseason field of players, in RBI.  Both remain in the lineup today for the Giants.

While Buster Posey is a huge presence for the Giants behind the plate and in the lineup, the Giants still have arguably the best pitching corps in all of baseball.

Tim Lincecum, Jonathan Sanchez, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, and Ryan Vogelsong have all pitched extremely well this season, and there is no reason to think they won’t continue to perform well, or even better than they have thus far.

The staff is extremely comfortable with Posey’s replacement, Eli Whiteside, and as long as San Francisco’s arms put up zeros, the Giants are always within striking distance of a victory, day in and day out.

 

The Hits Will Come

The hitters in San Francisco’s lineup are good enough.  And that’s all the Giants’ pitching staff needs: enough.  Giants hitters will not light up the scoreboard, we all know that.  But even without Buster Posey, veteran hitters such as Freddy Sanchez and Aubrey Huff are going to get the job done, along with young infusions of energy from Brandon Belt and now Brandon Crawford.

The Giants won’t score much, but they’ll score enough.

 

It’s All About Being Hot At the Right Time

Last season the Giants made a huge push in September, playing very well and clinching a playoff spot on the last day of the regular season.  Once they got into the playoffs, they continued playing the best baseball Giants fans have seen in a long time, going 11-4 in the postseason and even blowing out opponents in some games (think games one and two of the World Series against the Rangers).

In the NL West this season, the Giants will always be in the running for a postseason berth, and what really matters is how the club is playing at the end of the regular season when they approach the finish line.

With the type of pitching this team has, from the starting rotation all the way through the bullpen down to Brian Wilson, the Giants should be (though they probably won’t, knowing the baseball media establishment) one of the favorites to go deep into the playoffs, and possibly repeat as world champions.

 

The Giants Have an Identity, and They Can’t Forget That

The Giants are a team built around pitching during an age of pitching.  As the steroid era has now come to a close, the era of the pitcher now reigns.

And the San Francisco Giants lead the charge, becoming the first team in the pitching-dominant era to win with the new formula: pitching + timely hitting = world championship.

To the Giants I would say this: Buster is your captain, but pitching is at the very core of your identity.  Remember that and you’ll be standing at the end.

Friday night at Miller Stadium in Milwaukee, San Francisco Rookie Brandon Crawford made baseball history becoming just the sixth player ever to hit a grand slam in his major league début. Only last Wednesday he was playing Class A ball in California for the San Jose Giants. He hit a grand slam in that game too.

“It was all unreal. Awesome. Still, I kind of have jitters about it,” said Crawford of the 7th inning game winning homer. The 24-year-old Giant was called up to replace injured short stop Mike Fontenot on a 15-day disabled list after Wednesday night’s game against the Marlins in San Francisco. Also in that game, 2010 Rookie of the Year Buster Posey got mowed down at the plate by Scott Cousins and may be out for the year.

In 2009 Crawford and Posey were among Baseball America’s top ten prospects for the Giants. Two years later one is watching his dream of a playing in a World Series repeat vanish while the second one is celebrating a triumph only a half-dozen players have ever accomplished.

Teammates will not only miss Posey’s bat in the clean up spot, they will miss his leadership in the clubhouse. “You just don’t replace a guy like Buster Posey,” said Giants manager Bruce Bochy. A former catcher, Bochy wants the league to review rules regarding collisions at the plate. Watching the video replay it is surprising Posey only suffered a broken left fibula and three strained ligaments.

Crawford’s grand slam revived a team stricken by the loss of their star catcher. Scott Cousin’s tackle at the plate will surely raise some questions. Catchers know what they are in for at that position. But Posey says he will not be changing positions when he returns.

SAN FRANCISCO — Giants star catcher Buster Posey is likely out for the season with a fractured bone in his lower left leg suffered when Florida’s Scott Cousins crashed into him at home plate.

The Giants announced Thursday that Posey was placed on the disabled list with the injury, a night after he was crushed by Cousins while trying to block the winning run in the 12th inning against the Marlins. He also was scheduled to have an MRI.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy said the team was still in shock over the loss. He called on Major League Baseball to review the long-standing rule on collisions at the plate, which are as much a part of baseball tradition as peanuts and Cracker Jacks.

“It’s part of baseball, I understand that, guys running into catchers. Being a catcher, I’ve been in a few of them. You’re in harm’s way there,” Bochy said. “I think we do need to consider changing the rules here a little bit because the catcher is so vulnerable and there’s so many who have gotten hurt. And not just a little bit, had their careers ended or shortened. And here’s a guy who’s very popular in baseball. Fans want to see him play.

“Now he’s out for a while.”

Posey has been San Francisco’s cleanup hitter this season, a team leader in the clubhouse and key cog behind the plate for one of baseball’s best rotations. The reigning NL Rookie of the Year was batting .284 with four home runs and 21 RBIs, just finding his groove in the midst of a 13-game hitting streak to move the Giants into first place in the NL West.

“It’s a tough blow. You just don’t replace a guy like Buster Posey,” Bochy said. “He was a big reason we won the World Series last year. It’s rare to have a catcher who’s also your cleanup hitter. That’s Johnny Bench stuff.”

The loss of Posey will be an enormous hurdle for the Giants to overcome if they want to repeat as champs.

Backup Eli Whiteside will be Posey’s immediate replacement. The team also put infielder Mike Fontenot (left groin strain) and utility man Darren Ford (left ankle sprain) on the 15-day disabled list.

Slugger Brandon Belt and catcher Chris Stewart were recalled from Triple-A Fresno, and infielder Brandon Crawford was called up from Single-A San Jose.

“I’m not going to try and be Buster Posey,” Whiteside said. “That’s our cleanup hitter and one of the best hitters in baseball. I’ll do my best and play my game, but I’m not going to try to be Buster Posey.”

All this came after San Francisco’s spirited four-run rally in the ninth to force extra innings a night earlier.

The play started when Emilio Bonifacio hit a shallow fly ball to right-center off Guillermo Mota for the second out in the 12th inning. Cousins tagged from third base on the sacrifice fly, beating the throw from Nate Schierholtz and lowering his shoulder to slam into Posey for a clean hit on the catcher. Cousins was safe as Posey never could quite corral the ball, giving Florida a 7-6 victory.

Cousins, who went to the University San Francisco, lives in the Bay Area and had almost a dozen friends and family in attendance, apologized repeatedly for injuring Posey. But he said he believes — as most Giants also reiterated — that he made a clean baseball play.

Cousins was even more remorseful when he heard the severity of the injury before the series finale, saying he had to look away from the replay that was shown repeatedly at the team’s hotel. He said he tried calling Posey twice overnight and sent his condolences to the Giants clubhouse.

“The last thing I wanted to do was break a guy’s leg,” he said, tears welling up in his eyes.

The moment was as stunning as any San Francisco has seen this season.

Posey laid in the dirt around home plate, dazed, writhing in pain and curling up in a ball. After several minutes of stunned silence at AT&T Park, fans began chanting “Posey! Posey!” as he was helped off the field by two team trainers holding his left leg.

Posey had already taken several hard foul tips off his mask and legs this season, even leaving one game for precautionary reasons to make sure he didn’t have a concussion. Some observers have argued a slugger of his caliber shouldn’t be behind the plate, where hits can be routine, and this injury surely won’t do much to quiet that sentiment.

Posey himself has always shaken off those remarks, saying he was born to play catcher and loves his position.

Bochy shook off questions that Posey should switch to another position — he played some first base last year — in the future, saying it’s too early to be talking about such plans.

“Right now,” Bochy said, “We’re just trying to get over the shock of this a little.”