Clearly, the No. 1 thing on a Tribe fan's mind right now most likely is the status of rookie catcher (and rising star) Carlos Santana's left knee, injured when Boston's Ryan Kalish slammed into him in a slide-that-wasn't-a-slide Monday night at Fenway Park. Santana is in Cleveland for an MRI. Fortunately, there are few comments or blogs out on...
View full sizeRyan Kalish was out in a hard slide at home plate that left Indians catcher Carlos Santana with an injured leg and fellow rookie Kalish with a shaken confidence. Clearly, the No. 1 thing on a Tribe fan's mind right now most likely is the status of rookie catcher (and rising star) Carlos Santana's left knee, injured when Boston's Ryan Kalish slammed into him in a slide-that-wasn't-a-slide Monday night at Fenway Park.
Santana is in Cleveland for an MRI.
Fortunately, there are few comments or blogs out on the Internet like that of Tom Dubberke, blogging for bleacherreport.com. The headline of his piece? "Cleveland Indians Catcher Carlos Santana Got What He Deserved."
In the comments section of his story, Dubberke did admit that the title of the blog as "too over the top." But he defends his position, saying that under the rules of baseball, Santana shouldn't have had his leg stuck out in a bid to block the plate.
In 1969, coach Mike Cheek had your friendly Starting Blocks writer don his "tools of ignorance" and stand at home plate. Every other member of the Greenville, Texas, Kiwanis team stood at third base, while coach Cheek was at first . . . with a bucket of balls.
One lap for every kid who scored (assuming coach's throw was on line).
Your friendly Starting Blocks correspondent ran a lot of laps that day (which is why he's your friendly Starting Blocks correspondent and NOT a retired big leaguer fishing for marlin in the Caribbean). But the point is that you are taught from the time you put on the mask, chest protector and shinguards that your job is to block the plate. Neither runners nor baseballs are supposed to get past you, and swipe tags are for mamby-pamby middle infielders.
Santana was doing what he was supposed to do. Now, did Kalish try to hurt him? Heck, no. He was playing the game the way he was taught, as well: hard, and to win. (Unlike a certain basketball player whose name we won't mention.) It's just that it seemed he was caught between trying to slide and trying to bowl over the Tribe catcher, and ended up hitting Santana in the shin, knocking him out of his shoe.
Did you see the replays afterwards? Kalish looked to be in almost as much pain as Santana, knowing he'd caused the injury. And Boston manager Terry Francona called Indians boss Manny Acta afterwards to check on the kid (as tweeted by beat writer Paul Hoynes, a true sign of class.
Of course, if Starting Blocks were Kalish, he wouldn't dig in too close to the plate in his first at-bat. Defending your teammate also is a sign of good, hard baseball.
Kalish speaks
Coach Cheek stressed the fundamentals of sportsmanship as much as he did the fundamentals of baseball with those Little Leaguers of the Greenville, Texas, Kiwanis. And Starting Blocks can't help but think he'd be proud of Ryan Kalish today. Maybe even make him an honorary Kiwanis player.
Why?
Because Kalish embodies exactly what coach Cheek stressed. That much was clear in the stories and interviews with him that came out after the game and Santana's injury.
The piece on nesn.com by Tony Lee may show it best:
Kalish, who is 5-for-10 since his call-up from Triple-A Pawtucket on Saturday, slid hard into the left leg of Indians catcher Carlos Santana on a play at the plate. The force of the slide bent Santana's knee the wrong way, forcing a delay of roughly 15 minutes while the highly-touted Santana was tended to and then carted off the field.
"I knew it was bad," Kalish said. "I just knew it was something bad and I don't want to watch it."
Just over 80 hours into his major league career, Kalish had his first real emotional test. While the medical staff worked on Santana, the Red Sox' left fielder pondered what he had done.
"I went and talked to him, told him it was part of the game," said manager Terry Francona, who also expressed a strong desire to avoid seeing the replay. "Unfortunately, sometimes things like that happen. The kid blocked the plate, had the plate blocked off and he slid. ... I said something to [Kalish] because he was obviously shook up about it."
Kalish helped get over his grief by touching base with Santana after the game. He also promised to continue to check up on the 24-year-old, who may have avoided any serious damage.
"It was a hard slide. I've already talked to him and he's doing a lot better than they thought," Kalish said. "I feel awful."
Listen, Ryan. If you want to head by the LL office in Greenville, Starting Blocks will make sure you get your kelly green Kiwanis cap.
Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln
It wasn't all bad Monday night. The Indians DID win. What's more, Chris Perez picked up his third consecutive save when coming in with a one-run lead. That's the most in Indians team history. As in EVER. Kerry Wood could blow that many save opps in one day.
From The Plain Dealer
In addition to being all over the Santana case, Hoynesie does his usual all-inclusive job in today's game story, including a few words about Shelley Duncan, who could be the replacement (temporarily or otherwise) for DH Travis Hafner. Duncan had a career-high four-hit night, Hoynes noted in his game story.