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By Steve Adams | at
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Goku the Knowledgable One
Why can’t Mauer handle behind the plate duties?
I understand extending his career if he’s hitting, but he’s not.
Steve Adams
He’s had far too many concussions to resume catching. It’s about his long-term health and quality of life beyond his playing days, not just extending his playing career.
twins33
I never know if people asking this are serious or not. I’m amazed after this many years people are still asking it. It has to be a joke. The answer is always the same and it will never change.
Mauer had a brain injury. It was not his first brain injury. Every doctor he saw told him not to catch again. Why? Because players in every sport have had multiple issues after having a brain injury, especially if they had more than one. Playing a professional sport only lasts so long. There are former players who can’t remember their kids names due to brain injuries. They can’t do the simple things in life that everyone takes for granted.
It’s still possible Mauer could get a head injury playing first, batting, running the bases…but the fact that Mauer doesn’t take repeated foul tip shots off his head is a good thing.
Someone actually said to me weeks ago “I don’t care about Mauer’s health, he needs to catch anyway.” Comments like that are crazy to me. Mauer was a great catcher during his time at that position, but he will never catch again. Ever.
vicmcklocky
The only problem with drinking the kool aid regarding Joe’s “brain injury” is that Joe himself was (initially) not onboard with the decision to remove him as a catcher. And would someone please explain to me how Yogi Berra lives to be 90 friggin years old after catching for 14 out of 18 MLB years? Including both ends of 121 doubleheaders! It’s embarrassing for the player (Mauer), the organization (Ryan…who signed him to the 8-year mega-deal as an everyday catcher) and the profession.
Steve Adams
Your assessment that because one — or a select few — have been able to either avoid concussions entirely or avoid serious side effects from them, they’re not a big deal, is flawed. Do some honest research on post-concussion side effects and the compounding nature of the injury. There’s no reason to put Mauer in that position.
And Terry Ryan wasn’t the GM when Mauer signed his contract.
It’s also far from “embarrassing to the profession” when the league is making huge efforts to limit concussions, treat them more effectively and generally raise awareness about their severity.
jd396
Thank you. The original Iron Man got a degenerative neurological disease named after him. We don’t need more of that. There’s tons of research that tells us populations with high risk of concussions (the worst being athletes and combat vets) end up with all kinds of neurological and sometimes psychological issues that follow them the rest of their lives.
I love how people point to the rare exceptions like Yogi or Johnny Bench to show what we should expect out of catchers. A catcher that plays every day is generally going to start wearing down just after age 30 where the rest of the position players, if they had a generally healthy career, will start fading in their late 30s. With a lot of great players, it’s seriously six or seven extra years they can produce.
Some of us were pining for a Mauer position change after he wrecked his knee his rookie season. 2014 might have be a little too late. I think it’s evident the concussion(s) messed with his ungodly good pitch recognition and zone awareness — now he swings at pitches Joe Mauer doesn’t swing at.