Daily Madden: Long Games Take Their Toll On Catchers
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- Both the Giants and A's played extra innings Tuesday night -- the Giants beating the Phillies in 14 and the A's losing to the Astros in 12.
Both catchers in the Giants-Phillies game - Hector Sanchez and Cameron Rupp - were behind the plate for all 507 pitches . "That's a lot of up and down, that's a lot of crouching," John Madden told the KCBS Radio morning crew.
But Madden, a catcher in high school, said he doesn't agree with the suggestion that catchers get a pinch runner when they get on base so they can get ready more quickly for the next half inning. "They have so many things that slow up these games, whether it's football or baseball or basketball -- whatever it may be -- that they look for something that really doesn't need to be changed to speed up the game," Madden said.
"And then they'll have a dozen other things that slow up the game."
Listen to the John Madden segment live weekday mornings at 8:15 on KCBS All News 740 AM/106.9 FM.