Posey Speaks Against Death Threats to Cousins

San Francisco GM Brian Sabean isn't sorry enough to say the word -- he's just 'emotional'

The San Francisco Giants last night released an apology for general manager Brian Sabean's aggressive comments about the Marlins' Scott Cousins, but there was just one quirk: they never actually said they were sorry.

But catcher Buster Posey, who sustained season-ending injuries on a clean but unfortunate home plate collision with Cousins, said in a statement Saturday afternoon it is time for all parties to "move on."

He did not absolve Cousins of responsibility. But unlike the Giants, Posey addressed recent death threats directed at Cousins, a Bay Area native whose family still lives in the area.

I appreciate the continued support of Giants fans...but in no way do I condone threats of any kind against Scott Cousins or his family.

As I said last week, I'm not out to vilify Scott. I appreciate that he made the effort to reach out to me on the night of the play, but I was in no physical condition to talk to anyone. I have not been back with the team since that night, so I haven't even been aware of any other messages he's left for me. We all need to move on, so it isn't necessary to have a conversation with him at this point.

Posey's "villify" statement echoed that of Giants, whose 'apology' read more like a recap or deflection than anything involving contrition.

This is a very emotional time for the Giants organization and our fans. We lost for the season one of our best players to a serious injury and we are doing everything we can to support Buster Posey through this very difficult time. We appreciate Scott Cousins’ outreach to Buster Posey and to the Giants organization.

Brian Sabean’s comments yesterday were said out of frustration and out of true concern for Buster and were not meant to vilify Scott Cousins. Brian has been in contact with Florida Marlins General Manager Larry Beinfest to clarify his comments and to assure him that there is no ill-will toward the player. He has also reached out to Scott Cousins directly...

We intend to move beyond conversations about last week's incident and focus our attention on Buster's full recovery and on defending our World Series title.

And here we thought calling someone "malicious" was, in fact, meant to villify them.

While the Giants' need to ralley around Posey is obvious and good, Sabean's comments -- in which he also said the Giants would be "happy" if the Marlins rookie "never plays another game in the big leagues" and that the organization will "have a long memory" -- came while a devastated Cousins was offering apologies for the collision, which most in baseball agreed was well within the bounds of fair play.

“I hope and believe that Mr. Sabean’s comments were made in the heat of the moment and are based more on his fondness for Buster Posey than on any animosity towards me,” Cousins said in the statement after Sabean made his comments to a Bay Area radio show. “This situation is still an open wound for many, including myself. As I have stated previously, nobody outside of Buster feels worse about his injury than I do.”

Among those apologies was a two-page, handwritten letter to Posey that has so far gone unanswered.

The Giants' statement was released after Cousins' teammate Logan Morrison had some choice words for Sabean.

“[Cousins is] getting death threats from people. This is his hometown, San Francisco. He’s worried about his family and his friends that are there," Morrison said. "And now [Sabean] is going to make comments like that? It’s ignorant, it’s inappropriate and he has no idea what the hell he’s talking about."

Contact Us