Ryan Freel, suicide at 36

#4
#4
Awful to see him go out like this. He was a great guy and I am proud that he was a Redleg. I feel for his family. RIP Ryan.
 
#5
#5
Horrible. He was a grinder. Good ball player. Unbelievably sad. Will never understand suicide. Mental health has become a terrible epidemic, more so than ever so it seems.
 
#6
#6
Had a chance to spend alot of time with Ryan when I was rehabbing from TJ surgery and dude flat out loved the game and was as nice as he could be. RIP Mr. Freel.
 
#8
#8
Yankee_Vol said:
Had CTE

CTE present when Ryan Freel killed self, report says - ESPN
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Ironic that this comes out a week after MLB announces plans to eliminate home plate collisions. There's no reason any sane minded person would be against the idea (I'm looking at you Burger), but this pretty much sums up why it's a necessary move, if not one that should have been done years ago. No amount of money is worth having to go through post concussion issues. Glad the Freel family can have some closure on the suicide.
 
#10
#10
volfanbill said:
Ironic that this comes out a week after MLB announces plans to eliminate home plate collisions. There's no reason any sane minded person would be against the idea (I'm looking at you Burger), but this pretty much sums up why it's a necessary move, if not one that should have been done years ago. No amount of money is worth having to go through post concussion issues. Glad the Freel family can have some closure on the suicide.
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Would you take further steps to address throwing near the head?
 
#13
#13
95 Vol Alum said:
Given the consequence, is that important? Same issue exists in the NFL hit to the head calls....intent doesn't always matter. I'm not sure where I'm at, but it strikes me as relevant.
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How many times are guys hit in the head, let alone intemtionally? What would count as 'near the head'?
 
#15
#15
as Toujours said, intent is key here and that's hard to determine. A ball that slips is one thing, but I would show no mercy if someone intently threw at a player's head. I would personally punish someone purposely throwing at the head harsher than I would a PED user. Distinguishing between intent and accidental is really tough though, and I do think it's important. It is VERY hard to thrown a 90+ MPH splitter and not have one slip occasionally.
 
#16
#16
volfanbill said:
Ironic that this comes out a week after MLB announces plans to eliminate home plate collisions. There's no reason any sane minded person would be against the idea (I'm looking at you Burger), but this pretty much sums up why it's a necessary move, if not one that should have been done years ago. No amount of money is worth having to go through post concussion issues. Glad the Freel family can have some closure on the suicide.
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Ryan Freel wasn't exactly a catcher. He was known for crashing into walls and getting hit by pitches. Are you going to ban hustle because it killed Freel? MLB players don't have mental issues like football players, were babying baseball players. These are full grown men. He probably got thrown at a lot, or he had a stance close to the box.
Some mental issues could be fixed. I wonder who he lives with and all that. Banning home plate collisions won't do anything about this one.
 
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#17
#17
volfanbill said:
as Toujours said, intent is key here and that's hard to determine. A ball that slips is one thing, but I would show no mercy if someone intently threw at a player's head. I would personally punish someone purposely throwing at the head harsher than I would a PED user. Distinguishing between intent and accidental is really tough though, and I do think it's important. It is VERY hard to thrown a 90+ MPH splitter and not have one slip occasionally.
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You're making a judgement call at that point. If somebody throws at your head, back up and take the ball.
 
#18
#18
Burger said:
Ryan Freel wasn't exactly a catcher. He was known for crashing into walls and getting hit by pitches. Are you going to ban hustle because it killed Freel? MLB players don't have mental issues like football players, were babying baseball players. These are full grown men. He probably got thrown at a lot, or he had a stance close to the box.
Some mental issues could be fixed. I wonder who he lives with and all that. Banning home plate collisions won't do anything about this one.
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You can feel how weak your argument is. It's the same thing. If just everyday can hustle can cause this, imagine what home plate collisions do. If you want to act like your the manly man with the cave man beard, only wear flannel and grunt all the time because that's what real men do, go for it. This isn't babying players. It's extending their lives. If you have fault with that, you need to get out of civilization and live your own life out in the woods somewhere. You know, so you can be a real man.
 
#19
#19
volfanbill said:
You can feel how weak your argument is. It's the same thing. If just everyday can hustle can cause this, imagine what home plate collisions do. If you want to act like your the manly man with the cave man beard, only wear flannel and grunt all the time because that's what real men do, go for it. This isn't babying players. It's extending their lives. If you have fault with that, you need to get out of civilization and live your own life out in the woods somewhere. You know, so you can be a real man.
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Since hustle caused Ryan Freels death, should we ban hustling? Breathing the air outside causes lung cancer, should we ban breathing? Regular workers face more death risk than any pro athlete everyday. Running over the catcher is just like falling overboard in a crab boat. It's a risk that happens. Why do we have a need to protect people who are making millions? They don't give a crap about any of you. They also take substances that are known to cause these exact problems! You blame baseball for his death, but other things in his life could of caused this.

It's not like I'm some old geezer who's out of touch. I'm just sick of seeing guys get way more pulled muscles than serious injuries, who get pampered for a strain. If you had a broken leg, you wouldnt get paid crap, if Ryan Braun breaks his leg he gets 100% pay. That's what bugs me. I really feel sorry for Ryan Freel and especially his kids. Maybe all he needed was someone who understood him or something.
 
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#20
#20
Burger said:
Since hustle caused Ryan Freels death, should we ban hustling? Breathing the air outside causes lung cancer, should we ban breathing? Regular workers face more death risk than any pro athlete everyday. Running over the catcher is just like falling overboard in a crab boat. It's a risk that happens. Why do we have a need to protect people who are making millions? They don't give a crap about any of you. They also take substances that are known to cause these exact problems! You blame baseball for his death, but other things in his life could of caused this.

It's not like I'm some old geezer who's out of touch. I'm just sick of seeing guys get way more pulled muscles than serious injuries, who get pampered for a strain. If you had a broken leg, you wouldnt get paid crap, if Ryan Braun breaks his leg he gets 100% pay. That's what bugs me. I really feel sorry for Ryan Freel and especially his kids. Maybe all he needed was someone who understood him or something.
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You must have a crappy job. If I break my leg, I most certainly get paid 100%. And then when I retire, I'll get paid disability on top of my retirement check.
 
#21
#21
Burger said:
Since hustle caused Ryan Freels death, should we ban hustling? Breathing the air outside causes lung cancer, should we ban breathing? Regular workers face more death risk than any pro athlete everyday. Running over the catcher is just like falling overboard in a crab boat. It's a risk that happens. Why do we have a need to protect people who are making millions? They don't give a crap about any of you. They also take substances that are known to cause these exact problems! You blame baseball for his death, but other things in his life could of caused this.

It's not like I'm some old geezer who's out of touch. I'm just sick of seeing guys get way more pulled muscles than serious injuries, who get pampered for a strain. If you had a broken leg, you wouldnt get paid crap, if Ryan Braun breaks his leg he gets 100% pay. That's what bugs me. I really feel sorry for Ryan Freel and especially his kids. Maybe all he needed was someone who understood him or something.
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It's an unnecessary risk. It's nothing like falling over a crab boat. That's an absolutely ridiculous comparison. Rather silly too.
 
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#22
#22
volfanbill said:
You must have a crappy job. If I break my leg, I most certainly get paid 100%. And then when I retire, I'll get paid disability on top of my retirement check.
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You're a lucky guy. I swear it seems life in TN is so much better.
 
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