defending corner kicks become about turning your back on the ball

SAN FRANCISCO -- An attorney for Miami Marlins ace Jose Fernandez said a sharp grounder that struck the right-hander in the thigh before his final start caused him to change his throwing motion and may have contributed to him needing season-ending elbow surgery. Tampa-based attorney Ralph Fernandez explained the timeline for the pitchers injury in a lengthy statement to Miami media on Friday. He said the reigning NL Rookie of the Year had to alter his delivery after getting hit on the back of the left leg by a sharp grounder off the bat of Dee Gordon in the Marlins 5-4 win over Los Angeles on May 4 in Miami. Fernandez pitched five innings at San Diego on May 9 in his last start before the Marlins announced he would need Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery, which he had Friday in Los Angeles. "Jose did not have a pre-existing condition," Ralph Fernandez wrote in a statement. "While pitching during the recent Dodgers game in Miami he was struck by a ball on his rear thigh. This prompted a completely unanticipated change in delivery which neither the staff nor his coaches could discern. "After the game we spoke as we always do. Jose was concerned about his arm. Despite many exchanges on the subject in the days that followed he felt that with the Marlins regaining first place in the division he could not let his team down. Apparently the injury was worse than he believed. In San Diego in the third ending he suffered a traumatic event, tossed a couple of more innings and the rest is history." Marlins manager Mike Redmond said before the Marlins played the San Francisco Giants on Friday night that nobody on the team knew of Fernandezs injury until his start in San Diego. "I just think if it was bothering him, then he should have said something and we wouldve obviously shut him down and taken those precautions," Redmond said. "As soon as we found out that he had a sore arm, we shut him down and got an MRI and got everything looked at and got the information that we needed." Redmond also refuted that Fernandez changed his delivery after getting hit in the thigh against the Dodgers. "He looked the same to me in that game after that," Redmond said. Marlins president Michael Hill said in a statement that Fernandezs surgery went well. He said Fernandez would return to Miami and immediately begin his rehabilitation program. Attorney Ralph Fernandez said in his statement that he, the Marlins, the pitcher and his agent, Scott Boras, all agree that surgery was the proper course of action. Typical recovery time is 12 to 18 months. The 21-year-old Fernandez was put on the disabled list earlier this week, becoming the latest in a string of major league pitchers this year who have needed Tommy John surgery. Fernandez finished 4-2 with a 2.44 ERA in eight starts this season. Fernandez made 28 starts last year, going 12-6 with a major league-best .182 opponents batting average. His 2.19 ERA was second in the majors behind three-time defending ERA champ Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers. Fernandez struck out 187 in 172 2-3 innings. Jim Kelly Jersey . "First, I would like to offer my deepest and sincerest apologies for any harm I have inflicted on University of Missouri defensive lineman, Michael Sam," the statement read. Custom Buffalo Bills Jerseys . For the Bombers it has been a combination of things coming together at the most inappropriate moments in time. Quarterback, injuries, Canadian talent or depth and leadership are all issues. Trust me when I say being a Bomber is no fun right now in a city that embraces football the way Winnipeg does. While Buck Pierce will be getting another shot, I think Max Hall does deserve another opportunity. http://www.shoptheofficialbills.com/ .com) - Former New York Mets general manager Omar Minaya is joining the Major League Baseball Players Association staff as a senior advisor to executive director Tony Clark. Bruce Smith Jersey .Commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday it is inevitable that the league will one day take after European sports and have sponsor names on team jerseys. Doug Flutie Jersey . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014.I keep a folder on my computer entitled Crimes Against Defending. In this folder, I collect examples of poor defensive play, poor marking from set pieces and any other offence against the art of defending. Yes, good defending is an art form - and it is on the verge of becoming extinct. Every weekend – regardless of what league or international fixture I watch – I see more and more examples of awful defending that leave me shaking my head in disbelief. Some of the best players in the world, both male and female, are committing defensive errors that would give a U14 coach a heart attack. The first example came in the German women’s 3-0 win over England at Wembley Stadium on Sunday. After England made a bright start to the game, rattling a shot off the German crossbar in the opening minute, they were forced to defend a German corner kick. England’s defensive set up was baffling, to say the least. Time and time again – even at the highest levels of the game – I continue to see teams setting up to defend corner kicks without putting defensive players on either post. I cannot understand the logic of this approach, and in the case of England, it led to them conceding the first goal of the game. The German corner kick was delivered into the perfect area; head height, level with the six-yard box and the first post. This position is ideal because the goalkeeper cannot come out to challenge the cross and a header from this distance is very difficult for the goalkeeper to save. If the header is good, she can only reasonably be expected to make a reaction save within four feet either side of her set position. England’s decision not to put a player on either post meant that Karen Bardsley, England’s goalkeeper, had to defend the entire 24-foot width of her goal on her own – against a header from six yards out. The red shaded area in the picture below just highlights what a difficult task this is for Bardsley. (Click here for enlarged photo) In training, if uncontested crosses were whipped into this area for attackers to head home, goallkeepers the world over would be furious.dddddddddddd They would be conceding goal after goal without much hope of making a save. In this example, the ball actually came off of England defender Alex Scott’s head before nestling into the bottom right corner of England’s goal – exactly the position where a defender should have been. Had there been a defender there, it would have only required a side-foot clearance and the goal would have been saved. How this would have affected the eventual outcome of the game is impossible to say – Germany were clinical and full value for their 3-0 win – but to concede a goal that early in a game against one of the best teams in the world is a recipe for disaster. One positive to come out of the game for England was that it was watched by a crowd of over 45,000 - a fantastic turnout for a women’s friendly. Another example that went into my Crimes Against Defending folder this weekend came in Crystal Palace’s 3-1 win over Liverpool. When did defending corner kicks become about turning your back on the ball and wrapping your arms around the attacker, rather than about heading the ball away from danger? Look at the foul being committed by Crystal Palace’s Brede Hangeland on Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel, pictured below: (Click here for enlarged photo) If this sort of defending occurred anywhere else on the pitch, it would immediately be called for a foul. Yet referees everywhere allow this to go unpunished in the penalty area. The only way to remedy this type of defending is for referees to award a penalty kick for this type of foul. A strong argument can be made that Hangeland is denying Skrtel an obvious goal-scoring opportunity – it is a header from eight yards out, after all. On the evidence of what I’m seeing every weekend, defending isn’t being taught to young players anymore, let alone to professional players. Awarding a penalty kick for clutching and grabbing in the penalty area will force players to do what they are supposed to do – play the ball rather than the man. ' ' '