Talk About a Hot Corner--Adrian Beltre Plays Third Base Without a Cup

Adrian Beltre revealed to reporters yesterday that he plays, um, "tackle out." Beltre told TNT's Ryan Divish: “I don’t wear a cup. I never have." Makes him feel unsafe.

"I was afraid to dive with it on," Beltre says. But isn't worried about getting tagged in the crotch with a grounder? Nope.

"I played on a lot of crappy fields in the Dominican Republic," he says.

Yeah, but so did Josias Manzanillo. If you were a Mariner fan in '97, you won't have forgotten this...just typing the guy's name makes me need to cross my legs.

Manzanillo, like Beltre, was from the D.R. Like Beltre, he played (in his case, pitched) without a cup.

On April 8, 1997, Manzanillo threw a 92 mph fastball to Manny Ramirez. Ramirez lined it back, waist-high, at 107 mph. The ball struck Manzanillo in his unprotected bathroom area.

Here's how team doctor Mitch Storey described Manzanillo's right testicle's prognosis after the game: "They'll try to put it back together and salvage viable testicular tissue on the right side. It's conceivable that it may not survive. Even if they put it back together, it may die."

He underwent testicular surgery that night--apparently he kept the testicle. Two tears were repaired.

Veteran pitcher Dennis Martinez, then with the M's, was so shaken by the incident that he started wearing a cup after pitching 21 major league seasons without one. "This is my last year in baseball and after seeing what happened to Manzanillo, I want to take all the precautions I can to leave the game healthy," Martinez told the P-I.

"Anyone who didn't wear a cup before will be wearing one now," said Lou Piniella.

Back in '97, I'd cringe whenever the ball was hit to third base--but that's because Mariner third baseman--but that's because Russ Davis and his .939 fielding percentage were there. This year, I'll be cringing when it's hit Beltre's way for another reason.