Hamilton's costly headfirst slide

ByJIM CAPLE
April 10, 2014, 1:39 AM

— -- SEATTLE -- When will players ever learn NOT to dive headfirst into first base? Especially when their team is paying them $25 million a season for five years?

Angels manager Mike Scioscia said you never want to coach the athleticism out of a player because that athleticism keeps them safe on some plays.

On the other hand...

"You certainly wince when you see a guy going headfirst into home plate or diving into first base like that because it's something that is probably not as natural as other plays around the field."

Unfortunately, Angels fans are still wincing after Josh Hamilton dove into first base in Tuesday night's 5-3 loss against the Mariners. Both he and the Angels are paying the price -- Hamilton tore the ligament in his left thumb and likely will miss the next six to eight weeks.

"It's definitely unfortunate but I think as a team you have to be deep enough to absorb injuries to players," Scioscia said before Wednesday's game. "Josh is a special talent who was off to a great start for us and we'll do our best to fill that void until he comes back. I think over the years we've had a lot of our key players miss significant time but we've been able to absorb it with depth and move on. And that's what the focus will be the next six to eight weeks."