Too Tall for Baseball?

Thursday, 21 April 2011 | by Pat's Picks

The Star Tribune says the Twins’ Joe Mauer may be the tallest catcher ever to play in the majors. But at 6’6 (in shoes) is he too tall to play his position? Experts say part of the problem is that being tall puts an extra strain on a person’s joints—“every extra pound adds an extra three to five pounds to what a lower extremity joint feels”—a serious strain for someone who crouches for a living. The too tall question keeps popping up because Mauer keeps finding himself on the team’s disable list, this time for something referred to as a “bilateral leg weakness.”