Cleveland Indians' masked men know their job requires catching
plenty of pain  Follow on Twitter on May 31, 2012 at 5:55 PM,
updated May 31, 2012 at 5:56 PM santana-gear-2012-tribe-
cc.jpgView full sizeCarlos Santana wears the traditional
catcher's face mask when behind the plate, but it didn't prevent
him from a concussion that has him sidelined since last weekend.
Santana's preference to squat a little farther behind batters
contributes to his vulnerability on foul tips, says Sandy Alomar
Jr.  CLEVELAND, Ohio -- In catching, closer is better. Carlos
Santana is going to have to learn that.  Sandy Alomar Jr., the
Indians' catching instructor and bench coach, says Santana likes
to catch the ball in front of him when he's working behind the
plate. It means he's a little farther away from the batter than
other catchers, which is not a good place to be when a batter
fouls off a pitch.  "With that separation in play, you give the
ball more space and it has a lot of action on it," said Alomar,
a six-time All-Star fo