Shagging’ here to stay

(the ballpark) is the place to do it,” Dickey added. “It’s flat ground, there’s no holes. It’s just a really fluke thing and it doesn’t happen very often.

“Think of all the pitchers in all the leagues i n all the years that have run after balls. A handful have maybe hurt themselves.”

But Diamondbacks pitcher Ian Kennedy, a former Yankee teammate of Rivera’s, saw a fellow pitcher get hurt at USC, which kept him from ever considering power shagging.

“I personally take it easy just because I saw a guy in college try to rob a home run, land on his ankle and blow it out,” Kennedy said. “We had to take him off the field. So I was like, ‘I don’t care if I catch a ball, I’l l get it of f the ground.’ But Mo has always done it and he’s never hurt himself until now.”

That’s why multiple managers echoed Leyland and Dombrowski, including Terry Collins, though the Mets skipper also at one point grinned and said, “We all said today, I wonder if we’re going to have to start renting out shaggers.”

Probably not. And Rivera himself said Friday he would continue to shag when he returns.

“They (pitchers) are baseball players,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “It’s part conditioning and part routine. I wouldn’t want to take them out of their routine. They enjoy it. I’m all for it.

“Sometimes stuff happens that you don’t understand.”