June 17, 2009

Hating the National League

Don't you just love it when a pitcher - I don't know, say Ricky Romero, or Scott Downs - who has no business hitting, and who probably doesn't want to hit, has to bat? Me too. It's so much fun; so exciting.

I love how National League enthusiasts continuously defend the asinine decision not to employ a designated hitter with the standard "there's more strategy" rebuttal.

Sure, there's more strategy. I get that. But in most cases, it doesn't take a genius of a manager to throw around the eighth hitter in a lineup to get to the pitcher. Even Buck Martinez can do that.

At the end of the day, pitchers can't hit. Period.

Last night, thanks to bullshit Interleague play, Scott Downs was injured running out a ground ball (x-rays were negative), and Ricky Romero struck out three times, leaving eight men on base.

They're pitchers. They should exclusively pitch, much like in the progressive, forward-thinking American League. Let the hitters hit.

I'm off the National League, huge ...

With the Blue Jays down 3-2 last night, guess who kicked off the 9th inning rally to tie the game? One Vernon Wells, with an infield single to the pitcher. It was his first hit in 21 at-bats. Darrin Fletcher, the greatest colour commentator ever, said it best: that's how all slumps end. Believe ...

If you're pissed off at Alex Rios for his boneheaded baserunning gaffe in the 8th inning, you should be equally pissed off at Nick Leyva. He fucked up, too. While that type of mistake happens in baseball, it seemingly happens too often to Alex Rios. (Richard Griffin is kind of upset about it.) There can't possibly be a better nickname for Rios than The Blissfully Oblivious Gazelle ...

Speaking of nicknames, I think it's official: Jason Frasor is the Sausage King of the bullpen. While I loved some of the suggestions - Bullpen Ninja, Hightower, Fire Hydrant - Sausage King was too good to pass up ...

It wasn't exactly a great performance, and he was bailed out by the aforementioned Sausage King, but B.J. Ryan is now working on six innings of scoreless relief. Believe in The Beej ...

I'd love to know what Cito Gaston said to Ricky Romero in a visit to the mound only three batters into last night's first inning. Whatever it was, it worked. The rendezvous was, my friends, the ultimate example of The Cito Effect ...

Keeping on Romero, he continues to shine. Of the eight American League rookie starting pitchers who've made at least eight starts and thrown at least 50 innings, Rick-Ro leads the way with a 3.73 ERA. His G/F ratio of 1.14 is second to only Baltimore's Brad Bergesen. Boners.


10 comments:

jj said...

Cito Gaston would last 25 minutes managing a real baseball game in the NL, not some labatts swill drinking softball camp played inside. Has cito ever had to make a doubel-switch? I'll wait while you look up what a doubel-switch is...or the last time the leafs weren't a joke. Go curl.

Pension Plan Puppets said...

I don't know. Should Leyva have to tell a professional baseball player to make a play that my freaking beer league team does automatically despite being made up almost completely of hockey players?

As for the pitchers, I think it's a sign of how they are not close to being athletes. The Phillies' bullpen was complaining about being tired! They pitch an inning or two at a time! Carlson was pitching with a tin of dip in his pocket! And Downs got hurt swinging the bat!

Is the DH rule the norm throughout all levels of baseball (high school/college)? If not then how is it strange to expect a baseball player do something that is fundamental to the game?

Having said that, I prefer the DH because it means more real strategy and fewer pitchers ruining rallies.

Pension Plan Puppets said...

jj - I think it took Cito more than 25 minutes to win his two World Series titles but I may be wrong. The last time the Leafs weren't a joke was probably 2003 or 2004 when they were contenders for the Stanley Cup.

p.s. Curling season is over dumbass. Thanks for rubbing it in.

Down Goes Brown said...

Oh, the double-switch! A strategy so incredibly complex (you change two guys, instead of one!) that our tiny AL brains can not comprehend it...

Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...

I was about to say that Cito can't hear jj because he's got his TWO WORLD SERIES RINGS stuck in his ears.

You know what The Cito can do? Spell double-switch.

matthias @ mopupduty.com said...

I think Cito complaining about pitchers hitting is a joke. In the end what will it solve? Nothing. It is what it is... Cito and the Jays should except this fact or forfeit the games.

How about Romero? He's turning into quite the stud. He was a good man to send to the hill last night, a groundball pitcher in a home run hitters park.

Ian Hunter said...

I'm not a big fan of the NL game either, but I guess that's the way it is. I'm sure National League fans probably say the same thing about the American League - guys like Ortiz and Thome only have to play "half a game" and not field. It's just a shame that so many pitchers have to go down because of these funky injuries. I hope Cito told Richmond to just stand at the plate and not swing or run.

Pension Plan Puppets said...

Cito and the Jays should except this fact or forfeit the games

I guess we shouldn't complain about you not being able to use the proper word because it is what it is.

looshV said...

And secondly, Vernon needs to be a TAD bit more selective in his pitches. His fourth at bat was simply disgusting to watch. What a god awful shitty pitch to strike out on.

40 said...

Back to back nights now we watch Rios have no clue on the base paths? Yes, Leyva should have been all up in his ear Tuesday night, but tonight, it's all on Rios. Didn't really impact the game, but just shows his lack of true baseball knowledge.
On first, one out, pop fly to centre and he takes off to 2nd, no hit and run, no stolen base, just takes off. Victorino makes the catch and looks shocked that Rios is not headed back to 1st, so he tosses it over there nice and easy for the double play.. This guy need to go back and learn the basics!
But he, he said it best himself, "Who gives a $uck"