Felipe Alou Is Wise

He knows the National League is full of shit. Even after managing in it for 14 years.

Courtesy the always on point Jeff Blair:

Of course, AL managers have to worry about double switches only when they're playing an interleague road game in an NL park. Same thing with having their pitchers hitting. And whenever I hear Gaston sadly mention incidents like Scott Downs injuring his toe while batting, I think about [Felipe] Alou. Despite managing in the NL, Alou loved the designated hitter because it made managing the offensive side of the game more interesting.

"Strategy," he told me one time with a frown. "What's the strategy in having a guy with a bat in his hand not knowing how to use it? What play can I put on besides a bunt?

It's true: the best baseball minds know the American League is far superior.

More:

If you missed Marco Scutaro's thievery on the basepaths on Thursday, check this out from Ghostrunner on First. Simply amazing ...

Jeremy Accardo threw two innings of one-hit relief last night, striking out four. I don't think you quite understand how pleased I am to see him back with the big club. Another two weeks, and I'll have completely forgotten about Brian Wolfe ...

Shawn Camp deserves some love. He's pitched well against lefties, and his 117 ERA+ in almost 27 innings of work is worthy of a boner or two ...

You have to read this: Pujols vs. Halladay, baseball's ultimate matchup (h/t Go Jays Go) ...

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.

UPDATE: Brad Mills to start for Casey Janssen on Thursday. Serious boners.