"A New York Treasure" --Village Voice

Zoiks! This Place is Filled with Pretender Willies/One False Move and Get Broke Off like Ends of Phillies

There’s nothing as helpless as watching. The great American Male neurosis–though it isn’t restricted to men–is believing that if you sit in the same position on the couch or wear your lucky jersey you have the power to alter the outcome of a ball game.

Television doesn’t help. Watch enough games on TV and you’ll probably find yourself saying–or thinking–I could have caught that ball, I could have hit that pitch. It’s a natural reaction. It also happens to be horses***.

When Carlos Beltran struck-out looking to end the 2006 NLCS, fans wailed–How could he not swing? I heard a couple of Yankee fans say the same thing about Alex Rodriguez’s final at bat on Friday night (would it have been better if, completely fooled, he waved at the pitch like Derek Jeter did when the Yankee captain whiffed to end the eighth inning?). And this morning, I read a newspaper article where the writer said that Ryan Howard had to go down swinging when he too ended the game looking at a devastating breaking ball on Saturday night.

Can you imagine how difficult it is to adjust from a mid-90s fastball to a perfectly placed breaking ball? Even if you are a professional hitter?

You’ve got to swing at that pitch!

It might be frustrating to watch but how about giving credit to the pitcher?

Baseball is hard. Being an expert is easy.

11 comments

1 Diane Firstman   ~  Oct 25, 2010 12:50 pm

Breaking news from Cashman/Girardi end of season presser: Dave Eiland out as pitching coach.

2 Dimelo   ~  Oct 25, 2010 12:56 pm

[0] Yeah, dood, well said. It's easy to sit on our fat ass and be a fan, but that's the definition of a fan - fat ass neurotic, no?

3 seamus   ~  Oct 25, 2010 12:58 pm

[1] i just saw that. They claim it's not for performance but what do folks think? It does seem that while our bullpen overall overachieved at times, maybe they are hoping someone else can fix AJ? or maybe it is just a personal matter.

4 Dimelo   ~  Oct 25, 2010 1:02 pm

[3] He did have to take a leave of absence earlier in the year. He might be battling some demons, maybe his heart and mind weren't into as focused as Cash wanted, or maybe he told Cashman: "JAVY F'ING VAZQUEZ, CHAN HO OUTTA THE PARK, ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

5 seamus   ~  Oct 25, 2010 1:02 pm

Also, apparently Pettitte really just couldn't go in Game 2. So other rotation ideas weren't really feasible I guess.

6 seamus   ~  Oct 25, 2010 1:04 pm

[4] right, i forgot about that. Probably personal issues for real then. Hopefully things are alright with him and his family.

7 Jon DeRosa   ~  Oct 25, 2010 1:24 pm

I think there's a difference between looking at strike 3 when you've got the tying run in scoring position and looking at strike 3 when the tying run is still 4 batters away.

If howard stuck his bat out and poked a lucky hit, they really might win the game. if arod did the same, there's no real consequence. as a fan, i'd rather see the emergency hack like jeter's, no matter how feeble.

8 Jon DeRosa   ~  Oct 25, 2010 1:27 pm

al, i also think that there's a difference in what fans are asking for - they are asking that those guys swing at the pitch - which is easy to do, even if fooled. not they get a hit or even make contact, which is hard to do, sometimes even if you know what's coming.

their whole season comes down to one pitch, taking strike three robs you of the potential of something magical happening.

9 Dimelo   ~  Oct 25, 2010 1:30 pm

The Knicks start play on Wednesday, I'm a little excited about that. Am I crazy? (rhetorical question)

10 Chyll Will   ~  Oct 25, 2010 1:46 pm

[9] iSaludos, comrade! >;)

11 Alex Belth   ~  Oct 25, 2010 2:07 pm

9) Insane.

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"This ain't football. We do this every day."
--Earl Weaver