Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
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I've never really understood beanball wars, even as a kid playing in Little League, Pony and Colt leagues. It just seems so childish to me, you know, something a couple of immature elementary school kids would do.
Kid 1: Hey, what'd you pull my hair for?
Kid 2: You looked at me funny!
Kid 1: Did not!
Kid 2: Did too!
Kid 1: Fine, then. Eat this! (Throws dirt at Kid 2.)
Etcetera, etcetera. It must make the players feel better inside, or something. Then they spout a bunch of gobbledygook to the media about "protecting each other." C'mon guys, didn't you ever learn the Golden Rule? As the Cubs found out when Ted Lilly was tossed in the first inning (after striking out the first two batters, nonetheless), trading beanballs really accomplishes nothing, and only hurts the team.
But perhaps it's just One Of Those Things that you don't really understand unless you're involved in it. Like NASCAR.
* * * *
Say what you will about run differential, but the Cubs really are playing to their record. They'll be so dominant one day, then just plain pathetic the next. A 9-1 win followed by a 9-5 loss... this team has been up and down all season. It's maddening, really. You think they've turned the season around, finally put everything together, but things fall apart again and again.
* * * *
I said it when he was signed, and I'll say it again now: Jason Marquis isn't a very good pitcher. Since his complete-game shutout May 9, he's been wholly inconsistent. His walk total is piling up, and his strikeouts are not – a sure recipe for disaster. Sunday's 1.2-inning, 6-run outing was just further confirmation. Yep, two and a half more years of Marquis sounds like great fun.
* * * *
The Cubs start a week-long homestand tonight with a makeup game against one of the four NL teams worse than the Cubs, the Houston Astros. Depressing (or uplifting, maybe?), I know, but even with the Cubs at seven games under .500, three of those four teams are in the Central.
I'm not sure it's even maddening at this point. I think I've been bludgeoned into acceptance this year. Another close loss? Ho-hum...seems like that's what is supposed to happen.
Still, though, if I'm Jim Hendry I'm calling MLB and asking them why Hudson wasn't tossed the night before if the home plate umpire can be so sure about what the pitcher is thinking. Not that I doubt that Lilly's was a purpose pitch-but so was Hudson's. And why wasn't Renteria ejected after his forearm shiver to Fontenot? He needs to be suspsended for that.
And... golden rule? This is baseball... whose roots in the early 1800s are in gambling, trouble-making, and general debauchery. Bean ball has been part of the game ever since.
On the bright side, both Lilly & Marquis should be available in the bullpen tonight if needed.
And about the beanballs: Yes, they have a long history, but they only seem to result in ejections and, worse yet, fights that hurt the team. We decry gambling and, more recently, alcohol (both part of the early game) in the game today – why not beanballs?
But that's just my opinion, and you're fully entitled to yours.
This is only a recent trend. Bob Gibson would frequently drill the next batter after allowing a home run. I don't recall him sparking any bench clearing brawls.
The ejections are also a newer thing. When the players could police themselves, a la a "beanball war," things were different.
I refer in this case, as I often do, to Steve Stone's comments. This is his show from yesterday, and his comments on the matter are very interesting. http://podcast.670thescore.com/wscr/520626.mp3
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