June 19, 2006
Plate Discipline — What’s That?
As I write this, it is Colorado 3, Oakland 0 in the eighth inning. Jose Mesa — quite possibly one of the most combustible relief pitchers in captivity — is one the mound for the Rocks. The great Joe Table retires pinch-hitter Marco Scutaro for the first out, but not before nearly removing Marco’s head with an errant fastball. Then it’s a single to Kendall, another single to Swisher, and a four-pitch walk to Eric Chavez. True, that was probably a pitch-around — none of the four balls were anywhere near the plate — but it’s safe to say that Mesa is not exactly on the top of his game tonight. So up to the plate comes Bobby Crosby — who worked a bases-loaded walk the other night to beat the Dodgers in 17, by the by. Obviously, this is a situation that calls for Croz to sit back, take a couple pitches and see if maybe we can get Jose to pour some lighter fluid on the smoldering flames of this rally.
Do I have to tell you that Crosby swings at the first pitch he sees to ground into an inning-ending double play? (His second rally-killing GIDP of the night, but who’s counting besides me and the official scorekeeper?)
This, coupled with the fact the Rockies got their third run when Nick Swisher did a Byrnes-ian dash past an easily hit basebal to turn a routine single into a run-scoring single and error, has forced me to deal with uncomfortable fact that this year’s Athletics roster may be comprised of a preponderance of meatheads.
Update: And as I finish writing this, Jay Witasick and the newly acquired Scott Sauerbeck — “Scott and Jay? Must be losing today” — have worked their magic in the bottom of the eighth to render the ninth inning irrelevant.
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Comments
I guess Byrnes left his bad decision-making in Oakland. He hasn't done anything here in Arizona to make me think, "Get that f***er off the field!" Admittedly, if he'd pulled that kind of stuff in critical situations here, I'd agree with you. At this point, though, I'm more than pleased that he's here. His hustle has been "true hustle" that has been one of the few bright spots since the Grimsley fiasco.
And now, I hate Eric Byrnes more than I hate Hell.
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