Today, for the better part of an inning's discussion, everyone thought we had lost Tyler Austin to injury , one day after joining the big club. Then, like a game of Clue, Tyler Austin is discovered in the Library ( right field ) with a glove.
It is Aaron Hicks who had succumbed to injury, and left the game.
We learned this only by what I will call, " cameradic deduction." That is, the camera focused on Austin Romine pounding the pocket of his first baseman's glove, and lurking around first base as though he was playing that spot.
Suddenly, the mathematicians took over and figured, by deduction and subtraction, that the missing player was Hicks. One of our best.
Rumors are already flying that this is not a day-to-day malady.
And I'm not really sure how Tyler Austin is, either. That slide into second has one of two possible outcomes:
1. He may have re-injured that fractured foot ( we'll know tomorrow ), or
2. That injured foot withstood a real stress test, and survived.
So the angel of doom continues to swirl over this overachieving team. The pitching has turned to dishwater. The hitting is feisty but just not quite enough. Seven runs are a lot to make-up .
I think we may have been afflicted with the "Ridiculous Run Syndrome".
ReplyDeleteThis syndrome rears its treacherous head when a baseball team wins more games than might be expected. So gets to something like 5 games over. 500. Fans start to think something special is happening. The start believing that this year is going to be different.
This season it has happened to us and it happened in Washington and Colorado. Right now the Dodgers have a severe case.
The phenomenon is nice, but misleading.
As had been discussed in length and scientifically proven on these pages, there is no such thing as real dominance anymore. Because there is parity. Deliberate and owner and league driven parity.
Look at the Yankees. We lost 11 out of 13 (or something like that) and we are still topping the division. But not only that. There are only 5 teams with a better record. Three of them play in the NFL West. The division that feeds of the NL Central. The latter dicision performs so poorly that it is difficult to jot have at least a winning record.
The other team is Washington. That other team with a ridiculous run.
So our run was californicationed and now we are back to normal. Win one, lose one. And stay afloat.
Maybe we will have another run soon. Maybe not. Obviously this year (barring too many injuries and Chance Adams not performing when he is called up) we will be performing at the right level. And, thanks to our rediculous rum, we have games in hand.
We could easily win the pennant.
I do agree that I should be more alert with regard to spelling errors.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting until Swannie lets us know what he's done to us, this time...perhaps we could talk him into "visiting" certain of our pitching staff. LB (No J)
ReplyDeleteThe Farmer speaks the truth. We remain near top for many moons thanks to Selig parity.
ReplyDeleteHow did a Dutch fellow become so adept at baseball analysis? I know that baseball is relatively popular in Holland vs. the rest of Europe, but UF is above and beyond.
P.S. Now Hicks is gone for a month. Wonder if Jacoby can come back in and pick up where he left off?