Kevin Baker's book is here!

Kevin Baker's book is here!
"... an exemplary sports book..." Kirkus Reviews

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

To the Tampa Management on the ways of Grapefruit Games

Chad Jennings, a MLB sportswriter in an AAA town, watched the Yankees/Scranton minor league game against the Blue Jays today.

Check out the rules:

"Matsui hit second in every inning -- first through fourth -- and Molina batted at random moments, or sometimes didn't bat at all. Eric Duncan did a nice job explaining just how confusing the whole thing can be: "Figuring out when I'm going to bat is like a math equation," he said."


And later:

"The Blue Jays use pitch counts in individual innings and twice ended an inning after the Yankees had made just two outs because their pitcher had thrown as many pitches as they wanted him to throw that inning. In the bottom of the first inning, the Yankees had already scored one run and had runners on second and third for Eric Duncan when the Blue Jays ended the inning before letting Duncan bat. In the fifth they did the same thing, leaving a Yankees runner stranded at first after just two outs."

So... in games like this, you spear a catcher at home plate, justify the move, ridicule the issue and react with indignation when they come after your 2B?

Yeah, Tampa. I'm talking to you.

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