Monday, August 18, 2008

The AL Overdoes on Offense

Good pitching always beats good hitting...right? Absolutely.

Good hitting always beats really crappy pitching right? Most of the time.

Ladies and gentlemen, this Sunday introduced baseball fans to lots of really crappy pitching. And lucky for us, the offenses responded. The Twins scored 11 runs. The Mariners scored 8 runs. The Tigers scored 8 runs. The White Sox scored 13 runs. The Yankees scored 15 runs. The Blue Jays scored 15 runs. The Orioles scored 16 runs.

Holy crap thats a lot of runs. I mean, c'mon, I love offense as much as anyone, but this is ridiculous. No pitcher was safe from the tremendous display of offense. From 2003 World Series MVP Josh Beckett, a future stud Gio Gonzalez, and scrubs Zach Miner, Brian Bannister, Ryan Rowland Smith; everyone got beat up today.

Offensive showings like this make me think about:
1. contracting teams (YAY!!!!)
I despise mediocre pitching and nothing has added to mediocrity than adding teams to the MLB.
2. How the hell are some of these guys in the bigs?
If I was a GM, Mark Lowe and his 5.57 ERA would be history. Casey Fossum and his 6.23 ERA would be no where near the majors. Brian Bannister and his 5.96 ERA would no longer throw 84 MPH fastballs to major league hitters. And Garrett Olson and his 6.38 ERA would be back in AAA where he belongs. There is no excuse for these guys being in the majors, especially Bannister.
3. How much I love pitcher's duels
Nothing excites me more than a 2-1 game simply because to me, pitching is an art and there is nothing I would rather do than watch two masters execute their craft. Also, pitcher's duels make the game go quicker, while offensive slug fests make the game painfully drag on because poor pitching is absolutely brutal to watch.

And finally, is anyone else surprised that the Texas Rangers did not give up 10+ runs today? Seriously, if you had told me that 4 AL teams would have scored 10+ runs today, I would have bet $10 on the Rangers giving up at least 10. In fact, I would have said 17. Their pitching sucks.

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