Pujols?

[abuck1220]

i can't believe there are four pages of people griping about this. who gives a crap?

 

everyone threw a hissy fit when the game ended in a tie, and now you're bitching because he kept a guy on the bench. it's not like he let the pitcher bat there...if you'll remember, it was the all star game, so the hitters up there were pretty good.

[kente777]

i can't believe there are four pages of people griping about this. who gives a crap?

 

everyone threw a hissy fit when the game ended in a tie, and now you're bitching because he kept a guy on the bench. it's not like he let the pitcher bat there...if you'll remember, it was the all star game, so the hitters up there were pretty good.

 

It was clearly a mistake not to bat Pujols last night -- at least that is my opinion. It's like any of the threads on this forum, there are two sides of the issue and we are discussing them.

 

Is that OK?

[abuck1220]

except there are zero sides to this issue because it's not an issue.

 

but if you want to get all worked up about, go nuts.

[kente777]

except there are zero sides to this issue because it's not an issue.

 

but if you want to get all worked up about, go nuts.

 

worked up about it? not at all

 

enjoying the discussion? sure.

[sherwood921]

I know many on this board disagree, but I am ALL for swinging at the first pitch if it's what you're looking for but certainly not in that case. It's not smart.

 

but it's very smart if it's the 1 pitch you're looking for and you're Albert Pujols

 

Okay. Even though K-Rod wasn't able to locate more than 2-3 fastballs for strikes over the course of 3 hitters Pujols should just assume he'll groove a first pitch fastball right down the heart of the plate and find the strike zone with no problem, right? What if he throws a nasty slider in the dirt while you're looking fastball and you're down 0-1? You take the first pitch after 3 consecutive walks regardless of who you are and who's pitching.

 

Let's say this was a Cubs game in this exact same position. Down by one...closer walks 3 straight wildly and someone swings at the first pitch with the bases loaded and flies out or pops up. You and every other member on this board would have went ballistic talking about how this team is so stupid, isn't patient at the plate and someone probably would have blamed Dusty Baker.

 

Then you don't swing. We're talking about looking for one pitch in one location. If you get that, you let 'er rip. If you don't, you don't swing.

 

All this being said...I think LaRussa should have plugged in Pujols there. He's a better hitter...you have to tie the game before you think of where everyone will play.

 

If Pujols had pinch hit, I bet K-Rod wouldn't have grooved him a first pitch fastball down the heart anyway, though.

[Keener98]

i can't believe there are four pages of people griping about this. who gives a crap?

 

everyone threw a hissy fit when the game ended in a tie, and now you're bitching because he kept a guy on the bench. it's not like he let the pitcher bat there...if you'll remember, it was the all star game, so the hitters up there were pretty good.

 

Yea you are right, heaven forbid there is an actual discussion about something baseball related in the baseball discussions part of the forum. So would you like to tell everybody what it is ok to discuss?

[biittner77]

except there are zero sides to this issue because it's not an issue.

 

but if you want to get all worked up about, go nuts.

 

I hate the all star game as much as anyone. Nevertheless, regardless of situation if you have Pujols available the list of people you should let bat instead is very short and does not include Aaron Rowand.

 

I like how they clown posse on BBTN didn't even mention this as the dumbest move ever.

[abuck1220]

they didn't mention it because it's not a big deal.

[Mizzou]

they didn't mention it because it's not a big deal.

I don't think it's a "big" deal, but it's definitely something worth talking about. Either way, it was pretty stupid to have Albert, who is arguably the best hitter in baseball, just standing there watching with the game on the line when he could've pinch hit and potentially won the game for the NL.

[Mephistopheles]

its not worth talking about. god stop being drama queens.

[SouthSideRyan]

its not worth talking about. god stop being drama queens.

 

Well it's no debate on the relative villainry of Alex Rodriguez.

[CubmanPi]

its not worth talking about. god stop being drama queens.

 

Well it's no debate on the relative villainry of Alex Rodriguez.

See what just three days with no baseball does? We argue about crap that's ten times more worthless than what we talk about when people are actually playing.

[Laura]

I'll talk about the baseball-related issues I want to talk about ... but thanks so much for your input.

 

I think it's hilarious when someone says it doesn't matter that Pujols didn't appear because it was an exhibition game. An exhibition to showcase the most popular / best players.

[RynoRules]

its not worth talking about. god stop being drama queens.

 

 

Mr. Bush, is that you?

 

You should just post a thread listing acceptable topics of discussion.

[CubinNY]

Give me a break. Stop speaking for groups of other people by stereotyping them. Personally, I've stood up for Cub players that have swung at the first pitch with the bases loaded on several occasions this year in game threads.

 

While I normally don't enter the discussion in the game threads on this subject I have always been more impressed with the argument TT is making. When a pitcher has been wild and needs to avoid a walk and the batter is a competent batter, have him look for his pitch on pitch 1 (and pitch 2 and pitch 3 etc.). In that situation there's no reason to swing at a pitcher's pitch because he's unlikely to be able to get that over the plate. If the pitcher knows you're not going to swing at pitch 1 it just puts you down in the count automatically.

 

I think it depends on the player. The problem is that the player often doesn't swing at "his" pitch and grounds out weakly or pops up.

 

I don't necessarily have a problem with swinging at the first pitch as long as the batter has good plate discipline.

 

Pujols is a disciplined enough hitter to give him the greenlight, Corey Patterson, not so much.

[Soul]

Give me a break. Stop speaking for groups of other people by stereotyping them. Personally, I've stood up for Cub players that have swung at the first pitch with the bases loaded on several occasions this year in game threads.

 

While I normally don't enter the discussion in the game threads on this subject I have always been more impressed with the argument TT is making. When a pitcher has been wild and needs to avoid a walk and the batter is a competent batter, have him look for his pitch on pitch 1 (and pitch 2 and pitch 3 etc.). In that situation there's no reason to swing at a pitcher's pitch because he's unlikely to be able to get that over the plate. If the pitcher knows you're not going to swing at pitch 1 it just puts you down in the count automatically.

 

I think it depends on the player. The problem is that the player often doesn't swing at "his" pitch and grounds out weakly or pops up.

 

I don't necessarily have a problem with swinging at the first pitch as long as the batter has good plate discipline.

 

Pujols is a disciplined enough hitter to give him the greenlight, Corey Patterson, not so much.

 

Oh we gave Corey green lights. Green lights all the way out of town :wink: Friggin' police escort and green lights all the way.