Mark Prior Should Sue Dusty Baker...

For pain and suffering, and for lost wages. Yes, bashing Dusty Baker has become something of a habit and a fetish for me... but I'm going to do it again and I'm not sorry.

Mark Prior made 30 starts in 2003, his first full year as a pro.

In those 30 starts, he went over 100 pitches 26 times.
He went over 110 pitches 19 times.
He went over 120 pitches 8 times.
And he went over 130 pitches 3 times.

And that's just in the regular season. Did I mention that he was 22? Did I mention that he's going for another surgery and one of the most promising careers of the last 20 years is basically over?

Did I also mention that in 2005, after Prior spent 2004 banged up and hurt... Baker allowed him to throw 115+ pitches 9 times with a high of 131?

How about the fact that in 2003, already injury-proned Kerry Wood broke 120 pitches in 13 starts and finished the season with 6 straight starts of 114 or more?

Would you believe me if I told you that Wood's highest pitch count in 2003 was 141?

Now Baker's in Cincinnati.

Already, Johnny Cueto (22 years old) has gone 108, 114 and 119 this year.
Edinson Volquez (24) went 112, 118, 110 and 111.
And Homer Bailey's coming up for his first start.

Here's some info on how a couple of other teams handle their prized, young pitchers.

High Pitch Counts for Phil Hughes (Yankees): 106, 102, 99
High Pitch Counts for Clay Buchholz (Red Sox): 115 (no hitter), 113, 103, 98

Point here is... find me another team, ANY TEAM, ANY MANAGER, that consistently abuses his pitchers the way Dusty Baker does... I beg you to. I implore you from the depths of my soul.

I think Mark Prior should press charges against Dusty Baker. I think Dusty Baker should be brought up on Murder charges... for killing Prior's career.

Dusty Baker Suspended For Stupidity?

Before our very eyes, a revolutionary series of events is unfolding people!  Major League Baseball has begun suspending managers for making complete retarded in-game decisions!!

Dusty Baker was suspended for two games!  No doubt this is for his decision to make Adam Dunn sacrifice bunt late in a game a few days ago!

For those of you who aren't aware of this situation, it's the second time this season that Dusty's told a power hitter to bunt in a late-game situation.  And it's the second time that the power hitter has failed to get a bunt down, and instead hit a walk-off home run with 2 strikes.

The first time, Edwin Encarnacion did it about 6 seconds after Jeff Brantley told the world how 'un-clutch' Encarnacion was, and suggested pinch hitting for him in late-and-close situations.

I haven't actually READ this article about Baker's suspension.  He probably got suspended for something stupid like bumping and ump... but I'm holding out hope that MLB is punishing him for doing the baseball-equivalent of soliciting a tranny hooking and thinking that 'she' is actually a woman.

Just for the sake of background on this situation, Adam Dunn has hit 250 career homers (and averages 40 a season) and has a grand total of 2 career sac hits.

Encarnacion has 48 homers, developing power and a total of zero career sacs.

My deepest sympathies go out to everybody who's team has ever been coached by Dusty Baker.  I cannot imagine how you have suffered.

Crack Attack?!

Anybody remember Troy Hambrick? He was a running back for the Cardinals/Cowboys for a few years...

If I remember correctly, he didn't suck too bad in the video game (which is, of course, the best way to judge the prowess of a professional athlete.)

Guess what Troy did...

He dramatically improved the image of one Adam "Pacman" Jones. Pacman's gonna celebrate by 'making it rain' again tonight.

Seriously though... Hambrick made millions playing football in a pretty short time... and he's going to the pokey for a Fin... for selling crack?! This is the dumbest thing a Cowboy's done since Nate Newton couldn't see himself not being the Biggest Dope Man.

And the most embarrassing thing to happen to Cowboys of any kind since...



Yup... Brokeback Fiction.

Bush League!!

Few people know this, but one of my favorite things in the sport of baseball is when somebody calls something "Bush League."

Here are the two latest examples. And here's the other one.

Sounds like sour grapes from a couple of mediocre players who lost the respective games. Know what I think is Bush League?

Giving up 6 runs (4 earned) on 5 hits and 5 walks in 5 innings against the Washington Nationals. Know what else is Bush League? Pitching in Taiwan because major league teams don't want you.

As for Dellucci, know what I think is Bush? Having a career OPS+ of 101. Know what else is Bush? Having a baseball career that's best compared by age (by baseballreference.com) to that hitting stud Cito Gaston!!

For the record, here's the closest thing to -real- BUSH LEAGUE!

David Dellucci needs to shut the fuck up. He's your typical, not-very-good-white-guy-with-a-reputation-as-a-grinder. He's gritty and gutty and gritty mcgutty gritten guts. And if his skin had any pigment at all, he'd probably be out of baseball, because apparently pigmented skin is the anti-grit. You're not Old School. You just suck.

And as for Nelson Figueroa, I don't buy into all that "heartwarming story" shit about this guy traversing the globe to try to get back into the majors. I don't care. He's a mediocre pitcher at best, which is why nobody wants him for very long. He has a job because Omar Minaya likes Latin players and he was available.

If you're a shitty player... and you get shown up by better players who are in the process of kicking your ass... do yourself a favor. Have some class and just shut the fuck up. Be the bigger man or something. You know all about moral victories... because you're a loser. So take one here and go away.