Why The Devil Rays Columnists Suck: Marc Lancaster
Marc Lancaster, Marc Topkin August 24th. 2007, 10:40amIn case you missed the 9th inning of last night’s game…and we can’t understand why you wouldn’t be tuned in to the 9th inning of a late August 12-2 loss to Oakland…there were some minor fireworks. It happens. Last night, Juan Salas came in to pitch the 9th and immediately hit the first batter in middle of the back with his first pitch. In the bottom half of the inning, A’s reliever, Santiago Casilla’s first pitch was behind Brendan Harrris. Casilla was immediately ejected.
The reason we bring this to your attention is the exaggerated reporting by Devil Rays writers for the Tampa Bay Tribune and The St. Pete Times.
[From Marc Lancaster of the Tribune] Casilla’s first pitch bored straight toward Brendan Harris’ head, and he ducked out of the way just in time for it to whiz behind his neck.[From Marc Topkin of the Times] A’s reliever Santiago Casilla was ejected for throwing at Brendan Harris’ head.
Wow! Sounds like Brendan Harris narrowly escaped danger right? Well, here is a screen capture from the pitch that supposedly almost killed Harris.
We are going to give Marc Topkin a pass because Casilla may have actually been aiming at Harris’ head, even though there was a better chance of him hitting somebody in the third base dugout. But did Marc Lancaster even watch the game that he wrote about?
Of beanballs and meetings [TBO]
A loss to hang their heads over [tampabay.com]
Related posts:
The “PITCH” darn near hit the A’s Bat Boy
Wow, good job Corky, one day you post about how another writer is being offensive towards the fans, and then the next day you state how stupid the reporters are. Granted, their accounts were inaccurate, but there are more tactful ways to bring that to our attention than the one you chose.
A ball thrown behind a batter is considered the most dangerous pitch in baseball. The fact that it looks far away on the screen (partly because he is already ducking forward) does not mean it was not perceived both by Harris and observers as being a bean ball.
even if he wasnt bending forward, that pitch is 3 feet behind him. if that pitch had been 3 feet in front of him, nobody would ever say a thing
It doesn’t matter how far behind him it was, at least not in a case where the catcher can get his glove near it. A ball thrown behind a batter’s head is the most dangerous pitch in baseball. This was not a lob pitch softball, and the first reaction of a batter to a ball like that is to lean back into it. Both columnists were correct. It was a beanball. I don’t know if the pitcher intended it to be, but it was.
In no way did i mean to belittle the action. He clearly threw at Harris, but where exactly is up for debate. Having been on both ends of a bean ball in my day (dont worry nobody was ever going to get hurt by my “fast”ball) i can attest that hitting a batter is one of the most difficult things to do. when a pitcher is used to throwing to a certain area, the mechanics are not designed to aim elsewhere. that is why a lot of pitchers have trouble throwing a pitch during an intentional walk.
I dont think many pitchers ever aim for the head. On the other hand there is an old argument that aiming at the head is the easiest way to brush a guy back without hitting him, because it is the easiest part of the body to get out of the way. I hope not many pitchers subscribe to that theory.