PITA's Are Good Sandwiches Too.....

[DOUGHBOYS]

Some adjectives baseball analyst use are stupid. The main one for me is the word, 'UNBELIEVABLE!
Try chugging a stiff drink every time Larry Bowa utters the word. You'll be sloshed within minutes.
It's amusing that analysts show videos of plays, then call them UNBELIEVABLE!
They saw them, we saw them, none of them are UNBELIEVABLE!....
Ghosts may be unbelievable. The Loch Ness Monster. The Boogie Man.
Don Mattingly's decision to leave Josh Beckett in his game last night, no wait, I saw that, that was believable....and stupid.

Speaking of Beckett, have you ever thought something of a player early in his career, and then done a complete turnaround in those thoughts as his career unfolds?
I have with Beckett.
I used to think Beckett was a bear down pitcher when the going got tough. A tough nut to crack with enough stuff to blow teams away, even when not at his best.
Now, I think of Beckett as pitching like he wishes he were anywhere but on the mound. To me, he is satisfied with what he has done in his career and from now on will accept any riches that are bestowed to him, but in no way return that poor teams investment.
A Winner to a Loser.
Harsh?
Yep.
At the same time, I won't hold my breath until Beckett proves me wrong.

When I played baseball/softball, I called some players, PITA's. It was a term of begrudging respect. They were't power hitters. They weren't judys. They were the type of hitters who always seemed to reach base, no matter what I threw to get them out. These PITA's would eventually come around to score or knock in an important run designed to have me lose the game. In managing softball teams later in life, I would search for PITA's to play for my team.
PITA's are Pains In The Asses.
At the Major League level, Ben Zobrist is a PITA. So is Martin Prado. And Yadier Molina. And others.
I like PITA's on my fantasy team. They don't deliver big numbers in any one particular category, but like on the field, they always seem to be contributing somewhere.

13 hitters have 90 rbi or more. Not surprising. We are getting close to bringing down the final curtain on the regular season.
What is surprising is that at the same, there are only five hitters who have scored 90 runs. And two of those guys (Hamilton,Braun) are part of the rbi pack.
Besides Mike Trout, the very effective leadoff hitter has become rare this year.
Jeter, Jackson, Kinsler, and Bourn have been the leading leadoff hitters this year.
None spectacular.
But then again, it may not be their fault.
Jeter has reached base 226 times with 43 extra base hits and scored 86 runs. By all rights and with that lineup behind him, he should be well over 100 runs, but Cano has had a horrible rbi season (by Cano standards) and Jeter has been left on base way too much.
In Jackson's case, name the number two hitter in the Tigers lineup.
Whatever name came to your mind, you can add a 'sucked' after it.
Remember this when pundits say, 'He'll be batting in front of Miguel Cabrera and gets lots of good pitches to see'.
Bunk.
Kinsler and Bourn have also had decent years, just not good enough to excite their teams or their fantasy owners for the draft position they were taken at.
Still, they are among the leaders in runs, so there are many, many more lead off hitters who fared much worse.


Throughout baseball time, Managers have liked speed at the top of their lineups.
Always seeing the speed of a Rajai Davis without thinking what Davis lacks in being a hitter. They think of Davis' speed putting the defense on edge. Not that the second hitter becomes the more true lead off hitter....only with one out already on the board.
If it were me, a PITA would be leading off.