MLB blisters, plus, Tigers’ Leyland on Matsuzaka
By The Heckler
Baseball Big Mouth
baseball blog
BLISTERS, BLISTERS EVERYWHERE - What’s the deal with Major League Baseball pitchers still being affected by such a minor malady as blisters - especially in the year 2007?!? Is there nothing medically that can be done to alleviate this problem? Is there not something that can be sprayed on them to still allow a pitcher to perform, without giving him any added advantage in terms of scuffing the ball or what not? Everytime The Heckler hears of someone like the Tigers’ Jeremy Bonderman missing a turn because of something as old as Abner Doubleday, it just leaves me scratching my head. Get on it, modern medicine - cure for AIDS be damned! We got a pennant to win here!!
ATLANTA STILL CHOCKFUL ‘O CRACKERS - Looks like the sale of the Atlanta Braves from Time Warner to Liberty Media is all but official, and will, once and for all, sever the former link between past owner Ted Turner and the ballclub. Ah, Ted, baseball surely misses ya. After all, no other owner fell asleep (on camera) watching his team quite like you, Teddy. You’ll always be The Heckler’s favorite cracker, regardless. For the record, the Atlanta Crackers were a former minor league club whose announcer was none other than the legendary Ernie Harwell.
MUCH ADO ABOUT MATSUZAKA - For those who missed it, Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland caused a bit of an uproar when commenting on the Boston Red Sox famous import, Daisuke, prior to facing the Japanese star on Monday night. “I don’t give a (expletive) about him,” Leyland said. “I’m not getting into all that. I could give a (expletive) less. It’s another pitcher. We’re playing Boston. Obviously, he’s an outstanding pitcher. He’s a major league pitcher. And that’s who we’re facing.” For those who wanted to take anything out of context with those remarks, Leyland was hardly being disrespectul - anything but. More accurately, having not seen him pitch in person, he didn’t want to base his opinions simply by what he had seen on television. And further, his team has just faced a litany of top flight pitchers, and beat a lot of them, notably the Twins’ Johan Santana. Far be it from Leyland to bow down to Matsuzaka and give him any psycholgical edge, especially without ever having faced him. For what’s it worth, following Daisuke’s first-ever MLB complete game (at the expense of the Tigers, the following night) Leyland was more than complimentary: “He’s a very good Major League pitcher,” Leyland said. “I was very impressed with him. He’s got good composure. He’s got good stuff. He knows what to do with it.” There - everybody happy with that, especially you, Chowderheads?