Ball 4, ball 8 … boy, how can guys lay off pitches that close?
One of my favorite movies - and not because it's about baseball - is "Major League." The original, of course, not the lousy sequels. The movie, which centers around a ragtag bunch of Cleveland Indians, whose new owner purposely puts together a horrible team so it will lose and she can eventually move the team to Florida. Included in the cast is Rick Vaughn (Charlie Sheen), pictured, the wild-looking, wild-throwing pitcher who is dubbed "Wild Thing" and Harry Doyle (Bob Uecker), the team's cranky/boozing broadcaster.One of the funnier scenes in the movie is when Vaughn walks the bases loaded on 12 pitches in a game against the Yankees and Doyle utters lines like the one used for the headline of this post.
It seems the Wild Things' pitchers took a page out of Vaughn's arsenal Monday night when they walked 11 Florence betters in a loss to the Freedom. In the sixth inning, the Freedom didn't even need to take their bats to the plate. They scored four runs without a hit, scoring on five walks and an hit batsman.
At times this year, it has appeared as if the Wild Things have been using theories from the Dontrelle Willis School of Pitching. They've had games of eight, nine (twice), 11 and 13 walks.
There is nothing worse for a baseball team than its pitchers issuing walks at an alarming rate. You can't defend a walk. If you throw the ball over the plate, there's a chance it will be hit right at a fielder. If you don't throw the ball over the plate, sometimes you give up four runs in an inning without the opponent getting a base hit.
The Wild Things' team record for most walks issued in a season is 349, set last year. The current team already has issued a league-high 115 walks and is on pace for 501 walks, which would break the league record by 47.
Hit batsmen also has been a problem for the Washington pitchers. They've plunked 24 batters in 22 games and are on pace to hit 104. The most hit batsmen in team history is 77, set in 2006.
It's obvious that this can't continue or it's going to a long, long summer at Consol Energy Park. Nobody wants to see pitchers walk batter after batter. Now that MLB's first-year player draft is over, I'm assuming there will be several changes in the pitching staff during the upcoming homestand. If not...
posted by Chris Dugan at
7:28 PM
37 Comments:
I see Gov. Spendell is proposing increasing the state income tax by half % which is actually a 16.3% tax increase.
I know where he can find a million dollars of tax payer money which could be used to reduce the state deficit. Just think 1 million on the top of a hill outside of Washington. How many other projects around the state using taxpayer money for useless projects are now going on?
In care you have not figured out what I am talking about, it is the taxpayer turf!
Are there more walks yielded on grass fields or turf fields?
Thriftyone,
Did you read “Snoopy post on the thread before this?
He makes some good points. These Mylan folks seem to be able to grow just about anything they want
in a test tube. They sure know how to grow money too! What they don’t seem to be able to grow is the decency from some of their execs to couch up some cash from their own pockets. They seem to prefer
to take money from the government instead. In other words, us!
I can’t help but wonder if we, the taxpayers, are not subsidizing Mylan in some way we are not aware of.
Something to ponder isn’t it?
As the saying goes, “The dollar will never fall as low as what some people will do to get it.” That definitely includes the Wild Things.
Ron Wilson
I say they keep Groh, Lucas, Eachues, and Peterson....and give McCullough and Pitts a little time to see what they can do. And dump EVERYBODY else. Maradeo surely guaranteed himself a spot on the "released" list after last night.
I wrote on an earlier post about attending a Collegiate Prospect League game in Butler on Sunday. There were a total of 4 walks in the game, and 1 hit batsman. That's COLLEGE players. The Frontier League players....they've all had at least moderate success at the high school and college levels. And they suddenly can't locate the strike zone once they enter the Frontier League? Can we sign Ian Snell while we're at it??
There nothing more ridiculous than a lead-off walk, and how many of those do we have? I wonder what percentage of free passes the Wild Things pitching staff has issued have come around the bases to score? Surely it must be pretty high. Let the tryouts commence!
Chris,
In the featured jobs section of the O-R online, perhaps you could get one titled.
Starting pitcher, Washington Wild Things.
Relief pitcher, Washington Wild Things.
swisscheda
i have also attended blue sox games and you're right, its not bad baseball. the fundamentals are way better than what we are seeing now. i would also keep edwards- he has gotten some big outs. the high era is mostly reflected on others allowing his inherited runners to score and maybe nietz- his last 2 starts havent been that bad. we will see how he fares tonight
tom
for the record, phillies walked 10 last night. that's major league pitchers walking 10 opposing batters in a 9-inning game.
Snooy, Thrifty, Ronnie,
Can we please put this turf issue to bed? I'm not sure where you are getting the one million dollar number from. Only 500k is coming come the state, the other half is coming from monies generated here in Washington County. Roughly 12.5 million people in the state. And lets say 9.5 pay their full share of taxes. Which means that 5.2 cents of your tax contribution is going to the turf. And that’s just for this year, not 5 cents every year.
Furthermore, the state budget gap is 3.2 Billion; the state pays more for copy paper in a year than what they are giving to BSI. I doubt that the 500k or even the full 1million would make a difference in the state deficit. That’s only .0003125% of the state deficit.
And while we're talking about numbers; Mylan is one of the largest drug companies in the world. There is no chance that they would put any company resources into the team. Why would they? There isn’t enough return on investment to make any sense. Same thing with CONSOL. They have no operating control over the team. Just the naming rights. What they spend to hold the naming rights is a hundredth of a percent of what they make in a day. Heinz doesn’t tell the Steelers how to keep their field in good shape. PNC Bank doesn’t tell the Pirates who to draft. ( Based on the pirates, maybe the bank guys do tell them how to run the team.)
I just think everyone needs to get over it. If you are this upset or think there is a conspiracy going on, do something about it. Not complain or wish for drama or point fingers. Go work at a food bank or donate some time to a charity organization. In the grand scheme of things, your time is far more valuable than 5.2 cents a year.
Joe from Gabby
Snooy, Thrifty, Ronnie,
Can we please put this turf issue to bed?
Obviously a person that drinks the Kool Aid. Obviously a person that does not believe in standing up for anything.
Obviously a person that has no principals. Obviously a person that does not believe that excess tax collections should be returned to the taxpayer. Obviously a WT employee.
Notice the change of tone from this persons last posting. You all remember this is the mouse that felt it was just fine to call-out an elderly man just because he doesn’t agree with this views. By the way Joe, tomorrow IS the day that
you threatened to try to do your physical damage to this older gentleman. I just called Ron a few minutes ago. Guess what Joe? He still plans to attend the game. He doesn’t even seem nervous. After your are through kicking the crap out of him (LOL), why don’t you beat up his seventy one year old wife too!
YOU can let the government do whatever they want to do, I’m sure you are gutless enough not to do, or say, anything about it! Don’t expect everyone else to be as ill witted as you! Take your stupid defense of the WT and peddle it elsewhere.
Lloyd
BTW: Nobody called Snooy has ever posted on this blog
Gabby Joe,
Do you work for a turf company?
I will not put this tax payers turf to rest.
Florence has a turf stadium and Radio Randy was bragging how after only a few minutes play was resumed.
Well in the end the game was rained out and deferred to today.
We the taxpayers are tired of being used.
Gabby Joe, who will pay for the taxpayers turf when it is worn out.
Guess who, once again the taxpayers.
Senator Stout, Reps. Solaby and White, don't let this happen. Please step in and get the taxpayer turf eliminated.
You only pay for drainage once.
Taxpayer turf will have to be replace every X number of years.
Help!!!
I would be willing to accept taxpayer funds to be used for proper drainage and baseball would be played on grass as it should be. More and more major league teams have gone back to natural grass.
Joe from Gabby said:
“Mylan is one of the largest drug companies in the world. There is no chance that they would put any company resources into the team. Why would they?”
First, I agree with Lloyd. You ARE from the Wild Things.You are mouthing exactly the same words that they have said to me right to my face. Don’t try to BS anybody that you are really a guy named “Joe”!
Second “Joe”, I suggested that the Mylan execs that are part of the Wild Things ownership group pony up some money. Something wrong with that? It is their investment, not the taxpayers.
No “Joe” I don’t ever intend to “put it to rest”. The Wild Things pulled it off this time but I will continue to remind everyone I can reach what happened. No reason to let them ever feel comfortable about it. Perhaps we, the ones that do care not you Joe, will prevent it from happening again. IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN!
Those that don’t like it can continue to threaten me. I don’t quiver over people that do such things. It shows they have no valid counter point!
Ron Wilson
Baseball owners have moral scruples against taking any man’s dollar when there is a chance to take a dollar and a quarter.
Red Smith
1905 — 1982 –
Reminds me of the WT
There is only one boss, the customer. And he can fire everybody in the company, from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.
Sam Walton
1918 — 1992
Stay away from WT games.
If you want to know what a man is really like, make notice how he acts when he loses money.
Proverb
Whine and cry and get somebody else to pay for your expenses just like the WT.
Snoopy
Anybody that can’t figure that “Joe from Gabby” this is either a Wild Thing employee, or perhaps Franni herself, just has to have an IQ of about 2!
The Washington Wild Money Grabbers! May they prosper, but they will do it on your dollar!
Did some Google searching, and if you want some numbers that will really get you upset about what the taxpayers of Pennsylvania are paying for, try this:
Over the last six years, we've paid:
$18.5 million for a new stadium in Allentown (Phillies Triple-A)
$18.2 million to renovate the stadium in Harrisburg (National Double-A)
$12 million for a new stadium in Lancaster (independent).
Nearly $11 to renovate that dump of a stadium in Johnstown that doesn't have a tenant
$12 million for a new stadium in State College (Pirates-Penn League)
$12 million for a new stadium in York (independent).
That doesn't even include the stadiums in Wilkes-Barre, Williamsport, Erie, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Seems like $500,000 is a drop in the bucket compared to what we've already had stolen from us.
Thriftyone,
What the Wild Things are going to contend is that CEP is multi-purpose stadium. It was, according to them, that way from day one. They will tell you that baseball was just a part of it.
Now I know we were led to believe that we were getting a Frontier League baseball team. What was lost, intentionally I think, in the hype was that this is an community entertainment facility.
I, too, thought it was primarily a baseball facility. With slogans such as “Baseball with a new attitude” and “Baseball the way it should be played” one could logically conclude that this was a baseball organization.
The primary focus of a baseball organization, I would think, would be to concentrate on the game of baseball as a business. Such is NOT the case. We were “hood-winked” plain and simple. The Wild Things are an “entertainment’ business o which baseball is only a part. It other words, as someone called it, a Circus!
Did you see any signs that said “Concerts with a new attitude’? Or, did you see any signs that said “Bull riding the way it should be”? Well, neither did I! We must have somehow overlooked those?
Appealing to Tim Solobay is a complete waste of effort. If you recall this man was one of our upstanding
Legislators that voted himself a pay raise, in the middle of the night, on a holiday week-end. You know, when he thought nobody was looking. So, appealing to a politician that seems so “integrity challenged” would hardly do much good at all! We deserve the government we elected. The “fix” is in, and was from the start. The good news is that what we have been saying is morally correct.. Don’t ever let them forget this outrage. Keeping the issue alive will, and rightly should, keep the Wild Things embarrassed
Talk about it to however will listen. “Joe” wants you to forget it. I wonder why – does he work for the Wild Things? You betcha!
Ron Wilson
Those figures are amazing!
Proves the WT are just small time chislers.
Don't woory they have enough attorneys hanging around that they will eventually move up the big time.
The world according to Joe from Gabby.
Steal a nickel here and a nickel there - what's the big deal? Right?
The big deal is that it's STEALING!!!
BSI said from the beginning that it was a multi-purpose stadium.
Noticed the Demons went right on pass second base last night while playing in the rain - on slippery turf. Tagged out after being called safe. Hummm
So, you can play on turf in the rain, OK. There is nobody there to watch, but you can still play. No wonder so many MLB teams, where they still play REAL baseball, have went back to grass surfaces! Man are those MLB teams stupid, or what?
We all know the real baseball brains are in the Frontier League!
What has Bull Shi* Inc. ever done that was right?
I just think people need to stop thinking in terms of their Access Cards and their Social Security Checks. No amount of turf will take away your monthly hand out guys. Ask the business owners in Washington or the hotel proprietors or the restaurant owners what the team has done to the area. Take a look at the development on top of the hill. Was all that there before the team? Do the answers to those questions just not register to you guys? The income, sales, and property taxes of the business located on the hill have to count for something. It’s a simple question. Instead of hammering your point, answer mine.
I agree that tax payer money should not be used for private industry. But the Wild Things do bring a product and a service to the community. If you think that it doesn’t add to the community; ask the little league team out on the field during the national anthem or the heart association during their fund raising walks or any one of the Trinity Hillers that play under the lights out there.
The park was always a multi-use facility. It has been that way since the beginning. And Ronnie, baseball is a business. Sorry to break your boy hood dreams. But the only reason professional baseball is around, or any professional sport is because someone is making money off of it. I know your little league coach always told you it was just a game, and go have fun. But it’s not like that in the real world. Ronnie, I suggest you put on your big boy pants and start realizing that this isn’t a scene out of Rudy. The MLB and NFL venues across the country all have other events there, and most of those stadiums were mostly if not all built with public money. Where is the outrage when Kenny Chesney comes to Heinz, or when the Rolling Stones come to Fenway?
And it amazes me how people love to create drama. I do not work from the Wild Things. I did not indicate that there would be any kind of physical altercation. I have no problem people that post on here. I am amazed at how people’s energy is going towards something that they aren’t forced to deal with. Stop going to the games. Go to PNC Park if you want to show your disgust to the Wild Things. Drive to Charleston, or Altoona, or State College if you want to see a minor league game. Stop putting money in the pockets of the people you so clearly do not like. As the consumer, you have all the power over a business. And as a voter, you have all the power over your representatives.
Joe from Gabby
How noble you are Joe.
I'll bet just about anything you care to wager that your real name is Fannie.
I'll also bet that is why you reserve all your hate for Ron Wilson.
And you DID threaten Ron by implication. Being an attorney FAnnie, you should know that.
Lloyd
almost has to be some sort of an attorney. If BS was gold whoever “Joe” is, would have be the richest person in Washington County.
I don’t know if “Joe” is Franni, or not. Judging by how long it takes for this person to say nothing,
it Bob in E. Washington
this blog should be renamed Grumpy Old Men.
Joe made some sort of remark to the effect Ron Wilson doesn’t think baseball is a business.
I just read Ron’s last post and he said , in part. “The primary focus of a baseball organization, I would think, would be to concentrate on the game of baseball as a business.” Does that sound as if he doesn’t
know baseball is a business? Joe also made some smart ass remark about ‘putting on his big boy pants.’
Joe, why don’t you take off your lace panties?
Whoever you are Joe, you have a fixation on Mr. Wilson. All your anger is directed at him. That alone suggest that you have some sort of personal involvement in the issue. This is an extremely serious situation. You really need to seek some sort of help. Debate is not intended to stir anger and hate. Your hate factor is VERY easy to detect from your choice of words. You need help Joe. Ron, very seriously - watch your back!
This is a sick person.
Bill
Joe, Franni, whoever you are.
I'll be more than happy to send you my 10 bead rattlesnake to play with.
What is WT address at the WT office?
Don't try to steal him, it's just a loan!
Bob in E. Washington
I love how everyone on this blog calls each other out saying the anonymous commenters are scared to not put their name. This Ron Wilson character seems to be the only person man enough to put his name. Just putting your first name or "thriftyone" or "snoopy" doesn't make you any more known than anonymous.
But hey, what do I know? I'm just a lowly Gateway fan and our team surely isn't much better than yours.
- Rich Walker
Rich Walker,
The problem with the Washington team is they are rich with walks.
Ball 4, ball 8, ball 12, grand slam.
The level of asininity posted in the comment section of this blog is absolutely baffling. Aside from a select few, is there a single college-educated person that posts here?
Or at least someone that has left Washington County once or twice?
If spending money to put artificial turf in a stadium that benefits the community, county, and state was the worst allocation of taxpayer funds that we have to deal with in the Commonwealth, then we would not be in the currently economic crisis we find ourselves.
When the economy is in such a state as we find today one of the things people need the most to take their minds off of their everyday lives is entertainment. That's what minor league baseball is. That's what the Wild Things provide. If you don't like it, don't go. That's pretty simple. Don't hang around this blog, CEP, or anything else that the government has given money to (which means don't drive your car or go to your bank in all likelihood) if you have an issue with it.
Quit sitting on here, ruining this blog and making the people of Washington County look even worse in the eyes of the rest of the area/state/country.
Signed,
A College Educated Person That Has Left Washington County in Their Lifetime.
I have a BSBA degree and I have traveled international a lot and have witnessed corporate greed.
However, the greed I witnessed was at the expense of the stockholders, not the taxpayers as is the case of the taxpayer turf.
Too bad they are not spending a million of Mexican Pesos instead of US dollars in their greed.
Your defense of the turf deal seems to be that there have been worse uses of taxpayer money. That's like saying Mussolini wasn't such a bad guy when you compared him with Hitler. It's still a million dollars we're talking about here, and to me, that's still a lot of money that could be put to use in a way more beneficial to the people of Washington County and Pennsylvania as a whole.
I'm also a college-educated person who has left Washington County in his lifetime.
Another Google search revealed that the taxpayers of this state forked over $1.3 million earlier this year to have the grass field at Blair County Ballpark in Altoona replaced.
Penn Commerical Doesn't count as college
hahah
and you're not such a bad night editor when compared with, say, cody knotts...
from a dark "view on the news" leadin on the blog homepage: "O-R digital services editor Brant Newman has opinions – about everything. And because he was born without a filter between his brain and mouth" nuff said about that (and his boss wrote that)....guess that could be brant or cody
Michael Lucas is my cousin, and I really do think he is a good relief pitcher. As for the turf issue, I really don't see the point in fighting about it. It's not like the WT are the only team in the world that have artificial turf. Sad about the retirement of Grandstrand and Psomas. Both excellent players.
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