After a long hiatus, we at the Cards Deck are back. One of us has been coaching baseball, the other has been taking the CPA exam. Either way, it’s time for another post, a general baseball post. Are there some things that happen regularly on a baseball diamond that just piss you off? I’ve decided to name my top five on-field baseball pet peeves and see what kind of agreement (or disagreement) I get from everyone else. Feel free to input your pet peeves in the comment box!
1. Squaring to bunt and then pulling back (on a strike) - I don’t know why this bothers me so much, but it does. I can see the strategy every once in awhile - but most of the time, you see the batter try to lay the bunt down on the next pitch as well. Why not just bunt the ball the first time when the pitch is right down the middle?
2. Lack of Hustle - At every level of baseball, whether it be tee ball or the bigs, I hate it when players don’t hustle. I appreciate Eck, Speiz, J-Rod and the like that much more for running hard on every ground ball they hit.
3. The DH - It takes out the strategy of having to negotiate around a pitcher in your lineup, period.
4. Walking the pitcher - No description necessary.
4A. Working from behind in the count consistently - These guys are getting paid millions to do what they do, and throwing strikes shouldn’t be as difficult for pitchers as it sometimes is. It’s frustrating to watch, and it really lulls the defense to sleep - opening up the possibility for an error as well.
5. The Fake to third fake to first - You all know what I’m talking about - in a 1st and 3rd situation, the pitcher will fake a pickoff throw to the third baseman and then whirl and throw (or fake) to first. I’m sure it’s worked at some point, but I’ve never seen it work, and it seems like a colossal waste of time and energy in my opinion.
There you have it, the things about the game that make me angry. It’s a very short list, because not much about this great game upsets me, but at times, even the greatest game in the world can be less than perfect.
Entries (RSS)
May 25th, 2006 at 6:59 am
The DH is only third? It’s not even on my list of pet peeves; instead, it’s #2 on my felony list, right behind rape. I can’t stand the DH; hate everything about it.
Some of my pet peeves are:
– The showboating on the mound after a big pitch (see Zambrano) or at the plate after a homer. I love emotion but I hate the showboating and I think these guys all know the difference.
– Not breaking up the double play.
– Not throwing inside; not throwing purpose pitches.
– Number one, though, is players that care only about their own stats/status and not one whit about their team’s performance (See Bonds, or even Ozzie’s continuing fued with TLR over his treatment during his last season.)