Friday, June 24, 2005

laugh a minute

i know straight reprints are no fun, but this sequence from the patient, intelligent and eminently readable derek smart should be plastered all over the web.

My vote for most hilarious sequence of the game goes to the top of the seventh, when after Ben Sheets had given up a tie-breaking double to Michael Barrett, a pinch-hitter was called upon. The man brought to the plate was Jose Macias, but that's not the funny part.

What left me in stitches was when Macias sacrificed Barrett to third. This puts Barrett in a position, with one out, to score on any number of balls in play. All the next hitter needs to do is make contact. The next hitter was Corey Patterson. Who had already struck out three times. And promptly made it four. Comic. Genius.

folks, if that isn't dusty's rollicking cub-klown experiment/disaster in a nutshell, i dunno what is. i'm glad to see my appreciation for korey's genius isn't mine alone.

might i say that i might even miss him if the rampant mark kotsay rumors come to fruition. we've all known for a while that the klown is on the block, so i hope we've all had time to make the break in our souls.

kotsay, for his part, is a splendiferous fielder who'd eat the klown's lunch patrolling center in the confines. yet better, he's a career .342 obp who's posted .366, .359 and .370 in three of the last four years. he's not an excellent base stealing threat -- but hey, neither is korey, because you can't steal a base from the frickin' bench. on the whole, he'd be a big asset if the cubs are going to try to build a team that's strong up the middle.

and he'd have the added value of not being preston wilson, who is exactly the kind of player -- a hundred homers, a thousand strikeouts, and nary a walk to be found -- this team has too many of.

i'd be wary always of what beane & co. are asking for, especially because they know the cubs have to do something if they have any hopes of factoring into the playoff picture. but kotsay is the kind of player who can help a club go somewhere.

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