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- Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2012 8:06 pm
My earlier post about Ty Cobb got me to thinking about how few men have played MLB with a warrior mentality (Cobb, Bob Gibson, Pete Rose and ... ?). Which got me to thinking how, generally, MLB players compete on the field with a kind generosity toward each other not seen in other team sports. Which got me to thinking about Jon Lester. I'm a Cardinals fan. So I've gotten to see more of Jon Lester recently than ever before. And I have a question:
How in the world is this guy still playing Major League Baseball?!! As is generally known, he will NOT throw to first base. This has been the case for, what, seven years now? That means he does nothing to hold runners on base. I've learned it also means he essentially refuses to field his position -- at least if it means, once he gets the ball, he'll have to throw it to a base.
Although I've never followed the American League very closely, I'm aware that somewhere back there in his career he was a good pitcher. But how do you hang on for all those years after you've decided you won't hold runners on base or field your position? All I can figure out is that opposing players want to be kind to him and not rob him of his multi-million dollar paychecks. Otherwise if winning was really all that important in baseball, opposing teams would have run this guy out his profession years ago. But no one seems to want to run on him and no one seems to want to exploit his "phobia" for throwing to bases. Otherwise he would have been made a normal working stiff years ago.
Am I totally off my rocker about this? (Wouldn't be the first time.) Can a pitcher really last seven years in the majors AFTER making the decision to only throw the baseball when he's delivering a pitch?
How in the world is this guy still playing Major League Baseball?!! As is generally known, he will NOT throw to first base. This has been the case for, what, seven years now? That means he does nothing to hold runners on base. I've learned it also means he essentially refuses to field his position -- at least if it means, once he gets the ball, he'll have to throw it to a base.
Although I've never followed the American League very closely, I'm aware that somewhere back there in his career he was a good pitcher. But how do you hang on for all those years after you've decided you won't hold runners on base or field your position? All I can figure out is that opposing players want to be kind to him and not rob him of his multi-million dollar paychecks. Otherwise if winning was really all that important in baseball, opposing teams would have run this guy out his profession years ago. But no one seems to want to run on him and no one seems to want to exploit his "phobia" for throwing to bases. Otherwise he would have been made a normal working stiff years ago.
Am I totally off my rocker about this? (Wouldn't be the first time.) Can a pitcher really last seven years in the majors AFTER making the decision to only throw the baseball when he's delivering a pitch?