Sunday, May 21, 2006

Maybe a Belly Itcher Would Work Better

As I've said before, if I can do anything well, it is sit for long periods of time. This was proved true yesterday when I sat through a four hour Louisville vs. Seton Hall baseball game without at all realizing that it was an abnormally long game. It was the season finale, and it was worth every penny, particularly since admission was free. Parking was free and easy, hot dogs and soda were a dollar, Sara got a free T-shirt in the T-shirt toss, and I got the added entertainment value of seeing a guy walk around the stadium with a broom to celebrate the three game sweep of Seton Hall. I also got to enjoy watching the futility of the Seton Hall pitching staff in their 18-6 loss. Here is the line for the pitchers, taken directly from my score sheet:

Corey Young: 3.2 IP, 5H, 6R, 6ER, 3BB, 1HBP
Luis Fernandez: .1 IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB
Mike Young: .1 IP, 2H, 4R, 4ER, 1BB, 1HBP
Pete VandenBout: .2 IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB
Mark Irwin: .2 IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 2BB
Chris Basso: .1 IP, 2H, 3R, 3ER, 1BB
Greg Miller: 0 IP, 0H, 1R, 0ER, 2HBP
Andy McNulty the candy bar: 1.2 IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER

In total, that is eight innings, 18 runs (17 earned), 15 hits, 9 walks, and 4 hit by pitch. 28 baserunners in 8 innings against 8 pitchers. As I left the game, I speculated that this pitching problem was peculiar to college baseball. I reasoned that it is a similiar situation to small time basketball, in which guards dominate because big men, being a scarcity, are taken up by the higher levels. I thought that hitters dominate college baseball because anyone with half an arm is in pro baseball, particularly since given the uncertainty of arm injury, many high school pitching prospects opt for the money instead of college.

Then the Brewer game Saturday night helped me realize that maybe Seton Hall isn't the only institution a little short on arms.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

did you know some honkey for UWM is leading the NCAA in hitting? Between basketball and baseball UWM is on the map of college athletics.

4:16 PM  
Blogger Heidi Hoffman said...

aargh...you?

11:48 PM  
Blogger The Hungary Traveler said...

Of course, the use of aluminum bats helps the hitter's cause a great deal. As an example, Pitchers can not effectively throw fastballs inside, as they can against wood bats, because hits and even homeruns off the handle of an aluminum bat are possible (as opposed to a resulting shattered wood bat).

4:57 AM  

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