Fatness Wins Out Over Greatness:
Pudge to Miss Remainder of Season
Monday's incident between Angels first baseman Mo Vaughn and Ranger catcher
Ivan Rodriguez could not have been more disappointing. One player, Rodriguez,
gives his heart and soul every time he takes the field while the other one
(Vaughn) puts forth minimal effort in about 157 of the 162 games each season.
Vaughn (who will now be called "Dugout" from here on because of
the hilarious incident of him falling into the dugout last season as well
as his level of effort which strongly resembles the effort given by an actual
dugout) showed his athletic prowess by almost falling down after a swing
and a miss. The swing and miss was not surprising considering Dugout strikes
out around 160 times every year, but by falling across the entire p
late
and into the opposite batter's box, he broke the thumb of Rodriguez as he
was throwing out yet another potential base stealer. Of course Pudge is
a class act and was quoted as saying there were no hard feelings, but he
doesn't speak for all of us because we do have hard feelings toward Dugout.
Had he been paying attention to the game, he would have known his teammate
was running and would have at least ducked out of the way while Rodriguez
made the throw. Of course he wasn't paying attention, which is not a surprise.
In a game at Cleveland this year, I witnessed the "superstar qualities"
of this great hitter. Although he struck out 3 of his 4 at bats (against
none other than the mighty Jim Brower), the ball he put in play got the
big round of applause from me. Dugout hit a slow roller between the pitcher
and first base. It was no easy play as Brower had to make a nice play to
field the ball, however, Vaughn was already on his way to his home - The
Dugout. He took no more than 4 walking steps to first before deciding he
would be out and turned right to head to the dugout. I understand that some
players don't feel the need to run out every ground ball, but Dugout was
DH'ing that day. He struck out 3 times, and the only time he was actually
involved in the game in any way he walked to the dugout. Talk about a team
leader! We assume he didn't shower after the game because there is no way
he broke a sweat, but can't back that with any proof. It's a sad day at
the park when the hardest you try is during batting practice. We don't wish
bad things on any player, but had this incident turned out the other way,
none of this would have been written. If this world is a fair place, and
everything in baseball evens out in the end, we will get a small chuckle
when Dugout pulls a hamstring stretching a double into a single (yes I said
that correctly) with his superior speed and effort. Also keep an eye on
all league dugouts to watch for falling fat folks.
Home *photo from AP wire