Monday, June 16, 2008

Hank To NL: "Join the 21st Century"

From MSNBC:

“My only message is simple. The National League needs to join the 21st century,” Steinbrenner said in Tampa, Fla. “They need to grow up and join the 21st century.

“Am I (mad) about it? Yes,” Steinbrenner added. “I’ve got my pitchers running the bases, and one of them gets hurt. He’s going to be out. I don’t like that, and it’s about time they address it. That was a rule from the 1800s.”

“This is always a concern of American League teams when their pitchers have to run the bases and they’re not used to doing it,” Steinbrenner said. “It’s not just us. It’s everybody. It probably should be a concern for National League owners, general managers and managers when their pitchers run the bases. Pitchers have enough to do without having to do that.”

I happen to like National League baseball, I think the pitcher hitting adds a little bit more strategy to the game, but I can't blame Hank for being angry, and he doesn't make some valid points.

No matter what you think Hank, you gotta like his spunk and the fact that he speaks his mind, even if he does it a bit too much sometimes.

7 Comments:

Unknown said...

Keith Hernandez on SNY: "And Hank, just so you know... pitchers batted in the American League until 1972, and the DH is an abomination."

Ron Darling: (chuckles) "Well I'm sure the way American League DH's have been hitting some of those managers might want to do away with them as well."

I agree with these gentlemen on their sentiment, that Hank is wrong for dissing the pitchers batting. And I do think there is a place for the pitcher to be batting in some minor leagues, even though it may increase injury risk to developing talent, not training these players on all aspects of the game(as we've seen here) can prove disasterous as well.

I obviously dont agree with the DH being an "abomination", but do see that since the meth/roid era has drawn to a close the DHs of the world today are broken old men who hold the DH as their last thread of hope. Except with the Yankees, and other well forged squads who simply just have the nice problem of too much talented personnel.

There has to be a happy medium somewhere...

Greg Cohen said...

I think these two fools should worry about their Mets and the future of their doomed manager.

I also don't think Hank said anything wrong, he's entitled to his opinion and I respect the fact that he says what he thinks.

Besides that I agree with the rest of what you said.

Greg Cohen said...

I should have said three fools, because Gary Cohen is the worst of them, by far.

Unknown said...

yeah my fault, I rewound the dvr and it was actually Cohen who said the first line and hernandez who said the second... I shouldve known, cause Cohen IS an idiot. haha.

Darling kept his mouth shut, obviously. He's the only one in that booth worth Jim Kaat's jock as far as broadcasting and player analysis is concerned.

Greg Cohen said...

Darling is a good analyst, I'll give him that.

Anonymous said...

darling is alright, problem i have with him is half the time you can't understand him. he mumbles way to much.

Greg Cohen said...

Yea, I know what you mean Paul.