Criticism is everyone’s right. But at least have a clue what you’re talking about when doing it.
Calling a player stupid for taking a fastball right down the middle…when the bases are loaded and the pitcher has thrown 5 straight balls??
Griping that a pitcher “threw it right down the middle!!!”
Those things make you look like a fool. I guess everyone also has a right to look like a fool though.
Well not all the detractors are eating crow. Most are though. Credit to Deggs and the team to get buy in from the majority of the fan base.
Saying “man, he caught too much of the plate with that pitch” is WAY different than “he threw it right down the middle!!!”
The foolishness shows when a fan thinks these guys can locate their pitches exactly where they want to every pitch. A 3-2 pitch that gets hammered was a pitch that had a margin of error of about 6-8 inches. A couple one way and its ball 4, and the fan gripes that the pitcher walked the guy. Right on and its an out (or possibly an unlucky hit allowed). A few inches the other way and “he threw it right down the middle!”
If memory serves correctly, you got extremely rattled because another poster stated a pitcher threw a meat ball. The pitch was a fat pitch that got hit a long way. You may think criticisms make others look foolish, but your inability to separate the facts from your feelings don’t make you look great either.
You’re right. I have a different perspective than most of the emotional meltdown posters do during games (and the season). I see the (negative) facts, and am disappointed in the results just like everyone else. I also know that missing with a pitch, making an error, swinging at a bad pitch, making a base running mistake, or striking out in a big situation has nothing to do with a lack of effort 99% of the time. Those kinds of things happen in every inning of every baseball game from tee ball to the big leagues Now, a lack of effort SHOULD get the player hammered on here.
I also understand that the things listed above will draw criticism. I guess my issue is with the tone or the addition of “stupid” or “terrible”. It aggravates the hell out of me. Or when a guy hits a seed right at an infielder with a man on 3rd and less than 2 outs…and people get ____ed that he didnt get the job done. Yes, the fact is he didnt get the run home. But he did exactly what he was supposed to. Criticism for that drives me crazy.
That said, I stopped reading in game threads over the latter part of the year, until after the game was over. Until the last one, and saw Brock was being criticized for taking a fastball for a strike after 5 straight balls with the bases loaded. And then I was told by that poster after I responded that I obviously have no baseball intelligence.
I learned a long time ago never get too up or too down about any coach. They will come and they will go with very little control about it on our part.
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