A Little Baseball

A Little Baseball

The San Diego Padres played one of their worst games in memory at home last night against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The final score was 11-2, but it was much worse than just the score. Not only did the Diamondbacks get 11 runs, they left ten more men on the bases. Think how much worse it would have been had those 10 men scored. There was one inning the Padres pitcher loaded the bases. The pitcher then threw four straight balls, walking in the runner. The Diamondbacks also hit a grand slam. The Padres committed FOUR errors. I doubt there is another team in the majors with that many errors in the same game.

None of that was most the embarrassing sight. The Padres have a player named Bethancourt. He is listed as the backup catcher, but he has also been used as a pinch hitter AND as a pitcher. No one else in baseball has such a player, and there are reasons for not doing such things. The Padres manager, Green, say it shows versatility. Most everyone else says it just means he's bad at three things instead of one. Find your strength and stick with it, I say. But I'm not the manager.

Tonight in the late innings Bethancourt was sent to the plate to pinch hit. He grounded out. And then he went to the mound and pitched - not well, but he was in good company. THEN they moved him to second base. I'm sorry to say I was at the ball park and saw the whole miserable thing. Few did. Attendance at the 43,000 seat stadium had an announced crowd of  about 19,000.