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06-17-2002, 05:59 PM
I just find it so interesting during interleague play, how pitchers on AL teams deal with being at the plate.
Hence, here is an article that was on MLB.com about all the games played in National League Parks this weekend... :biggrin:
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06/17/2002 00:48 am ET
Pitchers take their swings
NL-only Interleague weekend proves memorable
By Paul Bodi / MLB.com
There were a whole lot of whiffs, a few memorable hits and even a little chin music. Welcome to a world without the designated hitter for the first time in 30 years.
An Interleague weekend of all games in National League parks provided a uniform set of rules. Pitchers across the board had to bat. Many looked bad. A few experienced a Major League thrill by actually getting a hit. And guys like Roger Clemens and Tim Hudson learned there is a thing called accountability.
Ready for a surprise? The guys from the American League who usually don't hit got the better of the guys from the National League who always hit. AL pitchers had 16 hits over the weekend to nine for the NL. And just to prove they were going up to the plate hacking, the AL struck out 40 times in 89 official at-bats, while the NL pitchers whiffed 24 times in 79 at-bats. No guts, no glory.
The hitting star was Shawn Estes of the Mets, who homered off Roger Clemens on Saturday. True, Estes is a National Leaguer who had homered twice before. But off a six-time Cy Young Award winner? Put that in your scrapbook!
"I was like 'Wow' running around the bases," Estes said. "It was a numb feeling. ... I was just trying not to smile. I did that in the past and I heard about it."
Some pitchers helped themselves get a "W." Jason Simontacchi of the Cardinals went 2-for-3 with an RBI on Saturday, Eric Milton of the Twins was 2-for-4 with an RBI on the same day and Derek Lowe of the Red Sox got his first Major League hit to help a rally in his win over the Braves on Sunday.
In fact, Twins pitchers went 4-for-9 with an RBI in taking two out of three from the Brewers. The Brewers walked No. 8 hitter Luis Rivas to get to Milton, who hit the first pitch into left field to bring in the decisive run.
"I've learned over the past few years if you put the ball in play, good things happen," said Milton, who is 6-for-19 with 2 RBIs in his career. "I just think that's the way baseball should be played. You get to face their pitcher and you get a chance to help yourself out."
Although he didn't get the decision Friday, Orioles starter Sidney Ponson doubled to start a rally in his team's eventual win over the Phillies.
"They don't pay me to hit, they pay me to pitch," Ponson said.
Tell that to Robert Person of the Phillies, who allowed the third hit of Ponson's career.
"He has a bat just like anybody else," Person said.
And with a bat, and in the batter's box, the AL pitcher is fair game for payback. While Estes deadpanned, "I missed my spot," after he threw one behind Clemens' knees, the purpose pitch ostensibly settled a two-year-old debt between the Mets and Yankees. To Clemens' credit, he hung in there and doubled in his next at-bat. But he bruised his right foot running the bases in the process.
There was no pitch behind Tim Hudson's knees. He walked, doubled and scored a run against San Francisco starter Jason Schmidt on Friday. He also backed Barry Bonds off the plate the first time he faced the home run king. All that added up to a 90-plus mph zinger from Schmidt under his chin in the seventh inning as he squared to bunt.
"I don't think he was trying to hit me, but it was pretty close," Hudson said. "A little scary, too."
Perhaps not as scary as watching pitchers run the bases. Orioles starter Travis Driskill pitched and "ran" his team to victory on Sunday. He walked in his first Major League at-bat, then lumbered around the bases to score on a double.
"I just kept on running and running, and it seemed like it took forever," Driskill said.
Another candidate for oxygen was 37-year-old Kenny Rogers of the Rangers. On Sunday, he walked his first at-bat, then singled in a run his next time up. Then he proceeded to steal the first base of his career, becoming only the sixth AL pitcher to do so since the inception of the DH.
"There's nothing wrong with a pitcher playing the game the way it's supposed to be played," Rogers told the Dallas Morning News.
He huffed and puffed his way back out to the mound in Houston's half of the inning, and allowed the two tying runs.
"I probably should have taken some more time before I went out to the mound after the steal," Rogers admitted. So running 90 feet can take that much off your fastball?
While there were instances of pitchers actually letting the ball find their bat, hitting's not for everybody. In Saturday's game between the Devil Rays and Marlins, A.J. Burnett struck Paul Wilson out three times. But turnabout's fair play. Wilson did a hat trick on Burnett.
Wilson, who hadn't batted since 1996, was no match for Burnett's 99-mph heater.
"That wasn't a very fair guy to go up there against for my first AB in a long time," Wilson said.
Old-time baseball -- and memories -- at its best. At least for one weekend.
Paul Bodi is a deputy managing editor for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Hence, here is an article that was on MLB.com about all the games played in National League Parks this weekend... :biggrin:
--------------------------------------------------
06/17/2002 00:48 am ET
Pitchers take their swings
NL-only Interleague weekend proves memorable
By Paul Bodi / MLB.com
There were a whole lot of whiffs, a few memorable hits and even a little chin music. Welcome to a world without the designated hitter for the first time in 30 years.
An Interleague weekend of all games in National League parks provided a uniform set of rules. Pitchers across the board had to bat. Many looked bad. A few experienced a Major League thrill by actually getting a hit. And guys like Roger Clemens and Tim Hudson learned there is a thing called accountability.
Ready for a surprise? The guys from the American League who usually don't hit got the better of the guys from the National League who always hit. AL pitchers had 16 hits over the weekend to nine for the NL. And just to prove they were going up to the plate hacking, the AL struck out 40 times in 89 official at-bats, while the NL pitchers whiffed 24 times in 79 at-bats. No guts, no glory.
The hitting star was Shawn Estes of the Mets, who homered off Roger Clemens on Saturday. True, Estes is a National Leaguer who had homered twice before. But off a six-time Cy Young Award winner? Put that in your scrapbook!
"I was like 'Wow' running around the bases," Estes said. "It was a numb feeling. ... I was just trying not to smile. I did that in the past and I heard about it."
Some pitchers helped themselves get a "W." Jason Simontacchi of the Cardinals went 2-for-3 with an RBI on Saturday, Eric Milton of the Twins was 2-for-4 with an RBI on the same day and Derek Lowe of the Red Sox got his first Major League hit to help a rally in his win over the Braves on Sunday.
In fact, Twins pitchers went 4-for-9 with an RBI in taking two out of three from the Brewers. The Brewers walked No. 8 hitter Luis Rivas to get to Milton, who hit the first pitch into left field to bring in the decisive run.
"I've learned over the past few years if you put the ball in play, good things happen," said Milton, who is 6-for-19 with 2 RBIs in his career. "I just think that's the way baseball should be played. You get to face their pitcher and you get a chance to help yourself out."
Although he didn't get the decision Friday, Orioles starter Sidney Ponson doubled to start a rally in his team's eventual win over the Phillies.
"They don't pay me to hit, they pay me to pitch," Ponson said.
Tell that to Robert Person of the Phillies, who allowed the third hit of Ponson's career.
"He has a bat just like anybody else," Person said.
And with a bat, and in the batter's box, the AL pitcher is fair game for payback. While Estes deadpanned, "I missed my spot," after he threw one behind Clemens' knees, the purpose pitch ostensibly settled a two-year-old debt between the Mets and Yankees. To Clemens' credit, he hung in there and doubled in his next at-bat. But he bruised his right foot running the bases in the process.
There was no pitch behind Tim Hudson's knees. He walked, doubled and scored a run against San Francisco starter Jason Schmidt on Friday. He also backed Barry Bonds off the plate the first time he faced the home run king. All that added up to a 90-plus mph zinger from Schmidt under his chin in the seventh inning as he squared to bunt.
"I don't think he was trying to hit me, but it was pretty close," Hudson said. "A little scary, too."
Perhaps not as scary as watching pitchers run the bases. Orioles starter Travis Driskill pitched and "ran" his team to victory on Sunday. He walked in his first Major League at-bat, then lumbered around the bases to score on a double.
"I just kept on running and running, and it seemed like it took forever," Driskill said.
Another candidate for oxygen was 37-year-old Kenny Rogers of the Rangers. On Sunday, he walked his first at-bat, then singled in a run his next time up. Then he proceeded to steal the first base of his career, becoming only the sixth AL pitcher to do so since the inception of the DH.
"There's nothing wrong with a pitcher playing the game the way it's supposed to be played," Rogers told the Dallas Morning News.
He huffed and puffed his way back out to the mound in Houston's half of the inning, and allowed the two tying runs.
"I probably should have taken some more time before I went out to the mound after the steal," Rogers admitted. So running 90 feet can take that much off your fastball?
While there were instances of pitchers actually letting the ball find their bat, hitting's not for everybody. In Saturday's game between the Devil Rays and Marlins, A.J. Burnett struck Paul Wilson out three times. But turnabout's fair play. Wilson did a hat trick on Burnett.
Wilson, who hadn't batted since 1996, was no match for Burnett's 99-mph heater.
"That wasn't a very fair guy to go up there against for my first AB in a long time," Wilson said.
Old-time baseball -- and memories -- at its best. At least for one weekend.
Paul Bodi is a deputy managing editor for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.