My heart rose with each baseball that Josh Hamilton deposited into the oblivion last night – 28 in all for the first round.
That he was the top slugger in that round by 20 homers, left five outs (give or take one) on the table in the second round and still didn’t win is a travesty.
He was at a big disadvantage to begin with by selecting Grandpa Simpson to pitch. By Erin Andrews’ count he threw 42 pitches – absolute seeds for sure – in the first round alone.
Wouldn’t you expect the geezer to be winded by the time Hamilton faced winner Justin Morneau in the finals? That late night pitching delivery of Grandpa Simpson, whose real name I couldn’t care less about, looked like the next Comcast Digital commercial to go along with that turtle couple.
If Morneau didn’t want to decline the trophy, someone should have stolen it from him. Instead of wiping the slate clean for the final two players, they should keep the totals with the low man going first. He should hit for at least five outs, and if he hasn’t tied or taken the lead in five outs, he should finish out his allotted 10 outs. If he does tie or pass the leader in five outs or less, then the leader should go for five outs, or ten if he doesn’t pass the new leader. If he does the former new leader should get to use his last five outs to reclaim the lead.
Basically, since Morneau trailed going into the finals last night, he should have had to use all 10 of his outs and, since he didn’t pass Hamilton, lost without Hamilton ever having to hit in the final. If this seems like it would suck the fun out of the Derby by depriving the fans of on more round by a home run hitter, then look no further than the record-setting tear Hamilton went on in round one and tell me they didn’t get their money’s worth.
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