Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire “,….. proudly sponsored by Pete’s Auto Body.
Pete’s Auto Body; because we care about our community….
The cause celebre this week in the world of the Blue Jays was a loose data card.
Tampa Bay’s Kevin Kiermaier was tagged out trying to score in Monday’s opener against Toronto
In the process of sliding home and making contact with Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk, Kiermaier discovered, and scooped up, the strip of info that had fallen out of Kirk’s wristband.
The data card apparently contains the specifics on how the Blue Jays were going to pitch to the Rays hitters.
Kiermaier took it back to the Tampa Bay dugout and handed it to a member of the Rays coaching staff
The Blue Jays caught the sequence and promptly sent a bat boy to the Tampa Bay dugout to ask for the card, which was not returned as requested.
On the surface, this was poor sportsmanship at worst.
It also illustrates the adage that states; ” If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’ ”
But that’s it…..
Even if a Major League hitter knows what’s coming from a pitcher, history tells us the batter, at best, is only going to be successful, maybe, 3 out of 10 at bats.
Furthermore as a Major League hitter there must be a sense of expectation as to what a pitcher is going to throw you and as a Major League pitcher, surely, you know what the hitter is looking for…..Isn’t that why you have a manager, a pitching coach and/or a catcher calling the game in the first place ?
Plus, I wonder how Yogi Berra, Elston Howard, Johnny Bench, Gary Carter, Bob Boone and all the other great catchers in baseball from years gone by managed to get by without a data card.
For Pete’s Auto Body, I’m Fred Wallace.