Sunday, July 31, 2011
Jered Weaver, Kind of a Dick
So Jered Weaver thinks Magglio Ordonez is showing him up on a two run homer, and barks at Mags to run (14 years in the bigs for Mags and he's never been that kind of player). Then Carlos Guillen, a close friend of Mags, takes Weaver deep and makes a big production of ACTUALLY showing him up, infuriating Weaver. Arguments could be made on both sides of this, to be sure. Personally, I think Guillen should have just run it out, but he thinks he's standing up for his friend - okay. Players mill about on the field, there's a warning to both benches. Still, we think that Weaver may throw at the next batter, Alex Avila, and in fact he does. And, in fact, he throws at his head, just about the one thing everybody in baseball agrees you should NEVER do at any level. And so I say, and it's not much of a stretch, Jered Weaver, Kind of a Dick. Here's hoping there's no Cy Young in his future this year (though as of now, if I had a vote, he'd get mine).
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While I normally would not defend any player on the Angels, I have to say that in this particular situation I don't really think Weaver was totally in the wrong. First of all, I saw the video and Weaver threw the ball WAY over Avila's head. I agree that the "code" of baseball mandates that one never throw at another player's head. However, given that Weaver has a sub 2.0 ERA and only 38 walks in 167.2 innings pitched, I would imagine he has pretty damn good control and could have hit Avila's head if he really wanted to. Guillen DEFINITELY showed Weaver up with his home run theatrics. He essentially did everything short of flying the "double bird" as he started trotting to first base. This is also "against the code" and Weaver was probably trying to make a point by throwing the ball over Avila's head. I can't really decide if this was better or worse than plunking Avilla in the hip.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying two wrongs make a right, and Weaver may very well be "Kind of a Dick" (especially since I agree that Mags is not "that kind of player") but in this case I would put Guillen in the very same category. All that being said, I would rather give the AL Cy Young to Verlander but would have to agree that Weaver would get my vote as of today.
Hidy, Collin -
ReplyDeleteMy preference, as I said before, would be that Guillen run out the homer; just the fact that he took him deep makes a statement in support of his friend in my opinion. But I will stand by my comments re: pitch location. Weaver has great control, to be sure, but I watched the replay twice, and i don't know that I'd characterize the pitch as "way" over Avila's head, especially if you imagine yourself AS Avila and the ball is coming at you. And in a game of inches, or millimeters, even, a mistake with a purpose pitch anywhere near his head could spell catastrophe. So plunk him on the hip or not, or throw at his feet, or throw "way" behind him, even. Part of the game, to be sure. But i'm going to err on the side of staying away from heads completely.
And boy I sure like Verlander, I do, and not just because he's a Tiger - I've seen several interviews with him and just the way he interacts with Leyland and his teammates. Nothing against Sabbathia, but he already has a Cy Young, and I'm hoping Justin can get one this year.