On Monday, Bleacher Report released an article that was basically the baseball equivalent of “Old Man Yells at Cloud” in which many retired Hall of Fame players and former managers grumbled to anyone who would listen (B/R in this case) about how the modern game is garbage.
“Back in my day!” they seemed to chorus. “We needed to hike twelve miles up hill while throwing 150 mph fastballs at 7’9” batters named MOOSE who were aiming to take our heads off. Players these days are boring and soft!” After which I watched a clip of Javier Baez stealing home, and Max Scherzer striking out 15 batters in a game for the 70th time, and thought, “Yes. How boring, you’re right Goose Gossage.”
Aside from the gem of Chipper Jones saying “Chicks dig the long ball” the best part of the article involved former Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland bemoaning the mollycoddling of prospect pitchers in the minor leagues.
“My problem with it really is that that’s the way we’re grooming [starting pitchers] in the minor leagues,” Leyland says. “They throw 75 f--king pitches in the minor leagues. They say if they throw 75 they’re OK, but if they throw 76 they’re going to get hurt. Who the heck ever came up with that? It’s ridiculous. They don’t pitch innings.
“John Smoltz, Glavine, Maddux, they all pitched innings in the minor leagues. Now they’ve only got so many starts left because they’re supposed to watch their innings? I don’t buy any of that. They’re supposed to f--king pitch.”
Have I mentioned recently how much I love and miss Jim Leyland?
Whether or not I agree with his assessment isn’t the point (I’m pro not overworking baby pitchers, btw, but I think pitch counts are goofy). The point is that Jim Leyland dropped several f-bombs in an article about baseball and by God we’re going to report that to you.
Nerts going to a championship
The GCL Tigers club are headed to the playoffs with Brayan Pena in tow. So nice to see Nerts continuing his legacy with the club by guiding future Tigers prospects.
Brayan Peña and the GCL #Tigers West are headed to the playoffs with the second-best record in the Gulf Coast League at 34-16. pic.twitter.com/VSSOMFWSmU
— Emily Waldon (@EmilyCWaldon) August 20, 2018
LOL, Mets
(clears throat)
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) August 21, 2018
️ WE'LL TAKE IT pic.twitter.com/3ovm5C6Xcw
The Tigers would like to remind you...
Hi, my name is Nicholas Castellanos. Back home they call me Big Nick and I hit dingers. pic.twitter.com/xbfpyY3O6E
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) August 21, 2018
Question of the day
Are the old guys right? Is baseball bad and boring now?