Simply Dumb

Here’s an interesting sporting tidbit from Reuters News Service. Thursday they reported a Japanese high school baseball team forfeited a game after giving up 66 runs in 1 1/3 innings of play.

The poor kid on the mound had thrown 250 pitches, giving up 22 runs in the first inning and having allowed 40 more with only a single out in the second. Kawamoto Technical School’s coach asked for the bloodletting to be stopped at that point for fear the pitcher would get injured.

At the rate baseballs were flying back at that pitcher, that injury was as likely to come from a line drive off his head as it was him throwing out his arm. Do they not have a bullpen at this school? I’m thinking after a 22-run first inning, that’s a good time to tell the pitcher he just doesn’t have it today. And how bad is it for the relief pitcher’s self esteem? How do you tell a kid you have even less confidence in him than you do the guy on pace to give up 1,000 runs?

Because Kawamoto forfeited the game, the final score reflected in the standings is 9-0. And there is no truth to the rumor that the Chicago Cubs offered the losing pitcher a contract.

By B Tal under Creative Commons license.

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