Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The third lineup

Last night's game convinced me that Jamie Moyer is the most umpire-dependent pitcher in baseball. Instead of looking at his (or the opponent's) lineup to determine the pitching rotation, Charlie Manuel should look at the umpire's schedule to determine when Jamie is pitching.

I don't know why Jamie hasn't yet (after a mere 22 years) gotten to the point that Tom Glavine, Gregg Maddux, and others achieved where umps automatically gave them the inside and outside corner, but for whatever reason, Jamie hasn't. And without pitches on those corners being called strikes, Jamie cannot be successful. Last night it was the (not) called third strike to Wes Helms that cost Moyer and the Phillies (though the two walks before that were even bigger).

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