Sports Watch
I've got news for the wildlife group. The Detroit Tigers are worse off and in need of more help, especially their pitchers.
Pitching overall in the majors isn't so hot, either, when you think about it. Ernest Hemingway wrote a book about it called "Farewell to Arms."
Last seen, the Tiger pitching staff had an earned-run average of 7.35, which should be a record for futility in the history of baseball. The record for the most pathetic ERA - if you're interested in such gory details - is 6.71 set by the 1930 Philadelphia Phillies.
As some wiseacre recently opined, "Tiger hitters can't produce enough runs to offset the touchdowns their pitchers are giving up."
As a result, Detroit is on a losing pace that could surpass the hapless 1962 New York Mets. The first-year team went 40-120, causing Manager Casey Stengel to mumble: "Can't anybody here play this game?"
The Tigers have lost 28 of their last 32 games, including the last eight in a row. At one stretch, they gave up 10 or more runs in 12 games. The Chicago White Sox alone scored 41 runs in a three-game sweep over the weekend in Detroit.
And that's not counting a 14-1 loss to the Toledo Mudhens, their Triple-A farm club.
But what do you expect when you have a pitching staff that includes such notables as Brian Williams, Felipe Lira, Jose Lima, Scott Aldred and Greg Gohr, whose name somehow seems apropos.
IT'S expansion pitching at its worst. And if you think it's bad now, just wait until two more "major league" teams enter next year. I hope they put an asterisk after the guy who hits .400 when that happens.
In Detroit's case, it's because the Motor City franchise decided to spend half its $22 million payroll on two players instead of several live arms. One of them, Cecil Fielder, is baseball's highest-paid player, making $9.2 million a year.
I had a chance to see the Tigers live in a 7-6 loss (one of their better-pitched ball games) to the Oakland A's in Las Vegas last month. Considering the pitching that day, I thought the minor-league setting was quite appropriate.
It used to be that fans would yell, "You bum," at umpires. Now, they're yelling that at pitchers. Or should. That's why I was particularly surprised when a Milwaukee heckler was punched out by Chicago's Tony Phillips.
Why the fan in question ever heckled Phillips instead of the three Brewer pitchers who gave up 20 runs in that game is beyond me. The fan's suit should be thrown out of court on grounds of stupidity - for heckling the wrong guy.
MAYBE it's because the casual fans today are so used to seeing mediocre pitching that they don't know any better. But 26-7, 24-11, 21-9 and 20-8? Come on, those should be below-average WAC halftime football scores, not baseball results.
Pitching has deteriorated dramatically, especially in the American League. Expansion is one obvious reason. And, of course, the designated-hitter rule has contributed to the run-making as well.
It was first employed in 1973 by American League owners after too many mai tais in Hawaii. The league wasn't as appealing as the rival National League and so the owners thought stepping up the run production would help.
More runs are being scored but it's not helping the quality of the game. Taking a weak-hitting pitcher out of the batting lineup has added to the offense. But the DH rule also has kept a pitcher longer in the game, making him no less ineffective.
Maybe it's time for the American League to start using designated pitchers because its pitchers not only can't hit, they can't pitch.