Wilson Betemit: Baltimore Orioles Utility Man Earns AL Worst of the Night Award

Wilson Betemit is not a bad guy to have on your team. He can play on the infield and in the outfield, and he can provide some pop at the plate. His bag of tricks is deeper than most.

But Betemit is not unlike a lot of utility players. He can giveth, and he can taketh away.

On Tuesday night against the Toronto Blue Jays, Betemit tooketh awayeth a loteth.

Betemit did not help the skidding Baltimore Orioles at the plate or in the field in their 8-6 loss to the Jays. He went hitless in five trips to the plate, and he made his eighth error of the season in the fourth inning when he misplayed a ball in left field.

The error didn't end up hurting the Orioles, but the O's definitely felt the effects of Betemit's 0-fer. He had a chance to do some damage, and he couldn't come through.

I'll just go ahead and run through his at-bats real quick. This should give you the gist of Betemit's general awfulness on Tuesday.

AB No. 1: Betemit came up with a runner on second and two outs in the top of the second, and flew out to right field. That's one runner left stranded.

AB No. 2: Betemit came up with a runner on first and nobody out in the top of the fifth, and Ricky Romero struck him out swinging. That's two runners stranded.

AB No. 3: Betemit came up with two outs and nobody on with three runs already in for the O's in the sixth, and he struck out swinging again.

AB No. 4: Betemit came up with two on and nobody out in the eighth, and struck out looking. That's four runners stranded.

AB No. 5: The Orioles were down two with two men on and two outs in the top of the ninth. Betemit had a chance to be a hero, but he quietly grounded into a fielder's choice to end the ballgame.

If you're scoring at home, that's three punchouts and six men left on base. 

I'm not foolish (or mean) enough to pin Baltimore's loss on Tuesday night entirely on Betemit, but there's no denying that he could have had a significant impact. He failed.

So it goes for Betemit. He's getting a chance to play every day, and he's not exactly making the most of it. Dating back to May 12, he's 10 for his last 59 (a .169 average) with 20 strikeouts.

Playing time is going to be a lot harder to find for Betemit going forward. Mark Reynolds and Endy Chavez are both back healthy, and Nolan Reimold is going to be back eventually as well.

When the Orioles are 100 percent healthy (or something close to 100 percent healthy), Betemit will return to bench duty, and his recent struggles will be forgotten completely.

Therefore, we should honor Betemit's suckitude while we still can—and I can think of no better way to do that than by bestowing the American League "Worst of the Night" award on him.

May he bear it in shame forever...or at least until I give it to somebody else tomorrow.

If you ever want to nominate somebody for the American League "Worst of the Night" award, hit me up on Twitter.