Casey In Today's Baseball

Earlier this week, I saw a question in the trivia game in the state paper asking the attendance for the game in the classic poem Casey At The Bat.  While I've had the poem memorized since an eighth grade recitation project, I'd never thought of the "five thousand tongues applauded" as an attendance figure you'd see in the box score.  Which got me to thinking about how a blog entry might have looked if this situation happened in today's game.  So, in a respite from all the Greene talk (my late-night post on that is here), what follows is just a standard blogger commenting the day after Casey's game.

The game giveth, the game taketh away.

It's not surprising that most of the talk today is about that dramatic ninth inning.  Not much discussion of the bases loaded situation that Mudville only got one run out of in the fifth.  Or the two-out single by our opponent that padded the lead to two in the seventh.

No, it's all about the ninth.  Which means it's all about Casey.

It's not surprising that Cooney and Barrows weren't able to get much going.  Cooney's OBP is a dismal .304 now this year and I'm not sure why they haven't brought up Jess Rasmus from Memphis to take his spot.  Of course, Cooney's a veteran, and we know how the manager likes his vets, but it's starting to get a little ridiculous.

Barrows has had a better year, but he hasn't played in a few days and coming off the bench cold like that couldn't have been easy.  His pinch-hitting average is just .143 on the season as well, so what do you expect?

Then we get into some of the real heroes of the game.  Flynn and Blake were able to keep the game going and get Mudville into a position to tie or win the game.  I know some fans aren't that fond of these guys.  "Lulu" and "cake" are terms that get tossed around about them by some of the old-time fans.  But, while Flynn doesn't look that great, he does have a .354 average close and late this year, so he's been able to save it when it counts.  That single up the middle was a nice easy stroke, something that was a little surprising considering he was 0-for-3 to that point.

Blake has really started to develop into a solid second place hitter.  He had a slow start to the year, which is one reason everyone is down on him, but since the All-Star break he's put up an OPS of .830, an indication to me that he's starting to get adjusted after being traded into the league at the beginning of the season.  That slider down and away was a tough pitch, but he roped it into the corner.  The only problem was he hit it too hard, so they were able to get it back into the infield before Flynn could score.

I was at the game and let me tell you, the place went nuts when Casey came up in that situation.  While he was obviously someone you wanted at the plate in this situation, I wasn't sure that it was the best thing for the Mudville Nine.

First off, you figure it's an automatic intentional walk.  I know that Troy Ludwick is playing out of his mind right now, but he's still no Casey. Set up the force at any base and don't take your chances with probably the best hitter on the team, right?

Apparently, the other manager had noted a few things.  First off, Casey's not quite Casey lately.  I think he may have pulled a hamstring or something last week against the Niners because he's just not looked right since then.  He's two for his last 14, which isn't what you'd expect.

Secondly, his close and late numbers have been atrocious this year, .188? Seriously? This guy used to thrive on the big pressure situations.  Now he's wilting under them.

Finally, the opponent's closer, Trevor Lidge, has been murder on him lately.  Everyone remembers that big home run Casey hit off of him, but few note that since that time, he's only had one hit off of Lidge.

All in all, I think I'd have been happy with a pinch-hit appearance by Stanley Williams.  He might not have Casey's pop, but he's been money in pitch-hitting appearances (.477) and could have tied the game up with a single.  He may have been saved to pinch hit for Ludwick, though, assuming Casey was going to be intentionally walked.

The situation was all set, though, for the Mudville team to go home happy.  The first pitch, an inside fastball, caught the corner.  Casey probably couldn't have done much with that one anyway, but he's a much better first-pitch hitter than coming from behind in the count.

That second pitch was a ball.  I know the ump called it a strike, but that was easily two inches outside.  There was a lot of displeasure in my section of the park for that one.  (And what was up with the attendance only being five thousand?  I know it was an early afternoon rain-out makeup, but still, that seems a little low.  Even the Pirates draw more than that.)

I think most everyone in the park knew that Lidge was going to throw that down and away slider with an 0-2 count.  Everyone except Casey, apparently.  That was a Shakespearean swing, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.

Just a tough loss all the way around.  Today's a travel day so they have to dwell on it a little more.  Hopefully Casey will soon have a chance to make things right.  This one game can't really tarnish his reputation, can it?