Starters suck in the 1st inning..

Or at least that is what Mike Francesa would have you believe. Here is the first post on our blog about this man, and I GUARANTEE you it won't be the last. He is truly the icon of misinformed stubborn arrogance in sports talk radio, and he threw out a gem today on my way home from work. It's important to note that I heard this within 2 minutes of turning on the radio.



Topic: Speculation as to who will pitch for the Rays in tonight's abbreviated Game 5. I gather from the tone of the conversation that David Price has either been annointed by Francesa as the best choice or that there is some reason to believe that he will be taking the ball.

Bear in mind that this whole transcript is paraphrased, but you'll get the idea:

Caller: "Why don't the Rays start Garza instead?"

Francesa: "2 reasons. One, starters can sometimes be prone to being wild early. It may take them an inning or two to settle down, and the Rays can't afford that because this will be a 3 inning game. Garza is a starter, so this could happen to him. The second reason is that Price is a lefty with electric stuff."

Where to begin...

Well, Mike is half right here. Price is a lefty and his "stuff" as people like to put it is "electric." I prefer "nasty" but whatever. Mike could've easily said, "Price is nasty," and hung up the phone on this dude, and he would've been fine. But of course, he gets on his proverbial sopabox and blathers on about how starters have a tendency to suck early and settle down as the game goes on.

First of all, this is basically going to be a normal game, only a lot shorter. The score is tied, and most of the pitching staff on either team are available to pitch. Mike is treating this like we never had the two day break due to the inclement weather, and Price STARTING this game is the equivalent of bringing him in from the pen in the sixth inning of a normal game. It's clearly not.

Secondly, Mike is also saying that starters suck in the first inning of work or whatever. So the flip side of that is that relievers don't need that first inning of work to settle in, they can just come in and be right on from the get go. Mike must not watch much baseball, because as we all know, a reliever is just as likely to get his fucking tits lit in his first inning of work as a starter. Probably more likely in fact, because I have a pretty strong conviction in me that says all middle relief pitchers suck at baseball. More on that some other time.

Last of all, and this is probably the best part. DAVID PRICE IS A FUCKING STARTER!!!!! Yes, I know he's come out of the pen for the last part of the regular season and the playoffs. In fact he has only started one game in the big leagues against nine total appearances. However, the bulk of his career has been in the minors, in which he has appeared in 19 games. He started......wait for it........19 games. So Francesa's stupid ass would have you believe he's basically a relief pitcher now, despite the fact that next year there is not a chance in hell that this kid isn't dead smack in the middle of the Rays rotation.

So there you go, Francesa trying to make something out of nothing, instead of just saying "Price is a lefty," or "Price is better than Garza," or "Price is better looking than Garza" or fucking anything of the sort he chose to talk about how starters (meaning Garza) would have a tendency to suck in the first inning of a game. Then he suggests a different starter would be a better choice. Then he swigged some of his lukewarm Diet Coke and ate Veal Parm and took a shit on the air.