Thursday, April 14, 2011

Peter Bourjos' Golden Sombrero

A golden sombrero is awarded to a player who manages to strike out four times in a single game (real golden sombrero not included). It's quite the feat unless you're Ryan Howard or Mark Reynolds. Unfortunately, no-hitters and Brian Wilson's beard are all the rage nowadays. Not for me, though. I will pour over the box scores to bring you the finest at swinging and missing.

Peter Bourjos is pure fun to watch play center field. Even when he doesn't get a good jump or read, his speed allows him to make difficult catches look effortless. Unfortunately, he has almost no reason to even take a bat to any of his plate appearances. In 193 PA in 2010, Bourjos hit .204/.237/.381 but Mike Scioscia saw enough improvement in his 2011 .220/.267/.390 line to go ahead and bat him leadoff.

How'd it go, you ask? Dammit, I have to stop giving away the answers to these questions in the post title. He went 0-5 with 4 strikeouts. Let's go to the lowlights...

Bottom 1st: Bourjos struck out looking against Carlos Carrasco. You want your leadoff hitter to see some pitches. Bourjos watched three straight go right past him.

Bottom 3rd: Bourjos struck out swinging against Carrasco. Three straight balls followed by three straight strikes. The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of plate appearances, if you will.

Bottom 5th: Bourjos struck out swinging against Carrasco.

Bottom 8th: Bourjos struck out swinging against Vinnie Pestano in three pitches. Look at who didn't even need those three extra innings to record a Golden Sombrero. And for that, we salute you.

No comments:

Post a Comment