Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Wild Thing, You Make My Heart Sing, You Walk Everything

If Clayton Kershaw didn't have a nickname before, he has one now, and it is "Wild Thing". For those who have watched the baseball comedy Major League, Charlie Sheen plays a rookie pitcher named Rick Vaughn who has amazing velocity but absolutely no control. In his first game, he walks the bases loaded with 12 straight balls. Thus, a fan sitting in the outfield pavilion sings the oldie, Wild Thing, to describe his performance.

Kershaw did him one better on Monday night, when he walked four straight batters, including walking in 2 runs. This was by far his worst performance in a month. This game showed that he was still human and still has a lot of improve upon, especially his control.

Should we be worried about him? Absolutely not. His previous game, he pitched 8 shutout innings and was nearly unhittable. Even Rick Vaughn had his issues with control before helping the Indians win the pennant. Most importantly, even Sandy Koufax did.

"Just a bit outside, he tried the corner and missed... Boy, how can these guys lay off pitches that close?"

-Harry Doyle, Major League

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