Commissioner Bud Selig
Major League Baseball
New York
Carlos Quentin got off way too lightly. He shouldn’t play again until Zack Greinke does. (And if he can’t deal with inside pitches, perhaps he shouldn’t be playing at all.)
I know MLB anguishes over retaining its present audience and building a future one, as it should. To this point, MLB needs to find a way to put an end to this hyper-sensitivity to inside pitches. As a lifetime baseball fan, whose intense interest in the game goes back to before batting helmets, I know I speak for many others when I say I tune in to see guys try to hit a five-and-a-half ounce baseball, not a 200-pound pitcher. If I wanted to see nonsense like Quentin caused Thursday night in San Diego I would tune in professional hockey.
Quentin may think he’s a macho man for charging the mound (where the guy he engaged was giving up 55 pounds in the tale of the tape). A better case can be made that he’s a bit of a wuss. Baseball players who can’t deal with pitches over or just off the inside half should seriously consider going into professional bowling, or perhaps joining a religious order.
Cordially,
Larry Thornberry
Tampa
