Pitchers As Targets

No pitcher was safe during last night’s Pirates/Brewers contest at PNC Park as the baseball game developed into some carnival like contest of whack-a-hurler. First, it was Brewers starter Mike Burns’ turn, taking a solid line drive to the chest off the bat of Ryan Doumit in the bottom of the second inning. Someone should tell Jim Lefebvre that’s really what a pitcher in the fetal position looks like. Next, the hammer dropped on Pirates reliever Jeff Karstens, who took a shot off the bat of Jason Kendall. Karstens looked less prepared to deal with the smash than his Milwaukee counterpart and who can blame him. Jason Kendall hasn’t hit a ball that hard in Pittsburgh since 1999. As if that weren’t bad enough,...