Listen: I like Tim Kurkjian. He's a stat nerd, and he loves baseball, and when he's on
BBTN and he talks, in amazement, about something that happened in some Pirates-Phillies game, and he gives his trademark, "This is why we watch baseball -- because every night you're bound to see something you've never seen before" I get kind of choked up, because he really seems to derive pleasure from that quirk of our nation's pasttime.
Etc.
However, this is an excerpt from his new book, "
Is This a Great Game, Or What?" in which he talks about how hard it is to hit a baseball:
How hard is it? Ask Danny Ainge, perhaps the best all-round athlete of the last twenty-five years. There wasn't a sport that he couldn't play, and he did play in the major leagues, but when Orioles pitcher Tippy Martinez was asked what he threw to get Ainge out, he said, "Strikes."
Danny Ainge. Perhaps the best all-round athlete of the last 25 years.
That's awesome.
How quickly can we refute that claim? I'll start the bidding at Bo Jackson.
I'm going to buy this book, because again, I like Tim Kurkjian. But seriously: Danny Ainge?
Labels: danny ainge, tim kurkjian
Doesn't it seem like even Tim Kurkjian himself has trouble pronouncing the name Tim Kurkjian?
Labels: tim kurkjian
Another Tim Kurkjian misfire (and I'm as surprised as Coach was -- I normally like this guy):
"The Arizona lineup is filled with former All-Stars, led by Luis Gonzalez, who missed most of last season after having surgery on his right elbow. He is healthy. So is Glaus. So is new right fielder Shawn Green, whose shoulder finally healed the last two months of 2004. With those three in the middle of the order, the Diamondbacks have a lineup that is better than any that they used last year. Still, they haven't hit much, but that is certain to change.""Certain to change?" Why? Because Luis Gonzalez and Shawn Green are former all-stars? And that fact will help them compensate for being old and not that good? This is insane. The D-Backs have been OUTSCORED by 23 runs heading into tonight's game. They have overperformed in a small sample size of games. They are not going to win the admittedly terrible NL West, unless you can win the division with a 79-83 record.
Everyone just cool out in re: the Diamondbacks, please.
Labels: diamondbacks, tim kurkjian
