There's not too many positives for a 37 year old, journeyman pitcher to take away from this once-in-a-lifetime performance that lost it's historic designation on a flubbed grounder in the 9th inning and another, slightly less historic designation on a walk-off home run that took place after the game should have been well over. There's nothing that could have been said to Rich Hill following the start of his life that would have made him feel better about coming away from it completely empty handed from an accomplishment standpoint. This is a guy that probably had no business chasing perfection and he was just steps away from capturing it in a bottle before he got tripped up by the offensive impotence of his teammates and the error of their defensive ways. He may have said all the right things in the post-game interview, but that's only because he's the consummate professional who wouldn't have been made to feel better in that depressing moment by any amount of well-deserved finger pointing....
That said, there is something to be gained from this. Rich Hill would certainly rather have a perfect game or no-hitter on his resume, but he's still in a pretty enviable position. You generally don't hope something this bad happens to you, but - much like holding an act of cheating over your spouse's head - it can be used to your advantage. I mean, if Logan Forsythe doesn't feel eternally indebted to Rich Hill for giving him the opportunity to be a part of greatness only to watch him punt it in the dirt then he has no soul. At the very least, the rest of last night's Dodgers' lineup should feel obligated to buy every one of his meals from now until the end of what appears to be an incredibly promising postseason. It's no spot in the record books, but Rich Hill should consider having the upper hand on the people he spends every day of his life with to be quite the consolation prize. It's not as desirable as tossing a flawless 9 innings, but I'm sure he'll soon realize there are few things more favorable than having a flawless guilt trip after he...well, ya know...gets over having his dream sequence - that was fit for the big screen - shattered by the stone hands and silent bats of his own damn clubhouse.
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