So, sorry to break up the pace of play discussion, but I was ruminating about what an amazing event the world series is and what a crazy game baseball is. To watch Eduardo Nunez is so frustrating for 162 games. He swings out of the zone and helps pitchers out and refuses to take walks even where one is huge. You sort of wonder how he has forged a big league career. I mean intellectually you know why. He has unbelievable plate coverage and he can put the ball in play on pitches that most batters would look foolish on. And you intellectually know that this can be important. But you don't feel it. Or rarely. I mean, he gets a hit and you don't go back and see that it was a very touch pitch and the pitcher is shaking his head, because in a 7-2 game in August what's the big deal, it's just a single in a game in August.
You could probably look at some random sample of 20 at bats and not really see anything that makes you anything other than annoyed. You'd see some strike outs on balls out of the zone or weak contact or 7-pitch at bats where he gets out even though he was thrown 6 balls. And he could easily have 20 at bats like that in the postseason and who would ever really be surprised. And you'd just wonder, what the fuck is this guy about? Or he could see two pitches and in four seconds everything that is Eduardo Nunez would be perfectly encapsulated in one swing.
It's just such an amazing game. It can totally work out the other way too. You know, you watch a guy like Barnes all year and you're constantly on edge about whether his control problems will be a thing in a tight spot, but you put up with it because some times he's sublime. Maybe there will be a moment in this series where the opposite of the Nunez thing happens and the Red Sox and Barnes give up a big walk and you think "well that's Matt Barnes perfectly encapsulated." But, man, when it works out for you, it's so fun.
