Interpreters could make mound trips - Yahoo! Sports

NOT MUCH MORE AN INTERPRETER COULD ADD HERE

Clearly, Verlander was using his best non-verbal form of communication. An interpreter would not be much help in this case.  

It's obvious by Verlander's passive-aggressive posture that he wants pitching coach Jones to return to the dugout ASAP. Jones is clearly not receiving these non-verbal messages. 

AGAIN, NOT MUCH AN INTERPRETER COULD HELP HERE

Does an interpreter for body-language count? Here, the eyes, the body language, the posture, all screaming "Get the F-back in the dugout, man" and yet the signs were missed. 

Silly rule on so many levels.

from YahooSports.com

Interpreters could make mound trips - Yahoo! Sports:

NEW YORK (AP) -- Interpreters may be able to make mound trips with managers and pitching coaches this year.

Baseball owners approved the rules change when they met last week in Paradise Valley, Ariz. The change, which would be used to assist pitchers not fluent in English, now goes to the players' association, which also must approve it for the change to start this year.

'via Blog this'


First, this is a blatant attempt to jack up the "great diversity of the game" numbers artificially.

Second, it's needless meddling by game administrators who demonstrate that they have never consulted with and have no regard for anyone who has ever moistened a jockstrap. There, I said it..and I won't take it back!!!

Anyone who has played the game knows that the F-word is understood in every language where baseball is played or we simply don't introduce the game there. Further everyone knows that the F- word is liberally employed and uniquely flexible (it's a noun, it's a verb, it's an adverb) to be employed in virtually every mound conference situation or else the pitching coach and or manager would have never left the bench. It can communicate by itself or enhance virtually every emotion, sentiment, communication or baseball theory or instruction you could ever possibly want to convey.

Third, this rule is arbitrary, capricious, Copernicus, Joan of Arc and Aphrodite since most mound conferences and /or communications with pitchers are merely thinly disguised attempts to buy time for your bullpen. Your pitcher knows it, you know it, the umpire knows it, your bullpen knows it and most fans know it. These "conversations" are as transparent, vacuous  insipid, irrelevant and meaningless to the overriding objective as most first date conversations. Ever seen a Match.com commercial lately?

Nobody is splitting atoms, curing cancer or coming up with solution for world peace here. If there's a miscommunication here or there, it's not the end of the world. Half the time, you go back to the bench and your assistant says, "What''d you tell him?" and you say "IDK, he wasn't really listening anyway". If it works the pitcher when asked what was said will respond with "IDK, but it worked".  That tells you how earth-shattering mound visits are. The only people who think they are important are the ones who aren't in on them. I mean the total vocabulary consists of no more than ten words, the rest can be conveyed by signals. How lazy are MLB coaches that they can't get a Rosetta Stone or two and learn something about the language or culture of the guys they coach? I mean, seriously?!?

Fourth, this will retard a generation of men who are trying to improve their relationships and love lives by mixing in the occasional non-verbal form of communication. This rule will force many back into the neanderthal system of grunts and groans that have caused the high-failure rate in relationships and marriages across the nation.

SOMETIMES, GUYS JUST NEED A HUG!!

 WHY INSERT AN INTERPRETER IN THESE INSTANCES? 

ALL THAT'S GOING TO DO IS INCREASE THE POTENTIAL FOR A GROUP HUG.

Fifth, this is going to run counter to baseball's recent objective to speed up the game. All that idle chit-chat, potential for group hugs. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm just saying, the clubhouse has always been the place for that sort of behavior. Not the pitching mound.

BAD RULE!!! 


Still the best mound visit in the history of baseball.

BULL DURHAM:



All right, let's get two!!