Mike Scioscia's tragic illness

Is He Related To Ted?

Kevin Baxter wrote a column about Juan Pierre’s impending comeback in the L.A. Times today, with lines such as this:

Pierre, who was batting .277 in 73 games before Angels shortstop Erick Aybar accidentally fell on his knee during a play at second, could be back in the big leagues as early as tonight when the Dodgers, a game back in the National League West, play the Washington Nationals in the opener of a 10-game homestand. That’s more than two weeks ahead of some doctors’ estimates — but not a moment too soon for the Dodgers, who clearly miss Pierre’s speed at the top of the lineup.

Although Matt Kemp, who has batted first most often in Pierre’s absence, has a .393 on-base percentage and a .532 slugging percentage in the leadoff spot — both far superior to Pierre’s .327 and .318 figures — he has also struck out nearly a third of the time, and only six of his 22 stolen bases have come when he was batting leadoff.

Baxter is writing, of course, utter idiocy and I was about to tear it apart, myself, but Jon Weisman at Dodger Thoughts did a fine job of doing that.  Worth taking a look, right here.

- Vin