Tank McNamara by Bill Hinds for August 25, 2011

Goats are O.K. as any Cubs fan now knows to his or her bitter regret.

When a good hitter is being intentionally walked, I would just once like to see him swing at ball four a couple of times to make the pitcher pitch a couple more pitches outside. I believe that can mess up a pitcher for the next batter.

I think the dumbest unwritten rule is that the strike zone should vary according to whom the umpire is.

Dumbest has to be that a pitcher has to throw at an opposing batter after a home run.

“Don’t bunt…” Yeah, like an Angel did a few weeks ago to break up Verlander’s no-hitter against them. In the 8th inning. Bush league.

“Don’t steal a base when you’re up by ‘X’ runs”; how do you know the opposition won’t make a comeback?

Managers and coaches wearing baseball uniforms. Can you imagine what basketball and football coaches would look like if they wore uniforms? Connie Mack had it right.

Why does a team whine about the other team stealing their signs?

“Don’t step on the chalk lines. Ichiro should do it and show American’s he’s boss.” ha ha

But it is okay to have horses’ asses in the dugout.

Probably, the lines used to be quick lime to kill the grass under them. Nasty stuff. Well, they look like quick lime, which was a familiar chemical in the out-house era.

Teammates: don’t talk to your pitcher during his no-hitter. Announcers: don’t mention the pitcher has a no-hitter [although that seems to be going by the wayside. they’re now saying “he’s retired 17 in a row”, etc.]

Stealing when you have an insurmountable lead. Swinging on a three 0 pitch also when you have a big lead. Peeking back at the catcher just before the pitch to get the sign.

thanks to all who commented. we’ll probably use them in a couple of weeks.

The dumbest unwritten rule in baseball is that you must learn how to spit.