September 3: Mets vs. Nationals

I only caught a teeny bit of this game, but it included the bottom of the 6th, when Danny Herrera came in to pitch. As Wayne noted (accurately!), this was Herrera's second appearance for the Mets. He had recorded the final out of the previous night's game.

Herrera entered with two men on base and started things off by throwing a pitch to Ivan Rodriguez. Wayne reported that it was a curveball, noted the pitch speed, and then added, "He's not going to overpower you." Of course, no pitcher has ever "overpowered" anyone with a curveball -- it's not a power pitch.

On the next pitch, Rodriguez bounced into an inning-ending double play, which prompted the following Wayne's Whopper™:

Boy, Herrera has been great in his two outings so far for the Mets. He has three outs in just two-thirds of an inning. Tonight he gets a double play on just one pitch!

Now, recording three outs in two-thirds of an inning would be a pretty neat trick (although not quite as neat as having an imbecile broadcasting the games of an MLB team in the nation's biggest media market). Two-thirds of an inning means, by definition, that you have recorded two outs. What Wayne probably meant is that Herrera has recorded three outs while facing only two batters. But as is so often the case, his brain wrote a check that his mouth couldn't cash. Like I've been saying all along, this is minor league stuff. It wouldn't fly in Kansas City, much less New York.

Then there's the notion that Herrera had recorded the double play "on just one pitch." This is after Wayne had specifically gone out of his way to note the speed of the previous pitch. But as usual, facts mean little to the Wayner.

Does anyone know when this guy's contract is up? Fire Wayne Hagin already!