Yesterday, on the Dan Patrick Show, Todd Helton was the guest and he was asked what pitcher he would be facing out there tonight and his response was, “um, ah, I think, welly.., no, um, actually I don’t know, we faced Loshe the first night, so and so the second night but I’m not sure who it is tonight.” Patrick goes, “you are facing Kyle Loshe tonight.” Helton replies, “no, no, we faced him in the first game of the series.” Patrick retorts, “Todd, I’m looking at it right now, you are facing Kyle Loshe, he hasn’t pitched yet in the series.” Helton says, “shows you what I know.” Now obviously, Helton is not going to be confused with Tony Gywnn or Wade Boggs when it comes to pitcher preparation but that is just insane.
However, I do believe we tend to glorify these athletes and think they are something they are not or that they are doing something special to get the results that they do. Helton, not having a clue at who was pitching, roped a double off the top of the the wall in the bottom of the first inning off the infamous Kyle Loshe to plate Matt Holliday. However, without even listening to the game, I’m sure the Rockies announcers said something to the effect of how Helton against Loshe usually looks for the ball middle-in on the 2-2 counts because he knows Loshe is trying to set him up for the 3-2 change away. IT’S ALL BULLSHIT. These guys aren’t preparing for their AB, they are probably looking for the next hottie on the stands they want to bang. At least Manny Rameriz is honest in this interview: see MannyBeingManny. If you don’t have time to go listen to Manny he basically says (talking about his HR off K-rod in the playoffs) “I’m a bad man and I don’t try to do to much up there but just react to the ball, you know, when you aren’t feeling right but can still hit, you are a bad man.”
