|
|
I was looking at 2011 attendances across the majors, and it's kinda odd how things are shaking down. Some of them make sense - the AL champion Rangers have the biggest gain, of almost nine thousand per game, and the Los Angeles Divorcees have the largest drop, hemorrhaging at a rate usually reserved for the more arterial end of Japanese samurai flicks. But the team with the best record in the American League last year, the Rays, have been rewarded with 5,600 fans less per game at Tropicana. And I guess word of the Padres' suckage hasn't yet reached the five thousand extra fans showing up at Petco to see Adrian Gonz... Oh, never mind.
- Chris Young CF
- Kelly Johnson 2B
- Justin Upton RF
- Stephen Drew SS
- Miguel Montero C
- Melvin Mora 3B
- Russell Branyan 1B
- Gerardo Parra LF
- Barry Enright RHP
As Nick Piecoro points put, "Barry Enright has had a rough four starts to open the season. I have a feeling tonight’s might be of the utmost importance to his job security." I have to say, it's been a real shame to watch Enright almost put together a good outing on more than one occasion, only for it to flame out into another "meh" start. I really, really really want him to do well, but there's a limit to how far the team can go, and one has to wonder whether Barry might be better off in Triple-A, brushing up the secondary pitches, having leaped straight from Double-A to the majors.
He was always "most likely to be sent down" when Zach Duke returned, simply because Enright is the only member of the rotation with options, but one wonders if he'll even last that long... A good start this evening is something I'd love to see from Enright - not least because there's nothing quite like taking it to the Cubs and shutting up the binge-drinking plague of locusts which are Arizona Cubs fans.