John Buck wen’t 0-for-4 in last night’s win over the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. He struck out all four time to earn the dreaded Golden Sombrero.
In my recap of the 3-0 win, I mentioned that it may be time to start giving Anthony Recker a few more starts – not so much because he’s that much better than Buck, I couldn’t honestly say that. But it would be good to find out exactly what Recker can offer, and maybe the extra time off would benefit Buck as well.
That said, with Buck owning a slash-line of .210/.272/.337 in 238 at-bats, I found it kind of odd that he would utter a word when he was pinch-hit for on Tuesday. In the top of the ninth with a runner on second and two outs, Terry Collins lifted him for pinch-hitter Daniel Murphy.
The Mets lost the game 5-4 , but afterward Buck said he was disappointed with the manager’s decision.
“That’s baseball,” said Buck. “Terry doesn’t have to talk to me about that move; that happens. I wouldn’t expect him to talk to me about it. I was just frustrated with the loss. I thought we should have won that game and I was frustrated.”
Collins felt it necessary to explain his actions to Buck for several minutes before batting practice on Wednesday, according to the New York Post.
“The way things have been going,” Collins said, “I can’t sit there with Dan Murphy waiting to hit and not get him in the game.”
Looking at Buck’s career .234 batting average, I would think this wasn’t the first time he’s been pinch-hit for… neither would it be the last. Just make some contact, big guy… And zip it too…
