I'm Back (And Disappointed)

During my too long hiatus from this blog, I had multiple opportunities to become frustrated with the nation's sports coverage, leading me to hit the mute button almost every time I wanted to watch a sporting event if I did not want to end up banging my head against the wall. Case in point is the unnecessary uproar that was caused by Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Micah Owings going 4-for-5 with two home runs on August 18th in a contest against the Atlanta Braves. In the coverage concerning Owings's exploits, there was an overabundance of shock and surprise about what was neither shocking nor surprising, even if Owings does happen to be a pitcher.

Anyone willing to do his due diligence concerning Micah Owings or talk intelligently about that particular baseball game would have known that when Owings has a good day at the plate, the achievement should not be overly praised. Instead, it should be expected when you take into account the fact Owings has been both an outstanding pitcher and hitter throughout his baseball life.

When Owings was a freshman at Georgia Tech, he led the Yellow Jackets with a .593 slugging percentage, partially made up of the fifteen home runs he hit. As an encore during his sophomore season, also at Georgia Tech, Owings again led the Yellow Jackets with a .549 slugging percentage (15 home runs). Then, when he played his junior season with the Tulane Green Wave, Owings led that team with a .733 slugging percentage (18 home runs). These slugging percentages show that Owings possesses the quality of power hitting and knows how to handle a bat even if he did put up those numbers using an aluminum bat.

Only a person who does not know better would cry out from the mountaintop about Owings's two home runs. The rest of us, who know what Owings is capable of, are aware the real shocking event occurs when Owings has a terrible day at the plate.