It wouldn't surprise me if this video gets pulled due to MLB's draconian policies, but that's Royals shortstop Tony Pena Jr. coming in to pitch during the 9th inning of a blowout. This pretty much made my night last night. Not only did he show some nasty stuff, he pitched the whole thing with his sunglasses on and a monumental plug of chewing tobacco in his mouth. Oh, and he struck out a future Hall of Famer.
Look, they lost 19-4. I'll take what small pleasures I can get.
For those who care about such thing, here's an analysis of his Pitch F/X. Also, for the statheads, take comfort in knowing that Pena's Win Shares, VORP, and WPA are all almost certainly higher for him as a pitcher than as a shortstop (which says a lot about how awful he's been).
You know what else says a lot about how awful he's been, the fact that if he was a full-time pitcher in the National League--as opposed to, you know, a full-time hitter in the American League--his OPS+ would rank 28th among pitchers with 30 at bats according to Sam Mellinger.
Translation: Tony Pena Jr.'s one inning of pitching is more valuable than his half-season of playing shortstop. Also, there are at least 27 pitchers in the National League who are better at hitting a baseball than he is.
I don't care. TPJ just provided one of my favorite baseball memories.
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