Viva Magglio
05-21-2002, 09:40 PM
The greatest human being ever to set foot on the pitching mound will start for the Cubs on Wednesday night. I cannot believe how "ga-ga" the media has gone over the arrival of Mark Prior to Wrigley Field. The newspapers couldn't wait to do full page spreads on Prior, doing so one day early! I hate to imagine what Wednesday's morning dailies will look like.
If we had such a phenom pitcher coming up and making his first big league start for the White Sox, the media's reaction would not be nearly as close to the orgy it is having over Prior's arrival. I bet this is true. Prior is good, but the Cubs will not clinch the 2002 World Series championship with his arrival.
Coincidentally, I saw Mark Prior pitch when he was in college. Last year, I was in Tucson to see the White Sox in spring training. That Friday night, the Arizona Wildcats were hosting Prior's USC Trojans. Prior three-hit the U of A in an 8-0 victory over the Wildcats. It was a bizarre game in which all eight runs given up by Arizona were unearned.
Back to the issue at hand, I don't even think the arrival of Kerry Wood has been greeted with so much fanfare! This morning on the Score, Dan Bernstein and Terry Boers perfectly satirized this spectacle by having caller inflate expectations for Prior. "He will easily strike out 27 Pirates," the callers obliged.
This is proof of the media's bias. As I opined three paragraphs ago, such a pitcher making his debut with us would not get nearly as much attention. Nothing personal, but nothing would please me better than to see Prior get his ears pinned back. I could only imagine the subsequent reaction from the Fourth Estate then!
If we had such a phenom pitcher coming up and making his first big league start for the White Sox, the media's reaction would not be nearly as close to the orgy it is having over Prior's arrival. I bet this is true. Prior is good, but the Cubs will not clinch the 2002 World Series championship with his arrival.
Coincidentally, I saw Mark Prior pitch when he was in college. Last year, I was in Tucson to see the White Sox in spring training. That Friday night, the Arizona Wildcats were hosting Prior's USC Trojans. Prior three-hit the U of A in an 8-0 victory over the Wildcats. It was a bizarre game in which all eight runs given up by Arizona were unearned.
Back to the issue at hand, I don't even think the arrival of Kerry Wood has been greeted with so much fanfare! This morning on the Score, Dan Bernstein and Terry Boers perfectly satirized this spectacle by having caller inflate expectations for Prior. "He will easily strike out 27 Pirates," the callers obliged.
This is proof of the media's bias. As I opined three paragraphs ago, such a pitcher making his debut with us would not get nearly as much attention. Nothing personal, but nothing would please me better than to see Prior get his ears pinned back. I could only imagine the subsequent reaction from the Fourth Estate then!