Part of me hates to constantly criticize the guy, but the rest of me feels that since Rich Waltz displays such a serious lack of baseball knowledge for someone who is billed as "the voice" of a major league baseball team, that he deserves whatever criticsm that he receives.
In last night's game, Waltz forgot how many outs there were in an inning. Had a ballplayer done that, he likely would have been benched. Even fans at home - judging by the comments in the open thread and emails I received - don't overlook that sort of thing.
So, instead of criticzing Waltz, why don't we try to help him? Rich is most likely going to be around for awhile. Maybe we can all work together to create a win-win situation for everyone. I'm thinking that a FishStripes.com care package could be just the thing to help everyone (credit for this idea goes to a loyal reader/emailer).
Here's what I have so far for a starter kit:
- An umpire indicator, so Rich can keep track of the count and the number of outs.
- A copy of Baseball Prospectus, so Rich can become familiar with the sabermetric side of the game. Mixing in a park factor now and then would be appreciated.
- A scorebook. I know most announcers and broadcasters keep a book, but maybe Rich doesn't. That could help explain how he could forget the number of outs.
If we can agree to some basic things to send, I'll work with an adult on crafting a coherent cover letter to pass on, along with the gifts.
If there's a way to do this without osctracizing Waltz, I'd like to do it. Maybe we could all become friends in the end.