While the vast majority of civilized human beings abhor the New York Yankees, it was still hard not to feel bad about the career-threatening injury of legendary closer Mariano Rivera. Rivera is the rarest of all creatures: A New York Yankee with some semblance of dignity. That Rivera's demise came doing something as seemingly foolish as shagging fly balls was especially painful to Yankees' fans. But apparently, the team is has not only not forbidden the practice, they are encouraging other pitchers to do it as well.
"Not all of our pitchers," Brian Cashman clarified. "For now, we're just asking Phil Hughes and Freddy Garcia to do it. We, uh, think it might be helpful for them."
And so, yesterday, there were Garcia and Hughes awkwardly running after fly balls, often stumbling and tripping in their clumsy attempts to make challenging catches.
"Um, I really don't see the point in this," said a frustrated Garcia. "Couldn't I, like, get hurt or something? Like Mo did?"
Hughes expressed similar frustration. "This wouldn't have anything to do with my 6+ ERA and alarming drop in velocity would it?" he asked.
"We're not trying to send anyone a message," said an adament Cashman. "Although, if Teixeria and ARod keep hitting .230 and whiffing with the bases loaded, they might be chasing some fly balls too.:
