Blogger attacked by baseball announcer!

I was on Pirates Sunday yesterday with Rob Pratte on KDKA and opined that Ryan Doumit, if he were ever able to stay healthy, could potentially contribute more to the Pirates behind the plate than Paulino because of his power (while still acknowledging that Paulino is a huge upgrade over Cota and that Tracy was admirably quick to relegate Cota to a backup role).

Later, half watching the game and half eating a sandwich, I heard Lanny and Walk talking about Paulino and Doumit, and this morning a friend confirmed to me that Lanny had been talking about listening to a "blogger expert" in the car radio on the way to the game saying that Doumit was a better catching package than Paulino, an opinion that Lanny clearly thought was bordering on insanity. Walk was a bit more conciliatory, saying something like, "I guess some people think hitting home runs is the most important thing."

Guilty as charged. I think that the potential difference between the offense we would get from a healthy Doumit (were there such a thing) and Paulino would outweigh whatever advantage Paulino might have over Doumit defensively. The argument is probably moot, though, since (1) it's starting to look like Doumit will never play a full season without being injured, and (2) Paulino has made the sale with everyone in the organization who matters.

I got a kick out of Lanny's dismissive use of the word "blogger" as code for "pointy-headed, pimply geek who has never really seen or played in a baseball game but prefers to crunch numbers in his bedroom on his computer."

Hey Lanny: I'm Billy Price!