Greg Brown has the unenviable job of watching Pittsburgh baseball all year. Silence was his strategy as the Yankees unloaded on the Pirates.
The Pirates might not be the worst team in baseball this year but that doesn’t mean there’s much joy to be had in a 34-48 season, especially with the second-worst run differential in the league.
Put simply, Pittsburgh has a bad habit of losing by significant margins. In recent weeks, they’ve lost 10-4 to the Braves, 14-5 to the Cubs and 19-2 to the Brewers. They just lost a home game to the Yankees, 16-0.
During that beat down, broadcaster Greg Brown had enough of watching position players pitch.
Pirates broadcaster Greg Brown protests position players pitching with silence
Infielder Josh Vanmeter came into the game in the top of the ninth with the Pirates trailing 10-0. He gave up a grand slam to Aaron Hicks, a home run to Giancarlo Stanton and an RBI single to Kyle Higashioka before the frame mercifully ended at 16-0.
Stanton’s homer sent Brown over the edge. He didn’t even call it, just letting the moment play out before saying, “This is ridiculous.”
Putting position players on the mound makes sense for managers. Trailing big, you might as well save a pitcher’s arm for later rather than sending them out for a meaningless appearance.
Still, it’s frustrating for fans to watch a guy go out there throwing pitches you’d see in a home run derby instead of a competitive game.
At what point does baseball just normalize a forfeit instead of padding stats and hanging position players out to dry when one side has clearly conceded the result.