Yesterday's Washington Times sports page included Mark Zuckerman's weekly Nationals Report. The lead item in the report was Shawn Hill, the talented but often injured starting pitcher the Nationals released during spring training, and his recent Tommy John surgery. As Zuckerman commented, many fans were upset about Hill's release and I readily admit I was one of them. But obviously, Nationals acting GM Mike Rizzo made the right call on Hill.
After the item on Hill, Zuckerman went on to write about minor league pitcher J.D. Martin, who is putting together a fine season at AAA Syracuse, before moving onto some poor attempts at humor. One of those attempts happened to involve Adam Dunn's 300th career HR, which he hit Saturday. I had the pleasure of seeing the homer sail over my head in right field Saturday and be caught a fan further back in the upper deck. That fan happened to be William Sanders, a U.S. Army colonel, who just happens to be African-American. Sanders returned the ball to Dunn after the game and Dunn gave Sanders an autographed jersey and autographed balls in return. Of course, Zuckerman reports, in his attempt at humor, that Colonel Sanders "exchanged it for a bucket of chicken". I guess Zuckerman didn't actually see Sanders in person or see a picture of the colonel, but who knows. And, I have to think the sports editor at the Times wasn't paying much attention either. I guess that's what happens when a last place baseball team is being covered by a major city's second rate newspaper.
(As a footnote, I'll point out I love politically incorrect humor and do not want to sound hypocritical. Obviously, I've made several attempts at politically incorrect humor here on Shedd's Spot. But in my opninion, there is really no place for it in what is supposed to be a legitimate newspaper's reporting on sports or the news.)
No comments:
Post a Comment