It’s hard to describe how good this New York Yankees lineup is, but “Parks and Recreation” producer Michael Schur, popularly known in these parts as Ken Tremendous, did a pretty fantastic job in a guest FJM piece for Deadspin on Sept. 16:
Joe Saunders Stares Down Every Pitcher’s Worst Nightmare, Flinches
↵Derek Jeter is seventh in OPS. On his own team. He is eighth in HR. He is sixth on his team in doubles. Sixth! The guy who hits seventh on the Yankees has an .865 OPS (same as Jeter) and is hitting .319 and plays second base. The guy who hits eighth on the Yankees has 27 home runs. The Yankees have pinch-hitters who are better than anyone on the A’s. The Yankees’ line-up is looney-tunes.↵Which is why it’s hard not to feel bad for Joe Saunders, the Angels pitcher who just fell prey to that looney-tunes-ness. There was a point in the fourth inning when the bases were loaded, and Saunders was staring at the massive human baseball-playing savant they call Alex Rodriguez, that I just felt full of pity. It was like watching an chicken fight a lion. Saunders didn’t look composed, either; he kept stepping back off the mound and playing with his hat, all jitters and angst. The Angels are lucky the score isn’t much, much worse.
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