POOR DOUG DAVIS

Imagine for a moment that you are a starting pitcher in the Major Leagues...Today is your day to pitch, and you see the lineup card...It reads as follows:

CF Podsednik
3B Durrington
SS Counsell
RF Clark
LF Magruder
2B Hall
1B Branyan
C Moeller
P Davis

...My first reaction would be to go up to the manager and ask "what did I do to deserve this? Are you mad at me?

Brady Clark is having a terrific year, but a guy slugging under .400 probably shouldn't be hitting cleanup. With one of the worst offenses in baseball, to give the few guys in your lineup that are productive (Overbay, and to a lesser extent Jenkins) the day off is just unfair to the starting pitcher.

A possible conversation between Doug Davis and Ned Yost..

Ned: Doug, just go out there and throw your game.
Doug: Okay, skip.
Ned: I don't want to tell you that you have to be perfect today...But you have to be perfect. If you give up a run we're going to lose.