Home Run Derby

Besides the Home Run, one of my favorite things in baseball is when a player strikes out or pops out and gets so frustrated that he takes his anguish and fury out on … his bat.

By breaking it over his leg.  Hey, it’s not your fault if you couldn’t hit that pitch that took the hair off a worm crawling a foot outside of the plate – that bat must have had a hole in it …

It’s not easy to do, but Bo Jackson was a natural at it.  And with his Rob Deer-like batting philosophy, he got lots of chances after strikeouts.

The late Ken Caminiti was always photogenic during his bat breakings – maybe he had some rage issues from the steroids.

But in recent years, the fiery Carlos Zambrano has become the poster child for breaking bats after striking out.  The fact that he’s a pitcher makes his antics even better.

Here’s a few videos I could find of some players who have some faulty bats …

Kelly Shoppach

I didn’t expect to see to see the Cleveland Indians’ Shop-Vac breaking a bat over his knee, so I was looking forward to this clip.

I was disappointed.  Because this is just the aftermath …

Alex Rios

Rios has broken his bat a bunch of times this season. 

Here, the 2007 Home Run Derby runner-up gets a little miffed after striking out against J.J. Putz during a game against the Seattle Mariners.

I’d be mad if I struck out on a pitch thrown by a putz, too.

Milton Bradley

You know that a guy who’s gonna go after an umpire and blow out his ACL in the process is gonna snap his bat once in a while … because nothing is his fault.  Ever.

Watch as Bradley swings at an inning ending pitch from the Diamondbacks’ Brandon Webb that just drops like crazy … My advice is to close your eyes and listen to this clip before watching it. You’ll know when the deed has been done.

I like how the San Diego fans cheer Bradley for it.

Carlos Zambrano

Big Z is our current bat snapping posterboy, so he gets two videos.  Anyone as animated and emotional as Zambrano is gonna blame his shortcomings on the lumber … or his catcher’s face.

The first one is from an April 2006 game against the Marlins where Zambrano swings and misses for strike three.  This clip will take a while to load and won’t work in Firefox.

The second one is fan video from a game earlier this year against the Astros.  This time, Zambrano is batting lefty, and Roy Oswalt gets him looking on a sweet pitch.

Do you think the Cubs’ dugout parts like the Red Sea when Zambrano comes back after striking out?  

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 27th, 2007 at 11:19 am and is filed under Anger Management, MLB Weirdness, YouTube. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.