Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
June 03, 2007
Setup and Payoff

A good lineup is like a great comedy team. The straight man sets up the joke and the comedian supplies the punchline.

George: Say, you've got a pretty nice job here.
Gracie: Job? I could have had two jobs. This one at ten dollars a week and another one at forty dollars a week.
George: Then why did you take this job?
Gracie: Because I figure that if I lose a ten-dollar job instead of a forty-dollar job, I'll be saving thirty dollars.

The Padres setup and payoff worked perfectly today. Giles and Sledge reached base seven times from the 1-2 slots, and Gonzalez and Bard picked up six RBI right behind them on the way to a 7-3 win over the Nationals.

One big difference between comedy teams and baseball lineups, however, is that the straight man made more money. The comedians were often the more talented individual, but the skill needed to set up the jokes was difficult to find. In baseball, of course, it's the sluggers, not the table setters, who get the big bucks.


Posted by David Pinto at 04:53 PM | Strategy | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Good ole George & Gracie.

Posted by: rbj at June 3, 2007 07:36 PM
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