Fix Your Crooked Hat!

Last night, I'm at Mike's Crabhouse in Pasadena watching a close game between the Orioles and Devil Rays. The game was all knotted up 4-4 after six innings. The O's went on to add another run in the top of the seventh giving Baltimore fans something to cheer about. But then, as Tampa Bay prepared to bat in the bottom of the inning, the Orioles sent in reliever Pedro Strop. And that's where I nearly came unglued......

This guy really pisses me off. Wanna know why? It's real simple. He wears his hat crooked. Yeah, I know it sounds crazy but the mere sight of this guy with his hat cocked to the left side always raises my blood pressure. His piss-poor pitching performance (try saying that five times really fast!) last night nearly made me throw my beer mug across the room. While the Devil Ray players are crossing home plate, Strop stands on the mound with a frown and his crooked hat. Here's the thing... fans might be willing to ignore the dunce look if you're striking guys out. But as soon as you start getting racked, they're always going to come back to the crooked hat. Trust me, I've heard it.......

I'm actually surprised that Oriole's manager Buck Showalter puts up with this nonsense. He seems to be an old-school kind of baseball guy. I think he should give Strop an ultimatum: You don't pitch until you put your hat on straight! He should remind Strop that he's on center stage at The Big Show and not kickin' it with his homies back in the 'hood. This is the same organization that brought us class acts like Brooks Robinson, Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken. So, it should be understandable why it upsets me to see someone "disrespecting" the black and orange in such a silly way.

And if Strop's crooked hat wasn't bad enough, Tampa Bay sent their closer, Fernando Rodney, to the mound in the ninth inning. And to my dismay, his hat was more crooked than Strop's! WTF is going on here! I was losing my mind. It was as if someone was poking me with a stick. I don't know why this stuff bothers me so much, but it really does. Why do these guys do this? Are they trying to look hard? Or are they simply trying to send a message that says, "Hey kids, even idiots can play in the big leagues. So, turn your hat sideways and go for your dreams!"

Hey look, I don't have anything personal against either one of these guys. Hell, if I ever met them, I would probably even like them. But I'm sure at some point during our conversation, I'd say, "Dude, can you please fix your f*cking hat? It's driving me nuts!" Am I being that unreasonable?

kw