The head on the Pat Burrell doll does pretty much what the head of the Phillies' second-year outfielder was doing to rate getting benched last night. It pulls off the baseball. The deceptively decent average masks a troubled hitter. Pat bears no resemblance to the powerhouse forecast to be the next big thing in longballing. I don't think Larry Bowa will sit Burrell on a giveaway day in his honor the way Terry Francona rested Scott Rolen on Scott Rolen T-Shirt Day.
Pitchers have a primordial instinct that homes in on the scent of failure.
Slumping hitters exude an odor that does for pitchers what blood does for sharks. And Pat Burrell has spent the first quarter of the season swimming with Great Whites. A good hitter is a confident hitter. If Allen Iverson had a bat in his hand instead of a basketball, he would be hitting .500. But if he approached the Raptors the way Burrell has approached the National League, his season would be over.