Grant Balfour is a terrible name for a pitcher
Thought you were done with baseball?
Well, as much as I don't care about it anymore, I still find myself following baseball from time to time. During one of these times, I was introduced to a pitcher by the name of Grant Balfour. I'm Not Making This Up.
Generally speaking, the thing you want your pitcher to do the least is walk people. The opposition doesn't even have to swing the bat and they're on base. It doesn't get much easier than that. Those of you who have been living in a hole for the last 100-some years since baseball was invented should know that in order to walk somebody, you have to throw them 4 "Balls", or pitches that did not pass through the strike zone on their way past the batter. So if you throw "Ball Four" they get a free pass to first...effectively, you "Gave" them a free base.
Another word for "Give" is "Grant".
So, if you Grant Ball Four, you've done just about the worst thing a pitcher can do for his team. So why is it that a guy named "Grant Balfour" decides he can get a job as a major league pitcher?
A 94 MPH fastball and a 4-inch break on his cutter?
If you want to get technical, I guess.
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