Starter Mike Minor and the Texas Rangers have stirred up a pot of controversy in the wake of Minor’s 200th strikeout of 2019.
Mike Minor of the Texas Rangers recorded his 200th strikeout of the season in his final start of 2019, the most he’s ever recorded in his nine-year career.
But it came at a price. In case you’re not aware of what happened, Minor was pitching in his final game of 2019 against the Boston Red Sox at home with a 7-5 lead. There was one out and Chris Owings hit a foul ball pop up just beyond home plate down the first baseline when the first baseman and catcher, along with Minor, appeared to let the ball drop in foul territory. What is believed to have happened is they let the ball drop on purpose so that Minor could record his 200th strikeout.
If that indeed is the case, there is a major debate to be had as to whether or not that kind of strategy is good for the integrity of the game.
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Going off of what has been reported and what teams and players seem to say on the matter, what Minor and the Rangers did is not going over too well with the rest of the league and sports media in general. Even Rangers manager, Chris Woodward, didn’t take too well to it in his post-game press conference.
Is this kind of play cheap and “bush league”? After all, the name of the game is to play to win and cast aside any sort of individual statline accolade in order to win.
Or are people overreacting a bit since the game did not matter in the grand scheme of things as both the Texas Rangers and Red Sox were already eliminated from postseason contention?
Both sides have strong positions and valid points.
On one hand, it’s not a good look to pull a move as the Rangers did in order to get one player one individual stat accomplishment. It’s also disrespectful to a team like the Red Sox who were trying their hardest to actually win the game in the ninth inning and mount a rally to muster up two runs.
Understandably, both teams were eliminated from the playoffs with not much to play for at the moment, but if we continue this trend of players shaping the game to fit their personal accomplishments, the game could suffer both from an integrity standpoint and from a fan standpoint (fans could turn away from the game).
On the other hand, we have to realize who Mike Minor is and the struggle he has gone through in his Major League career leading up to one of the best seasons of his life.
Minor pitched five years for the Atlanta Braves before suffering shoulder inflammation which led to surgery on a torn labrum that put him out of action in 2015 and 2016. He had to go through an arbitration hearing in 2015 against the Braves where he was awarded $5.6 million dollars, eventually leading to his free agency when the Braves opted to not tender him a contract.
He was picked up by the Royals for the 2017 season where, after he missed time on the 60-day disabled list, he settled into a bullpen role and appeared in 65 games and pitched to a 2.55 ERA.
2018 came and Minor signed on with these Texas Rangers and pitched to a 12-8 record with a 4.18 ERA in 28 starts.
Minor is 31-years old now (and already sporting gray hair for what it’s worth). He’s on his third Major League team. He’s missed two years with a bad shoulder and has always gotten by with his “stuff” rather than his velocity.
This is a guy that has been through a whirlwind in his Major League career and has finally turned things around with a phenomenal season after it seemed as though he would never return to form.
His teammates were more than happy to get him to that 200-strikeout mark and were ecstatic when he finally reached it. Minor was even supposed to be traded this year after the stellar first half he had.
This man has been through a lot and his teammates were proud to do this favor for him. In the grand scheme of things, the game didn’t matter. Both teams were out of the playoff race. Sometimes, we have to let things go that transcend the sport in ways that we could ever imagine to understand even if they seem “wrong” on the surface.
Let the guy live and enjoy his accomplishment after overcoming so much adversity.