Memo to Scioscia: Hit Napoli fifth!
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Mike Napoli was last night’s (and this morning’s) Angels offensive hero, belting two mammoth home runs, driving in three runs, getting on base four times, and scoring the winning run in the 12th inning.
Napoli, who has the look of a man who could probably pull tractors with his teeth, was no unlikely hero. For his career he has averaged 30 homers every 459 at bats, to go with 77 walks, 81 runs scored and 80 RBIs. Think of him as a 21st century version of Mickey Tettleton, or even Gene Tenace, only with tree trunks for biceps.
(There is another argument that posits Napoli as an analogue to Joe Ferguson, and Jeff Mathis as the equivalent of Steve Yeager, and the 2006-2008 Angels with the 1972-74 Dodgers ... which you can read all about here.)
Anyway, point being, Napoli can hit, but the REAL point here, before the first pitch of Game 4, is that Napoli should hit fifth, behind Vlad Guerrero and in front of hobbling choke-monster Torii Hunter. Namely, because Mike Napoli is as hot right now as any hitter you will ever see. Here’s what Napoli did his last semi-complete games of the 2008 season:
Sept. 18: 2-for-4 with a homer and a walk
Sept. 19: 3-for-5 with a double, triple and HR
Sept. 21: 2-for-3
Sept. 23: 3-for-4 with a homer
Sept. 24: 3-for-4 with a double and a walk
Sept. 25: 2-for-3
Sept. 28: 3-for-3 with two doubles and a homer
That’s a seven-game batting average of .692, an on-base percentage of .714, and a slugging percentage of, uh, 1.385. That’s as hot as a human can be without melting steel.
The Red Sox got a rude taste of that Napoli last night, and with the Green Monster looming just 300 feet away from an en fuego lumberjack with a vicious uppercut, you know they’ll be tiptoeing around the guy. Which is why Mike Scioscia should bat him fifth, after the red-hot dynamic duo of Mark Teixeira and Vlad Guerrero, while Hunter rehabilitates his knee and concentration in the six-hole or lower.
Unfortunately, for Game 4 anyway, this particular shoulda-been has already been vetoed.
Matt Welch is editor of Reason.