Top 2: Chris Davis called out on strikes against A.J. Burnett

Top 3: struck out swinging against Burnett

Top 5: struck out swinging against Burnett

Top 8: called out on strikes against David Robertson

Top 10: struck out swinging against Hector Noesi

Top 11: grounded out to second against Noesi

Final Line: 0-for-6, 5 K, 7 LOB

Notes: Normally I’d take some time to enjoy Reynolds’ golden sombrero, especially after it took 139 games to happen.  However, the incredibly rare platinum sombrero always trumps a golden, and on Wednesday Chris Davis entered elite terroitory.  Hitting sixth in the Orioles’ lineup, just two spots behind Reynolds, Davis had a day to remember (or forget if you’re him) at the dish.  In six at-bats in the 11-inning contest, the recent import fanned five times to secure the first platinum sombrero of the 2011 season.  He even had a chance for a sixth strikeout in the 11^th inning, but somehow managed to weakly ground out to the right side and spare himself the agony.

But seriously, it’s hard to have a worse day at the plate than Davis did on Wednesday.  He saw a total of 20 pitches (Burnett 11; Robertson 3; Noesi 6) over six at-bats. I guess 20 pitches might be acceptable for a player with a high contact percentage or average on balls put in play, but definitely not Davis.  It also just adds to insult that he was down in the count—either 1-2 or 0-2—in every at-bat.

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In Tuesday’s 16 inning contest between the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros, Ryan Howard joined an elite club that I’m sure he would prefer not be a part of.  Howard managed to go 0-7 with 5 strikeouts- The Platinum Sombrero- before he was ejected for passionately disagreeing with 3rd base umpire Scott Barry over the check swing that ultimately notched his 5th strikeout, in the bottom of the 14th.

As if Howard’s Tuesday night performance wasn’t concerning in itself, in his last two games he is 0-11, with 8 strikeouts.  If anything, perhaps this explains why Howard had such a short fuse by his final at-bat; he knew that he was in the midst of an epic, strikeout streak and probably assumed Barry was out to get him.  Let’s look at each of Howard’s 7 at-bats from Tuesday to better understand how he became the latest to wear the Platinum Sombrero.

(more…)

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