League letting me down

I think it might be about time that I start to face facts about Brandon League. This is very difficult for me because I've remained fiercely loyal to the young fireballer throughout his struggles this season. However, the fact remains that he has been wildly inconsistent and extremely unreliable.

How fitting that a day after I lauded him for shutting down the Yankees that he serves up the game winning home run to Tampa Bay. Unfortunately, I called that home run in the 11th inning. I turned to a colleague at work and said "Wow, Pat Burrell's numbers are terrible this year. Knowing my luck he'll hit a walk off against my boy League." Sadly, i proved prophetic.

League has been good in the past, putting up ERA's of 2.53 in '06 and 2.18 in '08. This year, however, he is 1-4, has blown 3 saves while sporting a bloated 5.31 ERA. It's hard to believe he is in fact only 26 years old, considering he's been with the team for 6 seasons. He's still a young talent, but has a lot to learn about mixing fastballs with his devastating splitter.

If it sounds like I'm making excuses for him, I probably am. Can you blame me? I'm extremely loyal. Perhaps loyal to a fault with Brandon League.