Joe Blanton Spurned with Lack of Hat

I was salivating over the interview of the Phillies rotation by John Smoltz for the MLB Network and, after several seconds of deep introspection, have decided that I have stumbled upon a mass web of far-reaching conspiracy.So they’re all sitting there like always, except Cliff Lee isn’t front and center like normal.  In fact, he’s in the back with Doc.  Oswalt’s front and center.  But none of that’s important, either, I’m just saying it because I’m sort of realizing it myself just now.

Anyways, what I’m yakking about is that these networks seem pretty pissed that they have to include Joe Blanton in all their interviews.  I don’t why.  He seems extremely pleasant, like a guy you’d get drunk with at a skee-bowl tournament.

So maybe they all have these subtle methods of singling him out for not being as “elite” as the other guys.  Some days, its a room full of reporters asking him if he feels lucky to even be allowed in the room  This time, it was hats.

It does seem like they grabbed them during the middle of a golf tournament, but this just stuck in my crawl.  But mostly, I’d say this is evidence of a bias amongst MLB media to assign Joe Blanton a sense of shame.

Or maybe Joe just doesn’t like hats when hes off duty.  When asked what each of them considers their most important stat, all the pitchers said “innings,” except for Joe, who said “wins.”  So it’s not like he’s afraid to go against the grain.