J-Roll, You are No Ricky Henderson

Jimmy Rollins grew up in Oakland, an Athletics fan. His favorite player, which he loves to remind us all, is Ricky Henderson. Ricky Henderson is the greatest leadoff hitter of all time. That is not an opinion. That is a fact. The man got on base all the time, disrupted pitchers on the base paths and had an eagle eye at the plate, meaning he walked about a trillion times a year.

The fact that he is Jimmy Rollins' favorite player, his idol, drives me nuts. We all know Jimmy Rollins is sucking it up this year at the plate, despite the fact that stupid, moronic assholes keep voting for him for the All-Star game. Hopefully, after people read this, they'll wake the hell up and stop voting for him immediately.

Thanks to the tremendous work of Todd Zolecki, I've become even more enlightened on just how horrendous Rollins has been:

He hasn't walked since May 27. That is 16 consecutive games without a walk. He also has seen 3.69 pitches per plate appearance, which is his lowest total since 2005.

Jimmy Rollins hasn't walked since May 27. Sixteen games. Sixteen fucking games! And this guy is supposed to be a leadoff hitter? He's seeing less than four pitchers per at-bat. Less than four! How the hell can a player who grew up idolizing Ricky Henderson, who walked an average of 87.6 times a season, not have a walk in 16 games? Honestly?



The guy has 12 walks in 60 games played this season for fuck's sake. 12. That averages out 32.4 over 162 games. And this guy gets pissed when Charlie drops him from the leadoff spot? It should be the other way around. His teammates should be furious every time Manuel fills out the lineup with Rollins' name coming first.

I don't want to hear about how he's feeling better, swinging better, hitting balls harder. The guy is on pace to walk once every five games. That's possibly the most horrifying thing I've ever heard.

Ricky Henderson would be rolling over in his grave if he heard this. Assuming he was dead. Which he isn't.