The Jilted Lover

Have you ever been cheated on? Of course you have. What red blooded American man hasn't had his life destroyed at least once by a conniving bitch? Have you ever been downsized, or dealt with in an unsavory manner by your employer? I'm sure you have. The fact that you're reading this blog during prime business hours tells me that you're probably not a cracker jack worker bee. I'm guessing that your car doesn't spend many days parked in the employee-of-the-month spot.

How does this make you feel? Whether deserved or not, no one likes to feel scorned. Put yourself in the shoes of Buccos pitcher Jeff Karstens. Holding down the fifth spot in the Bucs' rotation all spring, Karstens was served a little notice when the team traded for Braves' prospect, Charlie Morton. In fact, Morton was given the start last night, as Karstens was sent to the bullpen for middle innings, long relief, and mop up duties. In the baseball world, Karstens was handed the classic, "I just want to be friends" line.

Well, as luck would have it, new-guy-in-town, Morton would blow out his hammy after one whole inning. So guess who gets the call to get his hiny loosened up and out to the mound...pronto? You guessed it, the previously scorned Jeff Karstens. I guess that's the equivalence of getting that call from your ex-lady and hearing that she's just discovered that her new man lives with his mom, fantasizes about Hannah Montana, or experiences occasional erectile dysfunction.

In seriousness, some credit needs to go out to Karstens on this one. He jumped on the hill with short notice and pitched 4+ strong innings, propelling the Bucs to victory. All in all, I'm not sure what moral, if any, this story holds. Perhaps Karstens' strong effort was inspired by the feeling of scorn or betrayal. Maybe a little shake up was necessary to motivate the youngster to produce at the major league level. Maybe the Pirates' management will have an interesting problem soon. I just know that in 4 days, it's going to be interesting to see who takes the mound.

Karstens handled his 23 minute demotion to the bullpen with grace and dignity