Jerry Crasnick's Starting 9 on the outfielders who have emerged in 2009. And with a great sigh of relief, Ed Wade says the following about Michael Bourn:
"He's been our most valuable player...Last year Michael put himself in a lot of tough situations. Word got around that he was trying to take pitches and be patient, and all of a sudden he was hitting in a lot of 0-2 and 1-2 counts. Now if somebody throws a fastball, he'll square it up and hit it somewhere -- preferably to the left side...He makes center field look awfully small. Sometimes it seems like he's covering it corner to corner, foul line to foul line."
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
