Vin Mazzaro - We Hardly Knew Ye

Last night, Kansas City Royals pitcher Vin Mazzaro made history. And in typical Kansas City Royals fashion, this type of history was not good. By the by, the previous statement can be nominated for understatement of the year. And so can this one - Mazzaro was awful.

In the 2 1/3 innings that he 'pitched' last night, Mazzaro gave up 14 earned runs (yes, that is not a typo) on 11 hits and three walks. Somehow, he managed to strike out two batters. My theory is that they were laughing too hard at his inability to do anything to keep from just flailing randomly at the plate. The worst part of this - Mazzaro was not the starting pitcher!!!

Yes, Mazzaro was actually the third pitcher the Royals trotted out during this beatdown that best compares to how France reacts in any war involving Germany. Kyle Davies, who is usually the epitome of incompetent Royals pitching, started the game. He managed to get one out while walking three batters before leaving the game.

Back to Mazzaro. He became the first pitcher in the modern era of baseball to give up 14 earned runs in less than three innings of work. His 14 earned runs against during that one appearance are more than Josh Beckett and Josh Johnson have allowed all year. Mazzaro became the first reliever since Les McCrabb in 1942 to give up 14 earned runs in an appearance against the Boston Red Sox. In fact, the last starter to give up 14 earned runs was Mike Oquist in 1998 against the New York Yankees.

Immediately after the game, Mazzaro was demoted to AAA Omaha. This is not enough of a demotion. Considering that at the start of the year, the Indians were expected to essentially be a AAA lineup, it is proven that Mazzaro cannot get anyone out at that level. Lower rookie ball seems to be a good spot for him. Or, even better, maybe he should be on a Little League mound. I'm sure those kids would enjoy getting to tee off on a former major leaguer.

The good news for Mazzaro is that McCrabb did get another chance to pitch in the major leagues. Of course, this was eight years later in 1950. So Vin, see ya in 2019. Please leave your napalm at home when you show up next.