Lazy Lee

Readers of the Juice know that I have not always been an advocate of Carlos Lee. I loved it when we signed him to a club-record six year deal worth $100 mill, but heck, back in 2006 I still had braces, listened to Jimmy Eat World, and thought the only stat that mattered was home runs. Now, I've seen the light in the El Caballo situation, and am officially jumping on the bandwagon to bench the left fielder, or at least move him down in the order.

But the fact that Houston's cleanup hitter is currently hitting to the tune of .198/.238/.333 doesn't worry me near as much as the body language he's exhibiting. After striking out in a key situation in last night's game, Lee stalked towards the dugout with a look on his face that seemed to say, "Oh well man, I struck out again, but hey at least the ranch back in Panama has that new electric fence!". I jest, but my father (who coincidentally lives on a ranch near Austin) never fails to point out that Carlos has long seemed as if he'd rather be herding cattle than hitting baseballs.

Now I'm not a proponent of smashing the water cooler or snapping bats every time you strike out, in fact, I think the Mickey Mantles of the world look rather stupid when they bash things mercilessly after bad ABs. (Especially the water cooler; if I'm a teammate and somebody smashes the drinking water, I'm pissed. Now everyone has to be thirsty the rest of the game). But there's a difference between being a non-angry self-critic and being lazy. That's the line that I'm afraid Lee is about to cross. All the hype has been made this week about Lance Berkman suddenly getting a workout regimen and trying harder now that he's with a contender. Hopefully Carlos won't end with that same kind of story.