Hard to Believe, but This Headline Is Terrible
The headline in the L.A. Times reads:
Now take a second and ask yourself what happened in the game.
Answer after the jump.
What did you say it meant?
a) The Dodgers got 26 hits but still lost.
b) There were 26 hits in the game total, but the Dodgers still lost.
c) Something else.
Probably a, right? That’s really the only one that makes sense.
The answer is c. The Dodgers gave up 26 hits, but still lost.
Hard to believe!
So what is this, sarcasm? In a headline?
I say it’s just bad headline writing.
“He couldn’t hit but he couldn’t throw, either.”
nk (37689a) — 7/18/2007 @ 8:26 pmI hate the LA Times as much as the next guy but there is no such thing as a bad headline in the sports page.
Alta Bob (851b92) — 7/18/2007 @ 8:35 pmAnd there is especially no such thing as a bad headline in the sports page when the Fightins crush the pansy Dodgers.
CraigC (c4ea17) — 7/18/2007 @ 9:30 pmI think it was just sarcasm. Maybe a little vague, but sarcasm nonetheless.
I remember many years ago when Nolan Ryan, then with the Astros, pitched a no-hitter against the Dodgers. The headline for the following day’s game read “Dodger Offense Explodes For 2 Hits.”
Steverino (ae0c30) — 7/18/2007 @ 10:29 pm“He couldn’t hit but he couldn’t throw, either.”
Or, he’s undersized but you forget about that when you find out how slow he is.
Tom Maguire (b338c4) — 7/19/2007 @ 4:49 amAs to the story – from the sub-head and the lead, apparently what was supposed to be hard to believe is that the Dodgers gave up a record-tying number of hits:
Hard to believe, but Dodgers lose 26-hitter
Phillies roll to a 15-3 victory, tying the 49-year-old L.A. record for most hits by an opponent.
Dodgers Manager Grady Little could have rested his weary pitching staff Tuesday night and installed a pitching machine on the Dodger Stadium mound.
The result wouldn’t have been any different. And the process would have been a lot less painful for the Dodgers’ staff.
Teeing off in what amounted to extended batting practice, the Philadelphia Phillies pounded the Dodgers, 15-3, on 26 hits. The runs were a season high for an opponent and the hits tied the all-time Dodgers record since the club moved west in 1958, the year they gave up 26 hits in a game against the San Francisco Giants.
The Brooklyn Dodgers record was 27 hits, surrendered to the Cincinnati Reds in a 1940 game the Dodgers lost, 23-2.
“It was extraordinary to see it happen against us,” Little said.
I’ll bet even avid Dodger fans did not have the record for hits yielded since the Dodgers moved west immediately at their fingertips.
Whatever – I once sat through a lot of a 22-0 defeat of the Yankees by the Cleveland Indians. And since the Rep convention was in town, I happened to be next a delegate from Ohio. His wife eventually moved him, fortunately.
Tom Maguire (b338c4) — 7/19/2007 @ 4:53 amWhat are the fantasy baseball implications?
Attila (Pillage Idiot) (68fd1f) — 7/19/2007 @ 7:20 amif you have some bad baseball in you, best to get it all out in just one game.
assistant devil's advocate (f804d8) — 7/19/2007 @ 8:23 amActually reading the story, the headline strikes me as expressing sarcastic disappointment. Kinda like “well what do you expect when your team gives up 26 hits?
A while back, one of my buddies really missed a birdy putt – missed the cup by about three feet and ended up twice as far away. His comment: Now how did THAT not go in?
bains (ae8034) — 7/19/2007 @ 12:48 pmI don’t think any irony or sarcasm was intended. I think it’s just bad headline writing, the intent being “hard to believe, but boy did the Dodgers screw the pooch.”
Xrlq (96acc3) — 7/19/2007 @ 5:18 pmI think it’s just bad sarcasm. Sarcasm is an art form and he ain’t no Rembrandt.
J Curtis (ecc9cc) — 7/20/2007 @ 7:35 pm