More Baseball Stables

Last week's post comparing the Philadelphia Phillies pitching rotation with professional wrestling's Four Horsemen was – for some reason – one of the more polarizing pieces I've written in four years on the lightly-read blog beat. Some of y'all liked it and some of y'all hated it.

I expected more of a "liked it"/"didn't get it" split. It's not that the "stupid", "retarded" and "you don't know what you're talking about" barbs hurt my feelings. It's that none of these people could see this inherently absurd subject matter in the same way I see it. Be more like me, jerks!

M'man Jon P. followed up on my "Ph-our Horsemen" post with a terrific e-mail that brought even more pitching staffs and pro wrestling stables together. I sent it around to some friends and thought it was absolutely worth sharing here:

I got to thinking about other factions which have their counterparts in the world of baseball. I came up with a few, although they aren't specified to a team's pitching staff. Even I have my limitations.

New York Yankees -- The Heenan Family: Admittedly, it worked better before this summer, but in the spirit...a continually threatening, scary-looking group backed by a rich loudmouth, whose games/matches can be a chore to watch. Only occasionally wins championship gold.

Boston Red Sox -- N.W.O.: After years of being #2 with a bullet, a massive push puts them on top for a time. Yet that passion/desperation allows what enabled them to win to eat the team alive. Also, backed by media of a sometimes questionable credibility.

Los Angeles Dodgers -- D-Generation X: Not talking the original, edgy D-X (Baseball, edgy? Good one.), but the recent retread. They provide some entertainment on a weekly basis, but rarely win the gold, and are legendary largely on their past.

This last one was tough, as I needed links with family, tragedy, and a short, yet intense fling with success. So I had to go a few years back.

Florida Marlins -- Hart Foundation: A large, non-American following, familial connections, brief periods of major success, and a quick, sad decline due to an owner's choices, leaving a bad taste in the mouths of many fans.


So maybe there are more connections between the staid world of baseball and the wacky world of rasslin' than we thought. Now when do we set up the cage around home plate?