Just A Victim Of A Bad Reputation

Bengie Molina has a couple of things he'd like to clear up.  Yesterday, he used his blog to do it.

First, Bengie responds to recent criticism about the number of walks he's drawn since the start of the season.  (That would be none up until May 12th -- two since.)

The bottom line is I'm an aggressive hitter. I swing at pitches I think I can hit. When I see a pitch I can hit early in the count, I go for it. I swing at a lot of 3-1 pitches because they're pitches I can hit. I'm not waiting, hoping for a walk. Would you rather have a guy who has 40 walks but only 30 RBIs and five HRs, or a guy who walks only a few times but gets 90 RBIs and 15 HRs? I want to hit and score runs.

Bengie also takes the opportunity to confront fans who have been "taking me on for the steals," cautioning them to remember that one player alone does not a base stealer catch:

A defense has to execute three acts almost perfectly to catch a runner stealing. The pitcher has to get the pitch to the plate quickly. This is key because that act sets the sequence in motion. Then the catcher has to catch, release and fire to the bag quickly. And the fielder has to make the tag quickly.

Everything needs to click together. No one player can make it happen alone.

Last year, I had probably the best defensive year of my career -- five passed balls all season, five errors and I threw out almost 40 percent of runners trying to steal, which was well above the league average.

More than just about anyone, Bengie uses his blog as a platform to respond to things that are happening in the world of sports, as well as criticism of himself and his teammates.

We've said it before, and we'll say it again: this is the Era of First-Person communication.  Bengie, for one, seems to get that.