I have said it before and I will say it again. Hitting a round ball thrown anywhere from 70-100 MPH with a round bat is the hardest thing to do in sports. Even those paid handsomely to do it a very high level will fail 70% of the time and still make the Hall of Fame. That's how difficult baseball is. Don't believe that it's that hard? Ask Dan Uggla.
Uggla is the Atlanta Braves second baseman for the foreseeable future having signed a 5 year $62 million contract after being acquired in a trade with the Florida Marlins this past off season. He is also the second baseman of the future. The 2 bagger who puts up offensive numbers that your grandfather only dreamed his favorite second baseman could. Uggla can hit the ball. And he can hit the ball hard having slugged 154 home runs in his first five years in the Major Leagues, which if you didn't know is a record for a second baseman. Which makes what I'm about to type all the more baffling.
Dan Uggla was batting a whopping .173 a month ago, nearly 100 points lower than his career average coming into this season. Now any baseball fan would tell you that at some point they expected Uggla to get hot, he certainly couldn't keep up this level of ineptitude all season, and they would be right. Uggla has now gotten a hit in 25 straight games and is showing the offensive prowess many thought that he had. 25 straight games! You would think his average would have shot way up after this sustained level of excellence and you would be wrong. Dan Uggla is now batting .215.
A hit everyday for a month and still only batting .215. You still think there's anything tougher to do in sports?
He's as streaky as they come, which means we're likely in for one HELL of a streak soon. Gonna need it, too, with those sonsabitches in Philly killing everyone.
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