A casual fan watching tonight's Dodgers/Pirates game may have assumed that Juan Pierre was in left field for the Pirates in the second inning. The Dodgers Nomar Garciaparra hit a ground ball past third, which was cut off quickly by the Pirates left fielder. At this point the camera was on Nomar making a hard turn for second base, no doubt causing millions of Dodger fans to assume that Matt Kemp was coaching first base.
But despite Nomar having just barely rounded first, a gaunt man in left field casually turned to make a throw to third base. Confused? I was. Until i saw his Juan Pierre-like throwing motion and the ensuing 17 bounce throw wide of third base.
The impostor is named Nyjer Morgan. Like Pierre, he throws left handed but looks like he should throw right handed, he looks like he hasn't eaten in weeks, and he can't hit the cutoff man on the fly from left field. His first name is also questionable.
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Doctor X -- the 'Baseball Medic' -- is an anonymous U.S. government trauma specialist with a Duke University sports medicine background and more than 20 years experience in emergency medicine. From time to time he considers MLB rumors, events and news reports as they pertain to baseball players' injuries, illnesses and various other disabilities, both on the field and off.
MLB Rumors editor Greg Fieg is a former sports news editor and award-winning writer whose bylines have appeared on the wires of the Associated Press and in numerous publications, including San Antonio Express-News, San Antonio Light, Houston Chronicle and Philadelphia Bulletin. He formerly was posted in various positions on the U.S.-Mexican border with Freedom Newspapers, and was a regular, independent contributor to United Press International.