I've been complaining about Ken Macha, but honestly, I'm not as annoyed at Macha as I am at Jason Kendall. When Jason Kendall came to the plate with the bases loaded in the ninth, with one out, and the A's down by one, I grumbled to my computer, "G&*D(!@ f$*#&*#in Kendall's gonna hit another weak-@$# grounder to third again, I just know it." Which he proceeded to do.

I am really, really tired of watching Jason Kendall hit weak-$#!^ grounders to third. And what annoyed me more is that there is no hope it's going to change anytime soon. Kendall recently said this to ESPN.com:

I'm looking to turn it around. I haven't changed my approach at the plate. It's the same approach for me.

OK, let's see...my approach isn't working...so let's keep the same approach! Argh.

I like the way Kendall calls a game, and I can acknowledge the possibility that this is a real and important skill, even if there aren't any statistics that back this claim up. But...

I am seriously contemplating never watching another Jason Kendall at-bat again. Maybe I'll just go to the bathroom, or go get a snack or something, every time he comes up. Because I really don't think I can stand to see another weak Kendall ground out to third.

OK, maybe never is too extreme. Never is a long time. But I need a break from all those 5-3 putouts, or I'll go insane. Otherwise, I'm going to start using all kinds of foul language that the people around me just don't want to hear. So I'm going to give myself a timeout.

Here's what I'll do: I'm not going to watch or listen to Jason Kendall bat again until he goes four straight starts without grounding out to third.

I'll put up a counter on the sidebar to track my Kendall Fast, and we'll see how long it lasts.

Update: Here are the up-to-date Kendall averages:

9 hits in 40 at-bats: .225 average.
8 groundouts-to-third in 40 at-bats: .200 average.