Detroit relief pitcher Joel Zumaya isn't the most likable fellow in the world, so it was nice to see Nick Swisher and the White Sox kick his butt Tuesday night.
Two years ago, Zumaya was one of the most dominant relievers in baseball. He possessed a 103 mph fastball, and he was striking most everyone out.
And, of course, he was a master of showing up the opposition, pointing into the dugout after strikeouts, yelling insults at opposing players, etc.
During the 2006 season, Paul Konerko hit a game-winning home run off Zumaya, which marked a rare failure for the right-hander. However, the Detroit reliever was undeterred, declaring in the papers that Konerko would never get a hit off him again.
I'm not sure Konerko has any hits off Zumaya since then, but that's probably because Zumaya has spent most of the last two years on the DL.
Fast forward to Tuesday night, when Swisher hit a 3-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the 14th to turn a 8-7 Sox deficit into a 10-8 win. It's too bad Swisher didn't point at Zumaya and yell insults as he rounded the bases.
It would have been fitting.
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