Batters rejoice as A’s hold back Puk

The crabby curmudgeon hijacks my keyboard ...

The A’s likely will send lefty A.J. Puk to the minors to start the season.

“That’s a wise and reasonable decision,” says every hitter in the American League.

Hell, yeah. Why open the season with your best pitcher?

Puk is young (23 next month) and raw. In the NBA, 20-yearold rookies routinely make an impact on the most difficult sport, in front of packed houses. Yet the A’s fear that Puk might crumble emotionally if asked to throw a baseball in front of hundreds of A’s fans.

College basketball players should be treated like their baseball counterparts — once they enroll in college, they’re committed for three years.

That’s the concept being pushed by Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott and others.

Absolutely. Our universities do such a splendid job teaching student-athletes morals and ethics, as I was saying just this morning to my barista, Rick Pitino. No way these kids can soak up all that great knowledge in one year!

Lock ’em up (for three years)! Lock ’em up (for three years)!

At least the three-year-must baseball players get an education, right?

Absolutely, although majoring in chewing tobacco and stealing signs doesn’t prep you for many real-world jobs, other than most jobs in the president’s cabinet.

College baseball teams play 55 to 60 games per season. Finding a legit education there is like finding Waldo at Woodstock.

Why do I get the feeling the Angels will be happy if Shohei Ohtani flounders at the plate this spring?

That will give the Angels an excuse to tell the rook, Let’s back off a bit on the hitting stuff.

When Ohtani does hit, it will be mostly as a designated hitter. Little or no outfield duty for this fleet-footed baseball god.

He won’t be allowed to hit the day before or the day after he pitches. But he can duck in some hacks one or two days a week, giving his swing a chance to rust over.

If imagination was gasoline, baseball couldn’t mow its grass.