In an exhibition game on Sunday, the Braves’ top pitching prospect, Julio Teheran, gave up six home runs in two innings. The New York Times, passing up innumerable gags, simply headlined its brief story on the game “Pitcher Allows 6 Homers.” To be sure, shying away from obvious puns is not always a bad trait. But I do recall fondly how the New York Post headlined its article on the first game in the brief major-league career of the Mets’ Jason Roach, in which he allowed seven runs in three innings against the Angels: ROACH GETS LIT UP / METS ROOKIE SMOKED IN DEBUT.
(By the way, Roach, a converted third baseman, went 2-for-2 at the plate in his only other game and still has a career batting average of 1.000.)