...would be for me to concede that Pie is as good if not better than Fuld in every aspect of the game. Now here’s my argument for Fuld:

As a sixth outfielder/pinch runner, behind Pie at both positions, he’d still be of use in at least two scenarios.

1. Teams rarely use a pinch runner twice in a game because the 25-man roster makes impractical. For example, the Cubs have used pitchers as pinch runners several times this year but in September, you can use Fuld in that situation and not risk injuring a pitcher or using your top defensive replacement in Pie. On the flip side, in a long extra inning game you’ve got an extra pinch runner in case Pie and/or Cedeno have already entered the game.

2. If the Cubs are winning or losing by a huge margin, I’d rather just replace Edmonds and Soriano and there’s not much point to running Johnson out to play the field for an inning or two. Granted the risk of an injury in such a scenario is very unlikely, but it’s still possible so why not let Fuld play an inning or two?

If it was a choice between the two, either Pie or Fuld, then Pie is the obvious choice but the Cubs don’t have to make that decision – they can bring up both players. Simply having the additional spare part, in Fuld, is a positive even if the potential impact is small.

Oh and don’t worry about the editing, I quit my job with the Grammar Police years ago.

1) This is kind of a tough exercise because almost everybody except those living around Des Moines and West Tennessee hasn’t seen either of these guys play defense much this year.

2) So many people are down on Pie because he hasn’t lived up to the hype, which from the naysayer’s perspective, made him out to The Next Willie Mays. Still, he can have a long career if he stops pressing so hard at the plate in the big leagues. Maybe now we can more accurately see him as having the potential to be The Next Devon White.