People hate the mouthpiece

Newsday's David Lennon writes one of the longest articles on mouthpieces published, this one dealing with Mike Pelfrey and his chunk of plastic. Lennon writes that many batters are distracted with the mouthguard, though Pelfrey needs it for a condition called TMJ or Tempromandibular Joint Disorder.

From Lennon:

Pointing to an area alongside the right side of his jaw, he added, "This muscle right here gets real, real tight, It's like a cramp almost. You have to pop it back out."

The condition, Pelfrey believes, is a souvenir of his trip to Taiwan with Team USA in 2004, when he was part of the group that won the gold medal at the World University Baseball Championships.

Pelfrey struck out 20 in 16 2/3 innings. But in his meeting with Japan, one of the few hitters who did make contact came within inches of ending his career before it really even began. Pelfrey took a line drive off his right cheekbone, and when he points to the spot, it's perilously close to his eye.

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"I hated that thing," said catcher Brian Schneider, who faced him last year as a National. "I couldn't stop looking at it. Other guys were always talking about it, too. Everybody hates it."

I nearly gagged like 10 times while writing this.

Hey, whatever works for you Pelfrey. If you have to bend over backwards to distract the hitter in the slightest bit, do it. Pelfrey claims he prefers the store bought versions to the ones that are custom made for ones mouth. He also said he doesn't even boil them for a more custom fit. He just likes them right off the shelf.

Gag.