Cohn: Strikeout king Burrell centerpiece of Giants’ flaws

But when it comes to flaws, when it comes to bad verging on ghastly, no one on the Giants can touch left fielder Pat Burrell. He is the centerpiece of Giants’ faults and if you missed what he did Saturday — or didn’t do — let’s just say he had a perfect night. He perfected the art of the strikeout.

In Game 3 he struck out four times in four at-bats. There’s a kind of brilliance in that. So far in three World Series games, he has whiffed/fanned/been blown away eight times. In the total postseason he has struck out 19 times in 38 at-bats, as in half the time. If you’re a glass-half-full person, you’re encouraged at the 50 percent of the time he actually managed to make contact.

No need to be a glass-half-full person in this case. Burrell exists on the Giants to hit the ball — he is no Rickey Henderson in left field. If he doesn’t hit, he is useless in a baseball sense, although he may be a very good swing dancer.

Thanks to Philby.