One more of these and we'll have to call it a cliché. A day after Lincoln Chafee went on talk radio to condemn Curt Schilling, Kentucky Senator (and Hall of Fame pitcher) Jim Bunning questioned the toughness of the Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, who missed his scheduled start Tuesday with shoulder tightness.

"520 starts, I never refused the ball,” Bunning told Politico's Jonathan Allen. "What a joke!"

The joke might have been on Bunning. Politico reports he was among the 40,000 fans who showed up at Nationals Park Tuesday expecting to see the phenom pitch.

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Ray Gustini