White Sox-Angels ALCS Thread

[Valadius]

Considering the series begins today, you know, we gotta get one going.

[Guest sharpie]

Thank you, Angels, for defeating the MFYs. Go Sox.

[Guest rpackrat]

It's complete BS that the ALCS begins just 20 or so hours after the Angels-MFY series ended. The Angels first had to fly cross-country on an overnight flight Sunday night, then nearly cross-country on another overnight flight to get to Chicago for tonight's game. Meanwhile, the Cards have been off since last Saturday, and the Astros had yesterday off (and only have a short flight from Houston to St. Lou anyway). There is no good reason (and no, the convenience of Fox and ESPN is not a good reason) to start the ALCS instead of the NLCS tonight.

[Willets Point]

What about tickets sales? People who have tix for the game tonight might not be able to make it tomorrow night.

[Centerfield]

Ticket sales? Since when do the fans matter?

[Valadius]

They matter to Arte Moreno, as evidenced by his famous beer price slashing.

Too bad it's in Chicago, then.

[Guest rpackrat]

IIRC from my Mets playoff days, the tickets do not specify a date. They are simply for ALDS GAME 1" or "ALCS GAME 3" and so on. So, the games could be scheduled on any date.

[metirish]

My cable TV is out, service interuption in the area, Cooby any problems with your Suscom?

[metirish]

Angels are not tired, they lead 3 to nil.

[MFS62]

I can't wait for some of the crazies on other Mets boards to realize that Byrd used to be a Met, and start the "why did we get rid of that guy?" threads.

Later

[Guest cooby]

metirish wrote: My cable TV is out, service interuption in the area, Cooby any problems with your Suscom?

Not that I know of, unless the Mr. fell asleep watching NCIS and I don't know it

[seawolf17]

Paul Byrd is in the starting rotation on the All-Ugly team.

[Frayed Knot]

Angels steal game 1 when all the factors seemed to line up against them: road game, unfavorable pitching matchup, travel weary, etc.

Hey, a sub-3 hour post-season game!! What's up wit dat?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Not enough quasi-celebs in the house.

[Guest holychicken]

Was it just me or did Piniella sound like a dope?

I turned on the game in the 4th and was thinking "god, who is this third guy, he is WORSE than Tim McCarver, if that is possible."

Then when I saw who it was, I was taken back.

[Frayed Knot]

Oh WOW does that SUCK!!!!

For those who didn't see it:
- 1-1 tie / bottom 9 / 2 outs / none on / AJ Piersynski batting for the Sox
- he apparently strikes out swinging on something near the dirt
- Angel catcher Josh Paul (the Molinas had been pr'd for) rolls the ball back to the mound and thinks it's all headed for the 10th
- But Peirsynski thinks it maybe hit the dirt and heads towards 1st, making it easily because all the Angels are walking off the field
- After long discussions, mucho arguing from Scoscia, and a belated consultation with the 3rd base ump, Piersynski is awarded 1st
- Pablo Ozuna pinch runs and promptly steals 2nd
- Joe Crede lines a 2-strike pitch into the LF corner and the Sox win!!!!

The main bone of contention is going to be that the home ump seemed to not only indicate the strike 3 but also a "punch-out" sign and may have been convinced into thinking the pitch was NOT caught cleanly only by the fact that Piersynski's ran. By the time the 3rd base ump was asked he either agreed that it hit the dirt, didn't see it well enough to over-rule it, or was too chicken to make a member of his crew look bad.


I was pulling for the Sox and didn't want to see it end like that once AJ got on.
This thing's going to be talked about for days inside MLB.

[Valadius]

That was a bullshit call.

Pierzynski was clearly called out by the home plate umpire.

[Frayed Knot]

Umps w/supervisor in live press conference on ESPN

- Home ump (Doug Eddings) says that the "out" call was not an indication that he thought the ball was caught but merely his normal strike 3 mechanics.

- Ump supervisor: Replays "inconclusive at best"

- Piersynski's delay in running toward 1st is NOT the same as being out ... at least until he reaches the dugout (he never made more than a step towards his bench)

[HahnSolo]

The Catcher (Paul) said in the post game that in situations like that (third strikes in the dirt or that get away) the ump almost always yells something like "no out" or "ball in play" which he did not do on this occasion. That's not a rule, mind you, just something that generally happens.

And I second, third, and fourth the motion that Piniella sounds clueless. At some points, I think McCarver and Buck (who I also cant stand) actually felt bad for him, not correcting his mistakes.

[Guest 86-Dreamer]

I think the umpire should be removed from the Series. Whether he ruled correctly about the ball hitting in the dirt is irrelevant, but there is no question that his hand signals were utterly confusing and that is unacceptable.

His explanation holds no water in my opinion. If his first signal was to indicate that the ball was not tipped (and therefore a strike), then what could be the purpose of the second signal other than to say that the batter was out?

[Frayed Knot]

The other thing that 'generally happens' is that the catcher looks to the ump after anything even remotely close just to get confirmation of the fact that he caught the ball cleanly. Paul never did and - as confusing as the strike/punch-out signals may have been - neither he not any of the other Angels appeared to be fooled by that because they were already trotting off the field while Eddings was going through his mechanics. In short they never looked they just assumed, and when you assume ...

Piersynski, on the other hand, assumed that it was NOT clean and when he didn't get the expected tag on his butt he simply took off. Run first, ask questions later.

I still think it was a bad (though close) call - and it's certainly a sucky way to lose - but the Halos are as much to blame as anyone. Piersynski made sure and they didn't.

[Guest 86-Dreamer]

I agree that the Angels should not have assumed anything and have to accept the loss as their own fault. Does not change my opinon that the umpire did a bad job and should be censured.

[Frayed Knot]

Eddings' hand signals may have been confusing but;
a) that's the way he had called 'strike 3' the entire time
and
the Angels seem to be using that more as an after-the-fact excuse than anything else. The catcher Paul couldn't have been confused by it because he never saw it.

Bad call?
Probably, but they're not removing or "censuring" an ump for that.

[Centerfield]

Good point. Paul flipped the ball back immediately and trotted off. I think the rest of the Angels took their cue from Paul. There's blame to be had on both sides...Eddings for the confusing call/signals and Paul for not making doubly-triply sure. On anything close, I've noticed that Piazza holds up his glove waiting for confirmation from the ump. If Paul had done that, all of this could have been avoided.

I think maybe we need a rule change where we have a signal/call where the ump rules strike three but it is VERY CLEAR that the batter is not out.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Jim Caple offers a good perspective on the play and the call.

[metirish]

holychicken wrote..

]Was it just me or did Piniella sound like a dope?

He sounded completely out of place, he has the most annoying voice, where is he from?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Tampa.

Also home to Dwight Gooden, Derek Bell, Dave Magadan, John Hudek, Tony La Russa, Fred McGriff, Tino Martinez, Gary Sheffield, Floyd Youmans, and the greatest of them all, Rich Puig.

[Willets Point]

Fox cancels ALCS.

[Valadius]

ROTFL.

[Guest Edgy DC]

]Antonio Alfonseca Once Again Leads Major-League Relievers In Fingers MLB Promises Next Season Will Be Even More Predictable Reggie Jackson Still Mr. October To His Librarian

In the zone.

Of course, the headline ususally does it.