Centerfield

TransMonk wrote: I'm not there yet. I was probably over-confident yesterday and under-confident for tomorrow. I'm guessing I'll be more optimistic come game day. This.

You know what pisses me off? No way these fuckers beat us in a 7 game series. Assholes.

I know he's kind of locked into his position having defended himself against Ernie Johnson and Ron on Saturday, but he brought it up again. Despite the league having ruled it illegal. Despite anyone not affiliated with the Dodgers or Phillies calling it a cheap shot. I get that he's a proud man, and I'm sure he's aware that public opinion is not with him. But that still makes him a stupid douchebag. And he can eat my asshole.

I like the Fred Willard commercial. "It's gonna be a lot of fun. Firing everyone."

12 hours later, I am still pumped up from the Cespedes HR. Holy fucking crap.

WTF ERIC GOEDELL

This game is much more fun than Saturday. Let's do this again tomorrow.

Fuck Cal Ripken.

Bartolo time. Let's see that cologne ad.

Score 20.

Come on Harvey! Get your shit together.

Whether it's guesswork or judgment, that replay official had the choice to award the bag or not. His hands were not tied. And with the benefit of all that time (it took forever to cart Tejada off the field) and multiple angles of that vicious slide, he made the conscious decision to award Utley the bag. His hands were in no way tied, as Torre suggested. So, I want that fuckhead to come out, identify himself, and sit behind a mic and defend his decision.

You know what? That's unfair. I'm sure Utley knows that there is a thing called second base. He just thinks it's located in Tejada's calf.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I imagine that if there hadn't been an out call Utley would have scrambled back to second base and Tejada, face down in pain on the ground, wouldn't have been able to tag him out. (Where was the ball when all this was happening? Was it still in Ruben's glove? Or did he get some kind of a throw off?) How can we assume that? From all replays I have seen Utley seems completely unaware that there is an object called "Second Base" and is equally unaware where such object may be.

That's not true (addressing FK Post). They had the discretion. It's in my earlier post. Here's the rule: Correcting an Incorrect Call Consistent with Official Baseball Rule 8.02© (formerly Rule 9.02©), if Replay Review results in a change to a call that had been made on the field, the Replay Official, to the extent feasible, shall exercise his discretion to place both Clubs in the same position they would have been in had the call on the field been correct. This shall include placing runners where he thinks those runners would have been at the conclusion of the reviewed play if the reviewed call had been correctly made in the first instance, disregarding interference or obstruction that may have occurred on the play, failures of runners to tag up based upon the initial call on the field, runners passing other runners, missing bases, etc. The replay official could have ruled that the toe did not hit the base, but that since Utley had gone that far past the base, that he would not have gotten back in time.

We will never know if any of the other umps thought so because Terry Collins did not come out of the dugout and immediately create a stink. Had he done so, there may have been a chance, small that it may have been, that they would have conferred and overturned the play.

d'Kong76 wrote: Centerfield wrote: We need to make a video. Get 10-15 kindergarten kids. Show them the video. Ask each of them if they think the runner is aiming for the player or the base. Each and everyone will answer that the runner is going after Tejada. Even the Kalifornia kindergarteners! You can go to Nepal and get their kindergarteners!

Yes, but the replay officials had the discretion to let the call stand or award him the base. They could have found that the evidence was inconclusive to overturn, they could have ruled he went out of the baseline, or they could have ruled that if the play had been called safe, Tejada would have likely tagged him before Utley returned to the bag. Instead, with full knowledge of the Utley tackle, they went out of their way to reward the fucker. Giving them back the second out is completely on the replay official. I want to know who he is. And like Pedro Martinez says, he should have to sit with a mic in front of him and defend his decision.

We need to make a video. Get 10-15 kindergarten kids. Show them the video. Ask each of them if they think the runner is aiming for the player or the base. Each and everyone will answer that the runner is going after Tejada.

For the record, I am still angry. You don't write manifestos like I did in the other thread without being a little pissed. I also emailed it around hoping that one of the media guys will use it and call out that replay official for using his discretion to award Utley the base. It's just that now I'm back to being somewhat rational. And my wife let me go out in public again. Honestly, no exaggeration, I was so mad Saturday night I was shaking.

I guess it's only appropriate that in a season where we have experienced irrational exuberance, I have also felt unmitigated, persistent rage.

I don't think they should retaliate tonight. Win the series. No unnecessary baserunners. You can retaliate next year. And by retaliation I mean punching the dickless coward while wearing their championship rings.

First and foremost, the play should have been ruled interference. Section (a)(13) states: (A batter is out when) A preceding runner shall, in the umpire�s judgment, intentionally interfere with a fielder who is attempting to catch a thrown ball or to throw a ball in an attempt to complete any play. The explanation follow rule 5.09(a)(13) from official MLB rulebook. The objective of this rule is to penalize the offensive team for deliberate, unwarranted, unsportsmanlike action by the runner in leaving the baseline for the obvious purpose of crashing the pivot man on a double play, rather than trying to reach the base. Obviously this is an umpire�s judgment play. There is not a person in the world that can watch this replay and reach any other conclusion. You could travel to Nepal, pull indigenous people off a mountain, show them the replay and ask whether the runner is trying to go for the base, or the player, and every single one of them will say he was going for the player. You cannot reach any other conclusion when a man runs past a base, and delivers the force of his entire running start into the lower half of an opposing player. In response to Don Mattingly, David Wright has been called for sliding out of the baseline in pursuit of a player. He was ruled out and the runner at first was ruled out. Mets fans, as I recall, were fine with that. David Wright has never caused such a vicious hit on another player. In fact, other than Hal McRae, I can't think of another that comes even close.

themetfairy wrote: Did Terry appeal the lack of an interference call on Saturday? If not, why not? Because he's a fucking wuss. Chase Utley was not the only one drawing my ire yesterday.

Thought #3. Terry Collins Should Be Fired Let me start with this. I like Terry Collins a lot. I have never said he should be fired before. Not with any moves he has made. In fact, I think he is a pretty good manager and a very likeable guy. I don't think Terry should be fired. In fact, he should get an extension. But wow, did he ever fuck up Saturday. And he should be blasted for it so that this shit never happens again. 1. Interference Call As soon as this happened, Terry should be on the field losing his mind that interference was not called. There are very few calls that can't be reviewed, and Terry needs to understand which ones those are. And when that happens, and his SS has been tackled, and he is lying on the ground with a broken leg, Terry needs to be unloading on that umpire. He needs to be gesturing to where Utley started his slide, that he made no attempt to get to the bag. Get tossed from the game. Fire up your team. Don't be a fucking wuss. Had he done this, there would have been less chance that... 2. The Umps allow the Replay to Take Place This is another judgment call on the part of the umpire. You didn't get the interference call, and now you're going to say the neighborhood rule doesn't apply? NO FUCKING WAY. You rip them a new one. You're already tossed from the game. Now you go around ripping out bases. Get suspended. Do everything it takes. Make the umpires understand that you will not stand for it. Because even if it then does to go replay, it makes the replay officials think twice before.. 3. Awarding Utley the Base The replay officials have just watched Collins go ballistic wanting interference. Now the legality of the slide is in question. He just lost his mind when the play went to review. The replay officials have to be thinking, wait should it have been a double play? Should we be reviewing this? Can I possibly take away an out? Am I going to start a riot if I make this call? There is very little a manager can do affirmatively to affect the outcome of a game. This is one of those places where a difference can be made. I like Terry Collins, but he fucked this up just as badly as the umpires did.