Frayed Knot

TransMonk wrote: He's hitting .353 over his last nine games (since sitting the two out). Problem is that, until last night, all his hits were singles - and most of them were simply grounders that found their way between 3B & SS (I remember one hard liner up the middle), grounders that could just as easily been at someone instead. So it wasn't just that he was sucking, it was that he was sucking while showing no signs of breaking out. Last night at least was a change of pace.

OK, here's an interesting scenario -- supposing the original call on something like this was that it hit the wall and therefore not a HR. But the replay rules that not only did it not hit the back wall but that it never hit any wall at all but just Crisp's glove and that Crisp caught it on the way down (he didn't, but just play along for the moment). Does the video then allow the umps to change the call to an out even though it's only supposed to be used for boundary calls not out/safe calls? Yes, a replay can be used to turn a call to an out, but can only do so on balls that are initially called as home runs but that fans interfered with. I can't ever see your scenario actually happening. It would require a ball initially being called "in play, not a homer" but actually having been caught. It would require a colossal screw-up for an umpire to miss the ball actually being caught in that scenario. (A play initially called "out" is not replay reviewable). If they ever really did screw that up so badly, I do think they can overrule the call after conferring (but not with the benefit of replay). I agree it would need to be an unusual situation: something on the order of the umps initially calling that the ball hit the fence and then fell into the OF's glove only to discover that it hit his glove in front of the wall and then fell into his glove. Bay's drive last night did, in fact, appear to hit only Crisp's glove and not either the front or back walls but of course he did not cradle the rebound. But as I was watching things unfold last night the thought occurred to me that Terry could come out an argue for a review only to have the call wind up worse for his team than the one they originally made (triple turned into an out rather than the hoped-for HR) and more generally about the slippery slope you get into when you decide to employ replay but only for limited uses. IOW, what if you go looking for something but then find something else that's not specifically under the replay guidelines? In this case the rule, which is in place only be used for HR questions, would overturn a catch/no-catch call simply because that was near the wall where a similar out/safe question where the OFer is coming in could not be settled via replay. And, btw, what would you do with any runner(s) in the above (or similar) hypothetical? Naturally they see the safe call and run. Can they now be blamed for not retreating even though they were following the ump's call at the time? Do you place them back at their bases free of charge so to speak because the wrong call was made? Is it a judgement call as to whether or not they could have made it back based on where they were at the time of the call, a ruling which could place some runners back on their base of origin but others not?

That's the problem with not starting rallies until there are two out - it just takes one AB to kill it. For all that noise we never even got Bay in from 3rd

Hey Grant, what's your last name again?

Frayed Knot wrote: Edgy DC wrote: Duda and Pride on the bench. They've probably got to let Tejada bat. Duda to 1B, Murph to 2B Or Harris to 2B

Edgy DC wrote: Duda and Pride on the bench. They've probably got to let Tejada bat. Duda to 1B, Murph to 2B

OK, here's an interesting scenario -- supposing the original call on something like this was that it hit the wall and therefore not a HR. But the replay rules that not only did it not hit the back wall but that it never hit any wall at all but just Crisp's glove and that Crisp caught it on the way down (he didn't, but just play along for the moment). Does the video then allow the umps to change the call to an out even though it's only supposed to be used for boundary calls not out/safe calls?

Yeah, let's hit a few more pop-ups!

I walk into the bathroom and miss a Jason Bay HR?!?!?? What are the odds?

He seems to be saying that the injury is more complex that the "sprain" or however it is/has been reported ... but I have no idea why he's being cryptic about it.

bmfc1 wrote: SNY storyline for tonight: a review of the '73 Series. That, and you're bound to hear - probably more than once - that that David DeJesus was born in Brooklyn, grew up in Jersey, and was drafted out of Rutgers.

Has someone put out a worthless "Take a good hard look across the field Mets fans, this is the blueprint for your team going forward" article yet? Thing is, a guy like Daric Barton would be a prime example of that blueprint for those who favor tearing it all down and starting over route -- "trade 'em all for prospects"!! Drafted in the 1st round (28th overall) as a catcher by the Cards in 2003, no one ever believed Barton would hang as a backstop but the one consensus on him is that he'd hit and it was that promise that the A's dealt for when they sent Mark Mulder to the Cards (OK, the A's also got Dan Haren in the deal so it wasn't so bad on their end). Problem is -- he hasn't hit. Not that he's over the hill yet (26 in August), but to date he's a .250-ish career hitter over two full seasons and parts of two others (1,500 ABs). And while he does take walks (OBA .100+ pts over his BA) the dude is slugging .268 as a 1B-man this season (50 hits / 13 2Bs) and has 26 career HRs. Bottom line: Even sure things aren't sure things.

I don't want to say this is a low-budget team, but ... they have the Weeks who isn't Rickie (baby brother actually, just called up last week) the Jackson who isn't Reggie the Suzuki who isn't Ichiro the Sizemore who isn't Grady the Powell who isn't Boog and even the Pennington who isn't Chad (as a SS I hope he has a better arm)

... out 4-6 weeks, broken wrist.

John Sickels: NYM pitching prospect Armando Rodriguez is off to a good start for High-A St. Lucie. Since being activated from extended spring training in late May, he's made four starts and pitched 17 innings, allowing five earned runs for a 2.65 ERA, with 16 hits allowed and a 21/6 K/BB ratio. 10 of those strikeouts were over five innings in his last start. The 23-year-old right-hander is one of the more interesting prospects in the Mets system. Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2007, he had a fine year in 2010, posting a 152/46 K/BB in 146 innings for Low-A Savannah, with just 116 hits allowed. He entered '11 with 322 career strikeouts and just 225 hits allowed in 306 IP. Despite his excellent component ratios, scouts are lukewarm on him, pointing to mediocre right-handed velocity (87-90, hitting 92 on his best days) and a fringy slider and changeup. He does have a decent cutter, but his success is primarily reliant on sharp control and deceptive mechanics. Scouts admit this works in A-ball, but there is a lot of skepticism about how it will translate to higher levels. Rodriguez has definitely earned to chance to show us, however, and continued quality pitching at St. Lucie could/should result in a Double-A trial later this year.

Carrasco - 1.0 Beato - 1.0 Thole - 1.0 Tejada - 1.0 Beltran - 1.0 Reyes - 0.5 Pridie - 0.5 Turner - 0.5

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: But that drug-fueled sideshow SAVED baseball and Made America Proud again! What are you a communist? Nyet!

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: I'd applaud politely. Really depends on game context, though, along with whether or not they drag out a podium or something. Just on a general note, I HATE it just about anytime the action is stopped in-game for a record acknowledgment. Tip your cap, acknowledge the applause, and when that dies down throw the next pitch. Records are meaningful only in the context of the game and shouldn't be treated as an end itself which trumps the game it occurred during. So yeah, if they're going to drag out a podium I'd hate it even if it were Reyes reaching 3K and I'd really turn on the boo machine if it's for an opponent. The only one I was really OK with was Ripken and his post-5th inning trot, probably because that record was specifically for reaching that particular point. But otherwise spare me in on-field ceremonies. Save it for the post-game presser or, if the team wants to recognize the achievement further, set up a day to have a pre-game ceremony later on. And, yes, I was turned off by the McGwire/Sosa antics after the redhead's 62nd HR -- WAY over the top IMO.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: FNL is great; he stays out of the story entirely, With the small exception of him going off on a tangent about how the west Texans who adopted GHW Bush as one of their own and supported him for Prez (the book took place in '88) after he moved there from his New England roots to enter the oil biz were basically too stupid to know that his policies were going to mean more harm for them than good. Fine with me if you want to think that way, but it just seemed out of place in an otherwise detached account. Plus it kind of brings up an irony about the aftermath of the whole book which had the town-folks labeling Bissenger as the eastern elitist when they didn't like how they sounded in black and white print.

metirish wrote: Is this the asshole that made a holy show of himself in attacking the Guy from Deadspin on Costas? Yup. He's a legit writer of books ['Friday Night Lights', 'Three Day in August'] and in magazines/newspapers, but he seems more than a bit crotchety as he manages to be rail at both the new turks who won't stay off his lawn and the more established older guard who HE thinks are old and crotchety.

The thing about his east-coast elites comments is that he's a Philly guy. Born there, went to school there, still lives there. He seemed to have hooked onto the cult of LaRussa and maybe the Pujols stuff is simply him repeating whatever Tony is feeding him. The anti-Bill James stuff seems almost universal to me among those sports writers who aren't strictly baseball guys. Throw up a 'Bill James ruined baseball' Facebook page and I'd bet 90% of the sports geeks in America would 'LIKE' you within days but only because there's no 'MARRY' you button. It's an avenue that gives them another way to condemn the sport as not being what it once was or up to their standards. 'Friday Night Lights' for my money was one of the better sports-themed stories in the last several decades but I don't know that I've read much of him aside from that and only caught that anti-blogger rant on TV in part and well after the fact (even he later backed off what he said that night and began blogging) so I don't really have much else to add here.

Amid speculation that his job was in jeopardy, Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez resigned prior to Sunday's game ... and then the Marlins promptly went out and lost again to the cross-state Rays. At least they were close this time: 2-1 on a complete game 4-hitter by James Shields.

This shouldn't be about whether the fans acknowledge a visiting player reaching a rare milestone; of course they should. You don't have to be enthusiastic but polite and respectful would be nice and, if you don't want to do that, then sit on your hands and say nothing. My problem with this whole subject is the idea being put forth that Jeter doing so at CitiField is somehow fitting, or noble (sez Noble), or uplifting. Or that we the fans should feel honored he 'chose' us for the moment. Ummmmm, no we won't. Let him do it in that other borough so his fans can use the moment to feel further emboldened and moved to pour even more cups of over-priced beer on the heads of out-of-town fans while security sits back and pretends they didn't see it.

There's an ump with an early plane reservation!

Ashie62 wrote: Tyler Chatwood has been underwhelming as a rookie. Wasn't he the guy who hit the last second shot in 'Hoosiers'?