Frayed Knot

Edgy MD wrote: I think Conforto is out. It certainly wasn't a call that screamed to be overturned ... but we see those sort of 'could be' calls overturned all the time. I would have rejected the request with extreme prejudice.

When I hear Gary talk about Berti I keep thinking that Colin Firth from THE KINGS SPEECH is out there on the field.

Seeing the Braves win their first game of their DH vs the Yanx and now Freddie hitting a 2R HR in the bottom of the 6th to take a 2-1 lead ... and I feel bad that I don't feel bad.

In his HS yearbook, Jacob deGrom was voted most like to get his rare lead chopped in half by a (shoulda been caught) pop-fly double followed by a dinky grounder and then a dinky grounder?

An actual two-out RBI ... is that our first this season?

1st & 3rd, less than two outs, best RBI hitter up ... we've got no chance.

In response to the police shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the Brewers / Reds game for tonight (Wed) is being postponed. There is talk of potentially more MLB games being affected. This comes on the heels of the Milwaukee Bucks announcing, just prior to their scheduled game time this afternoon, that they were "boycotting" their scheduled playoff game. And now all three NBA playoff games which were to happen tonight are also off.

"They'll SURELY score for deGrom" ... why, they never have before.

I don't think there's any kind of 'gentlemen's agreement' against that type of play. To me it's more that baseball has, over the years, slowly morphed from a game where the ball was always assumed to be in play unless specifically stated otherwise to one where just the opposite is now considered to be the norm. -- Think back to Muffy's "steal" of 3rd base on a walk in that series against the Dodgers. Once 'Ball 4' was called, 3B-man Justin Turner, who was in short RF as part of a shift, just started casually strolling, head down the entire way, back towards the general direction of his regular position -- remember also that this was during a freakin' playoff game - as if he had all the time in the world to get there because, well because of course he did, the last play was over and now nothing would or could! happen until the next pitch was thrown. Now I'm not implying that Turner actually thought those specific thoughts but he certainly acted as if the game was in a holding pattern and would be until his pitcher opted to dictate otherwise. Murph meanwhile, alertly saw what was happening and, for maybe the one and only time in his life, made a clever base-running move. Gary, you may recall, once described Murph as running as if under the impression he was invisible. -- That very same week over in the AL playoffs [TEX v TOR], Ranger 2Bman Rougned Odor scampered home when Russell Martin's return throw to the mound dinged off Shin-Soo Choo's bat and into foul territory. Yet, even as he was streaking home, the HP ump was waiving off the play as if not only is the time between batters automatically deemed to be dead-time but now nothing is allowed to occur even in the time between pitches! The umps got together and, after much discussion, eventually allowed the run to count. But it's telling that, even from the arbiters of the game, the very first reaction was that Odor could NOT advance because the game was on pause. Choo, btw, had his back to Martin the entire time so there was no implication that he intentionally interrupted the throw and Odor, to his credit, kept running despite the HP ump's initial call otherwise the whole thing could have really turned into a mess. Now this particular play last night was a bit different. Sanchez actually looked towards Berti at 3rd but then made a lazy throw as if his glance alone was sufficient to negate any hi-jinx -- a habit born of the above mindset most likely -- and then Familia made an awful return throw. Good for Berti, bad on Mets. My overall point here is that I don't think players are reluctant to try oddball tricks like these because they don't want to upset the other side but rather because it rarely occurs to them to do so. If quizzed on it most would probably come to the conclusion plays like these are in fact allowed but that certainly wouldn't be their first thought and some of them would probably have to stew on it a bit and maybe check with one or more of their coaches before coming up with an answer. Now in addition to how more mundane this attitude makes the game of baseball think about the message it sends to fans; if time between batters and even between pitches is dead time where nothing CAN happen, well then that's just another excuse to use that thumb to switch to, and maybe not back from, something else on their TV/Phone/Game console. And you tell me that TV ratings are down? ... huh!

I don't think they need to worry about the HR Apple for this game. So far it looks like getting the ball out of the infield is going to be a rarity.

1.556 games for the price of one!!

A 7 inning game with 4 runs combined and it still managed to run 2:37 not even including the 1:05 rain delay. 2:37 used to be known as a longer than average 9 inning game. This sport is committing suicide right in front of our eyes.

Ends it with an even oh-fer-TEN ... that should drop the overall RiSP down closer to .200 It had risen to over.210 briefly but we knew that couldn't last.

Way to work the count, Pete!

The Marlin pitchers, the Marlin fielders, AND the HP ump are TRYING to hand us this game

So what do ya figure here, a couple runs in with the tying and winning on base ... and then two straight failures to leave them just short.

Some of those folks in that 'Daydream' commercial are famous folks. Actor Liev Schreiber plays one of the 'pairs' and I think at least one/two other is/are a basketball player.

This is just a pathetic display.

oh-fer-six w/RiSP ANNNNND we had a runner in scoring position erase himself You have to try to suck that bad just in one game and they managed to do it in four innings!!

Hey Keith, how many hours are there in a "short" rain delay?

Just what you wanted in a 5:10 start DH, over an hour just to get through 2-1/2 innings and then a rain delay on top of that. I wonder if any of the 7-inning games so far this year have exceeded three hours. My guess is yes and, if not, probably will be before tonight is over.

So what constitutes an official game?

They get multiple two-out hits in multiple innings ... we have multiple failures in similar situations.

Seeing as how we're still technically on a winning streak and this game is (sort of) the completion of the four-game set in south Florida. I say 'sort of' because, for reasons as unknown as why this weekend's DH's are all being played in the Bronx, Game 1 today sees the Mets as the home team which means Game 2 is more like the designated replacement for last Thursday's game in Miami while Game 1 is tonight's regularly scheduled game moved up by two hours. Got all that? Anyway, the [CROSSOUT]5:10[/CROSSOUT] 1710 start sees Rick Porcello going up against Daniel Castano. The lefty Castano made his ML debut against the Mets back on 8/8 where he gave up 5R on 5H in 4.1 IP and took the loss. Since then he had a good start vs the Braves [1R / 4H / 6 IP] and then he wound up pitching against the Nats the day after he was to pitch in the canceled game last Thursday but got pulled after retiring just one of the first four hitters - although it wasn't like he was getting smacked all over the park: Walk, K, Walk, WP, Infield Single, Shower

Of the four Heath Bell shots available on his BB-Ref page, the only one I'd recognize as him is the main one, the 'in action' shot of him as a Padre. He looks all generic in the others.