Theoldmole

Richie Phillips was one of the worst things to ever happen to baseball, and I say that as a generally pro-union guy.

It's actually not that uncommon to put an entire team on waivers -- the idea is you're trying to slip one player through, and you're disguising him in a sea of names.

�The one thing that would make the game faster would be to call a strike on a high fastball down the middle,� Hershiser said. �Calling that pitch would change every at-bat. Right now, that pitch has no chance of being called a strike.� The �high, hard one� that became an American idiom is ball one, despite the written rules. In 1969, the top of the strike zone was moved from the shoulders to the armpits; in 1988, the upper limit became the �horizontal line at the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants.� (It had moved downward informally when umpires switched to more compact chest protectors in the National League in the 1950s and in the American League in the 1970s because the umpires were able to crouch lower.) In the mid-1990s, umpires more frequently gave pitchers calls off the outside corner than up in the zone. The complaint about high strikes dates back decades. In 1987, Peter Gammons wrote in Sports Illustrated that calling those long-lost high strikes would speed up ballgames. He quoted Pete Rose saying, �The major reason that games are so long and boring today is the strike zones are so damned small.� The recent marathons between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox are a testament to the idea because both teams are devoted practitioners of working the strike zone. The games of their first series to open the season were so long that the teams were admonished by the umpire Joe West. Heading into Sunday�s game, the matchups between the Yankees and the Red Sox this season have lasted an average of three and a half hours. Over all, today�s games feature about 27 more pitches than in 1988 (the oldest official pitch counts), equal to nearly an extra full inning of play � although stronger players, smaller ball fields and tighter baseballs also give pitchers more incentive to work around the strike zone. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/sports/baseball/09highstrike.html?ref=sports And why is it taken for granted that the strike zone is an expression of the umpire's personality?

Don't call me Shirley. This is really good stuff, Frayed.

Unfortunately, it's the nature of every pitcher to lose control occasionally and give up walks, hits and home runs.

Wholehearted approval.

Well, they sorta lost Seaver that way.

What did Mookie say?

As Bob Murphy used to say, "When the Mets start hitting again -- and they will..."

Santana 6 Bay 3 Pagan 1

Way to go Lunchie!

Given the fact that these days the entire bench is composed of middle relievers, how often is a pinch runner called for? We're not in the age of Herb Washington here.

Here's a story from a friend. I have to remember something he did for my son's Little League team--one of the team was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma and had had his leg amputated the knee ending his career in baseball. When Steinbrenner heard about this he invited the entire team to Yankee Stadium, gave them seats above the dug out, took them into a private club area and had them meet the team.

I liked the Kansas City Hero -- a loaf of Brett, a hunk of Biancalana, and a slice of Balboni.

Ed Head.

Go Bobby!

Who would you rather have on the mound in an important spot -- Bobby Parnell or Johan Santana?

That's what they're saying -- and I agree with everyone in the booth who thinks it's dumb.

Mister Pelfrey! He pitches! He fields!

The last line of my Charlie Daniels entry in The New Country Music Encyclopedia: A 'Simple man'? Simpleton is more like it.

Cheer Larry, boo Mariano.

Well, it's not as bad as the $298 million I thought from the URL.

Be nice to give Johan a run or two.

That's so sad.