Ouch! Nats got swept in Philly. The Braves have a chance to close to 4.5 GB if they win tonight. That’s four losses in a row for the Nats, the first time they’ve lost 4 in a row since mid-June. Let’s snap out of this, guys!
I think I made it pretty clear that I don’t, because I don’t have any interest in pretending you’re amenable to one. Look at what you said in that post I quoted. You’re in the street with your pants down on the subject. I tried to help you cover up a little bit. If you aren’t interested, you aren’t interested.
Just to be picky, I sincerely doubt they would have said that when you consider that the controversial call was made on the first batter of the inning.
I guess you could argue it would have been the first of three outs… but there was never even a second out in that inning.
The inning, for the record, went
1 Orta - Infield single (the blown call) 0 out
2 Balboni singles, Orta to second 0 out
Conception pinch runs for Balboni
3 Sundberg grounds into force out 1-5 1 out
4 McRae batting; PB Porter. Conception to third, Sundberg to second
McRae walked intentionally 1 out
5 Iorg singles to right; Conception scores, Sundberg scores. Game ends.
If you remove the blown call, in fact it isn’t the case that there are three out and it’s not even necessarily the case the Cardinals win the game.
Ack! Memory can really play tricks on a guy sometime. I coulda sworn that would have been the last out. :smack: :smack:
Thanks for correcting the record, and my faulty memory!
Anyone else watching the Dodgers/Marlins game? I have no clue what just happened. I will explain what I saw as best as I can.
The situation was Dodgers at bat with one out. Adrian Gonzalez on second, Andre Ethier on first. Luis Cruz pops a ball up in the infield, with the Marlins fielders scrambling to get to it. Ethier, trying to figure out where the ball went in the air, is run into by first baseman Carlos Lee. Meanwhile, the Marlins’ catcher gets to the ball but it tips off the front of his glove and lands in fair territory before kicking foul. The ball is retrieved and thrown to third, and Gonzalez is tagged out.
Now, initially, everyone was called out. The first base umpire gestured an out just as the ball was dropped. It was unclear whether that gesture was because of the infield fly rule, or because he was calling interference on Ethier. Ethier (and ultimately, Mattingly) appeared to be arguing that Ethier couldn’t have been called out on interference because he had a right to be where he was, clearly within the base path and not looking at Lee at all. And if they WERE calling him out on interference, shouldn’t the ball have been dead, thereby preventing the out at third?
After a great deal of conferencing between the umpires and some back-and-forth conversations with the managers of both teams, here’s what the umpires ruled: Ethier was out, Gonzalez was sent back to second, and Luis Cruz was sent back to resume his at-bat with the same 1-2 count he had when the play initially began.
Can someone please sort this one out for me? I am baffled.
[“This” being:
ElvisLives: “But I do too often see the statement that that’s all there is to it, luck.”
Which was in response to rtfirefly: “But you can’t just wave away the huge element of just plain luck that MLB has introduced into the postseason.”]
I don’t know that anybody’s said it here in this thread or in this forum, but some guy named Billy Beane, you may have heard of him, has been widely quoted as saying:
“My job is to get us to the playoffs. What happens after that is fucking luck.”
I don’t know that Mr. Beane actually meant it *exactly *this way, but he did say it.
Interesting situation. I didn;t see it, but according to ESPN’s play by play account of the game, the inning ended with:
“A Ethier out at first on obstruction. L Cruz flied out to left.”
Off the top of my head I don’t know why the obstruction overrules the out call on the infield fly. I’d think you’d have both players ruled out…I’ll see if I can find anything else.
Okay, more info. From wikipedia:
“The only time that a fielder does not “get out of the way” [that is, isn;t required to get out of the way–my gloss] of a baserunner is when the fielder is fielding or in possession of the ball.”
So if the first baseman was trying to get to the ball, Ethier was responsible for getting out of the way. If he didn’t, if he was standing in Lee’s way, looks like the proper call is interference–doesn’t matter whether he was looking at Lee or not.
Also:
“Whenever this offensive interference occurs, the ball becomes dead. If the interference was committed by a batter or a baserunner, that player is called out and all other runners must return to the bases they occupied at the time of the interference.”
My bolding.
So, assuming that the interference call was correct, it sounds like sending Cruz back to the batter’s box (if indeed that can be construed as the “base he occupied”) and calling Ethier out was accurate. I’d still be inclined to think of it as a DP, since if infield fly had been called the batter was already out before the interference call, but maybe infield fly hadn’t actually been called…If not, it looks like this might have been the right call. Weird, but right.
Thank you, Ulf. I’m not sure I like it, but that sounds like it makes sense within the context of the rules.
**Their application of the rule is correct. ** A declared infield fly reverts to being a mere foul ball if it drops and then goes foul before being touched or before passing first or third base; therefore Cruz cannot be out. Ethier, however, interfered, and so is rightfully out, and the play dies at that point.
This is the only possible thing that can negate an infield fly call - the ball going foul on its own.
Unfortunately, while they applied the rule correctly, they blew the call in judgment. The ball DID touch Brantly, the catcher; you can see it hit his shinguard. That makes it fair, an infield fly, and makes Cruz out, and Ethier’s still out for obstruction. In fairness, missing the call is understandable as it’s just barely noticeable in slo-mo with a perfect angle.
Miami won the game anyway, so no harm.
[QUOTE=Ulf the Unwashed;
“My job is to get us to the playoffs. What happens after that is fucking luck.”
I don’t know that Mr. Beane actually meant it *exactly *this way, but he did say it.[/QUOTE]
Well Michael Lewis said it. And while I really like Lewis, he has been known to embellish to prove a point on occasion.
But on that, I think he’s exactly right (whether he is Beane or Lewis). I’ve given up thinking that there is any magic to winning in the playoffs. The very best thing a team can do to win a World Series is maximize its chances (given its payroll) to make the playoffs. Doing more than that is, in my opinion, short-sighted if it in any way decreases your odds of making the playoffs in subsequent seasons.
Or, put another way, the best way to win one World Series is to make the playoffs four or five times.
The Braves were kind enough to lose to the suddenly hot Padres last night while the Nats had the night off, so the lead’s back at 5 games.
In the NL wildcard race, it looks as if the Cards have joined the Braves in separating from the pack, as the Pirates continue to plummet, and the Dodgers continue to tread water. It’s not a done deal yet, of course, but aside from the Padres who are way too far back to count, nobody seems to be winning with any consistency lately except for the Cards, Braves, and the three division leaders.
And the AL is starting to look really interesting, but I haven’t been paying enough attention to things on that side to make head or tail of it. Speaking of treading water, what’s with the Yankees lately? Is there really a chance that the O’s or Rays could catch them?
The Padres have been looking pretty good recently. Chase Headley’s having a great year, and a few of their acquisitions and promotions have stepped up nicely.
Baltimore took its 1-run game record to 24-6 yesterday, with a 4-3 win over the White Sox. The Orioles have not lost a 1-run game since June 20, and have won 13 (!!!) such games over that span.
Cincinnati again comes close to overtaking Washington for the best record in the majors!
The Astros need 4 wins in their last 34 games to surpass the 2003 Detroit Tigers. I think they can probably manage it.
The prize, of course, would be that you get to face the wildcard winner rather than the weakest division champ - presumably the West winner.
This could obviously change a bit over the remaining weeks, but if the postseason started next week, I don’t think it would make a lot of difference, from the Reds’ perspective, whether they were playing the Giants, Braves, or Cards. They’ve basically split their season series with the Cards and Giants, and though they’re 5-1 against the Braves this year, the games were all back in May.
The Nats haven’t yet played the Cards this year; that’ll change starting Thursday. They’re 10-5 against the Braves, but aside from the Nats sweeping the Braves back in May, they’ve been playing each other pretty tough. The Nats are 5-1 against the Giants, and all those games have been in July and August; as a Nats fan, I’d be happy if they finished with the second-best record in the league, and got to play the West winner. Go Reds! 
Their favorite margin of victory.
After last night, 30 of their 70 wins (and only 7 of their 57 losses) have been in one-run or extra-inning games. If they were 19-18 in those games instead of 30-7, they’d be right at their Pythagorean of 59-68. But the antigravity machine they keep in their locker room has them only 3.5 games behind the Yankees. Who’d’a thunk?
Joey Votto is going to be back soon barring any setbacks (please God, no). He’s slated to do a rehab start tonight IN single A Dayton. What a lift he will provide to the offense. And Johnny Cueto pitches tonight against the D-Backs…I am hoping he gets the Cy Young this year.
I’m really surprised at how many non baseball events have been scheduled at Wrigley this year. Next week, there are 2 Bruce Springsteen concerts. Just off the top of my head, I know there has been a Roger Waters concert and a soccer exhibition earlier this season.
Is this normal? Obviously, the Cubs aren’t going to be forced to move any games out of Wrigley like the Marlins did a few years ago.
But, it sure seems like scheduling non baseball events during the season is a bad idea. I imagine the field itself is in terrible condition. It won’t matter for the Cubs itself, but if they were in a pennant race, I’d want Wrigley to be in top shape.