# MLB: August **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 1, 2014, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563 "2014-08-01T09:09:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563/161 "2014-08-15T19:47:22Z")
That’s a VERY unique combined no-hitter. ---
**Author:** ![Club\_33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Club\_33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Club_33)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563/162 "2014-08-16T19:08:15Z")
Looks like the Dodgers may have lost Uribe for a while with a hammy injury. No word on when Hanley might return or our #3 starter. Keeping this team healthy seems to be an impossibility. Just glad we have a little cushion in the standings to work with and hope the replacements can come through for us offensively. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563/163 "2014-08-16T20:21:41Z")
Quite frankly, I’m more than satisfied with Turner at third. We give up a little in power hitting, but when he’s hot, he’s hot. Rojas is a weak spot offensively, but you can’t fault his glove work. It looks like Kemp has found his mojo again, so that might spark some offense production. Ryu’s broken ass is worrisome. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563/164 "2014-08-17T02:07:18Z")
Well, dammit, Felix Hernandez’ record streak of 16 consecutive starts of 7+ IP with 2 or fewer runs allowed came to an end tonight. He came out of the game after only 5 innings, and the Mariners lost to the Tigers, 4-2. But damn, that was a nice run by Felix. ETA: And I keep wanting to slap this radio announcer who keeps saying “Two runs [or less](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc)”. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563/165 "2014-08-17T02:10:57Z")
Nats walk off against the Pirates in a very satisfying comeback win. I root for the Pirates to make the playoffs, but not at the Nats’ expense. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563/166 "2014-08-17T20:44:07Z")
Well, so much for the Dodgers against the Brewers. They drop the first two games and I shut off this afternoon’s debacle when it got to 5-0 at the top of the 2nd. On the up-side, the Phillies are beating the dog-ass Giants so far, so the standing might not change. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563/167 "2014-08-17T22:01:28Z")
After dropping the first two games against the Indians, Baltimore managed to take the final game in the series today. In other news, that isn’t really news, umpire Tony Randazzo is a fucking jackass. He ejected Mariners manager McClendon today for a tiny hand-wave in the dugout. Ridiculous stuff. I wonder if he’s under the impression that people go to the ballgame to watch the guys in black. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563/168 "2014-08-17T22:59:28Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > In other news, that isn’t really news, umpire Tony Randazzo is a fucking jackass. He ejected Mariners manager McClendon today for a tiny hand-wave in the dugout. Ridiculous stuff. I wonder if he’s under the impression that people go to the ballgame to watch the guys in black. I don’t know much about Randazzo, because who pays that much attention to umpires, but he really seems to have had a chip on his shoulder about McClendon the past couple of days. What’s that all about? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563/169 "2014-08-17T23:00:37Z")
Perhaps McClendon \*said \*something too? ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563/170 "2014-08-17T23:20:18Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Perhaps McClendon \*said \*something too? Funny that the closer umpire didn’t seem to react. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563/171 "2014-08-17T23:23:21Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Perhaps McClendon \*said \*something too? I watched a clip of it from the broadcast. McClendon clearly had no idea what what happening. If he had said something, I think he would know why he was being tossed. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563/172 "2014-08-17T23:34:13Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > Funny that the closer umpire didn’t seem to react. Yeah, that’s the most amazing thing. The visitors’ dugout at Comerica Park is on the first-base side, and neither the first-base umpire nor the home-plate umpire saw fit to say anything, and yet Randazzo, all the way out at third base, apparently saw or heard something that warranted an ejection. Randazzo had ejected McClendon the night before, and last night when McClendon went out of the dugout to talk to the umpire, Randazzo apparently said to him: > [@](#): > > I’ve seen your act before. Then today, he jumped straight on him for an incredibly innocuous gesture. As the guys at Deadspin [noted](http://deadspin.com/tony-randazzo-ejects-lloyd-mcclendon-in-two-consecutive-1623029409) about today’s incident: > [@](#): > > McClendon reacted in the dugout, by waving his hand in disagreement. Randazzo tossed him immediately. It’s almost as if he was looking for a reaction from him. The two men have history, going all the way back to an incident in 2005, discussed in [this story](http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/pirates/2005/06/17/Umpires-admit-mistake-McClendon-still-hot/stories/200506170160), when Randazzo screwed up a call that changed the result of a ballgame. McClendon certainly has a reputation as a bit of a hothead, but apparently Randazzo is also considered by a number of players and managers to be something of a grudge-holder. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563/173 "2014-08-18T04:10:07Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > but apparently Randazzo is also considered by a number of players and managers to be something of a grudge-holder. I mentioned that Felix Hernandez’ string of 16 straight starts of 7+ innings and 2 or few runs came to an end Saturday night, with Randazzo behind the plate. Felix left the game in the 5th with his pitch count over 90. The Mariners postgame radio guys pulled up the interesting factoid that Felix has a noticeably higher ERA when Randazzo is behind the plate, compared to other home plate umpires. It sounds to me like he was forced to throw a lot of extra pitches because he wasn’t getting the strike calls from Randazzo that he gets from other umps. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563/174 "2014-08-18T12:36:02Z")
Interesting theory, but doubtful. Felix threw 92 pitches of which 29 were called balls…that’s 31.5%. Of his nine previous starts (far as I looked), that’s about average…in four of those games his percentage of called balls was 35% or higher; in the other five it was below 30%. This game was right in the middle. So that doesn’t sound like he was being squeezed. Another way to look at it is this: Felix had 29 called balls and 18 called strikes against the Tigers, or 1.6 balls for every called strike. Those same four games, he had a higher percentage of balls to called strikes, up to 2.1 on July 30; he had a better ratio in the other five. Again, pretty much right in the middle. Just eyeballing the numbers it looks like if there’s anything that stands out about the Tigers game it’s that he allowed more fouls than usual, which if a lot of them came with two strikes (I don’t know that they did) would explain his higher than usual pitch count. None of which is to suggest that Hernandez didn’t believe he was being squeezed, which in turn might have affected the way he pitched; just that the evidence doesn’t support it. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563/175 "2014-08-18T17:45:58Z")
Quite an entertaining article [here](http://thestacks.deadspin.com/when-yankee-stadiums-bleacher-creatures-were-wild-1613431148/+robharvilla), about life in the bleachers at Yankee Stadium in 1988. Apparently, it was originally published in the Village Voice. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563/176 "2014-08-18T19:17:48Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > Nats walk off against the Pirates in a very satisfying comeback win. I root for the Pirates to make the playoffs, but not at the Nats’ expense. Man that was a great series and I don’t just mean the Nats sweeping it. Every game was just exciting baseball. I was at Sunday’s 11 inning game and it was a blast. I didn’t like Nats fans booing Soriano, how does booing your own team help? Are we no better than Philly? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563/177 "2014-08-18T23:19:12Z")
[MyTopSportsbook.com](http://MyTopSportsbook.com) gives[8 to 1 odds of Pete Rose](http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/will-pete-rose-be-reinstated-by-new-mlb-commish--182601851.html) being reinstated by the new commissioner. 40-1 that Selig will do it before he leaves. > [@](#): > > You can’t help but chuckle at the irony of handicapping whether a guy banned for betting on baseball will get a reprieve. If you’re reading this, Pete, don’t take any action on this or any of the other Manfred-related odds. Just to be safe. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563/178 "2014-08-19T02:31:15Z")
Nats win third straight walk off game and their 7th game in a row. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563/179 "2014-08-19T03:07:45Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Man that was a great series and I don’t just mean the Nats sweeping it. Every game was just exciting baseball. I was at Sunday’s 11 inning game and it was a blast. > > I didn’t like Nats fans booing Soriano, how does booing your own team help? Are we no better than Philly? I was at Sunday’s game, and I’m also going tomorrow. Here’s hoping the Nats win in a laugher. Of course they’re bound to lose at some point. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563/180 "2014-08-19T13:40:27Z")
I find it funny that the Braves sweep the As and then win against the Pirates, but don’t move up at all in the standings. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august/694563.md?page=10)