And the Cardinals are back on the bench.
Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo tried to bring relief pitcher Jacob Waguespack into a game, only to me refused, because Montoyo failed to include Waguespack on his pregame lineup card:
But the thing is, there isn’t actually a rule that he has to be. It’s a courtesy, not a requirement. Montoyo, inexplicably, failed to play the game under protest.
Well, this is just mean.
Brutal
Tweeeeeet!! Home plate Umpire holds arms outstretched horizontally to side. “Unsportsmanlike conduct - Taunting. Against the organist. 15 yards, $5000 fine, and ejection from the game. Hmmm. 15 yards is about 45 feet. Hell, close enough. Batter to advance to first base! … It’s not like anyone is watching.”
I love when teams let the organist get in on taunting the visitors.
Most teams after tomorrow will have played 16 games. The Cardinals will have played 5. Euthanize this season, please.
In the days of three NHL officials, when calls were going against the home team (Montreal Canadiens) the organist at the Montreal Forum would start playing “Three Blind Mice”. 
Hey, it might makes it easier for the Cardinals to make the playoffs. If they can just win three straight games and then have everything else COVIDed out they’ll have a .625 winning percentage and teams are actually ranked by winning percentage, not “games ahead/behind.”
I know you’re joking RickJay, but with Manfred’s admission the other day that not all teams will get 60 in and that winning percentage will be used, have they discussed a “minimum required” to make the playoffs?
Hunter Pence is getting a bunch of crap for supposedly spoiling Cueto’s no-hitter by blowing an outfield catch.
The game in question involved Cueto pitching five hitless innings before the outfield mishap, which is not a “no-hit bid” by any reasonable criteria. Pence could feel bad if the play happened leading off the ninth inning, but this? Nah.
Especially since Cueto gave up a three-run shot later in the game. It’s not like it was a 1-hitter and Pence’s play was the decider. It wasn’t a perfect game chance either (Taylor walked in the 3rd).
Also, why wasn’t Pence charged with an error? It was an otherwise routine fly if he hadn’t lost sight of it.
If you never even get a glove near it, they won’t call it an error, no matter how egregious the fielder’s mistake.
Huh. Guess I knew that in the back of my mind somewhere, but…
So just run away from everything and you’ll never take an E. Of course, your opportunities will quickly be limited… 
As long as I can remember, an outfielder (or an infielder, for that matter) is not charged with an error when he loses a fly ball in the sun. It might land two feet from him, but if he obviously doesn’t see the ball, it’s ruled a hit.
Pence should have been charged with an error, according to the rules. Players have been charged with errors before when losing the ball in the sun or lights. The rule is not consistently applied, but the rules say that was an error.
Yes, the rule states that if a play could have been made with ‘ordinary effort’, an error shall be charged. But I maintain that far more often than not, an error is not charged when a ball is lost in the lights or the sun. Likewise, when a catchable ball drops between two or more fielders, a hit is generally awarded.
The official scoring rules say:
It is not necessary that the fielder touch the ball to be charged with an error. If a ground ball goes through a fielder’s legs or a fly ball falls untouched and, in the scorer’s judgment, the fielder could have handled the ball with ordinary effort, the Official Scorer shall charge such fielder with an error.
No one follows that, though, when it comes to fly balls. I don’t remember ever seeing an error given on a fly ball that falls untouched, no matter how easy the catch would have been.
With the Cardinals still dealing with players and staff with COVID-19, MLB has postponed yet another of their series – their Mon-Wed series in St. Louis against the Pirates has been postponed. The Cards now will have gone two full weeks without playing.
In other COVID-related news, the Indians have sent starting pitcher Zach Plesac (nephew of former relief pitcher Dan Plesac) back home to Cleveland, and ordered him to self-quarantine for 72 hours. After getting a win against the White Sox in Chicago last night, Plesac then broke team rules when he left the Indians’ hotel to go out with friends.
I completely agree. Furthermore, the rules state that:
ORDINARY EFFORT is the effort that a fielder of average skill at
a position in that league or classification of leagues should exhibit on a
play, with due consideration given to the condition of the field and
weather conditions.
(Italics mine)
So, in the opinion of the official scorer, if the average player would have lost the ball in the sun, then it’s not an error.