New month, new thread.
The Red Sox won, so it doesn’t matter, but the O’s triple play was basically Exhibit A for why the infield fly rule exists. Shortstop JJ Hardy appears to be camped under a ball, waves off the left fielder, but the wind carries it just over him. The Red Sox runners and batter all think the IFF rules was invoked, as it probably should have been, but their wrong. Even if the runners had been aware, a double play was still almost certain.
I am mystified as to why the infield fly rule was not invoked there. That was, quite clearly, a popup that the infielder could have made with ordinary effort.
Jackie Bradley was very stupid not to run it out, but, still.
And I seriously hope both teams can move on from the Manny Machado nonsense now. Ok, he slid hard into Pedroia, the Sox threw at him, Barnes was suspended, the O’s plunked Betts, the Sox threw at Machado again, now he’s really angry. I just hope Drew Pomeranz doesn’t legit accidentally get too far inside on Machado tonight. I suspect the result will be instant ejection.
ETA: If you look at that triple play, Bradley went to 1st base but I think Pedroia (standing on first base) or someone told him he was out so he went back to the dugout.
I, too, assumed that an infield fly had been called so I was wondering why Moreland left second base when Schoop was there with the ball. Schoop clearly understood the situation because there was no hesitation in his actions, but I don’t think anyone else on the field (not the runners, the rest of the defense, the coaches, or the umpires) knew what was happening until after the umps sorted it out.
Machado’s carrying on as if the Orioles have no plans at all to go inside or behind Hanley. It can be over if Machado would stop popping off about it like a whiny punk. If Sale wanted to drill him, he easily would have. Machado has to know this. Sale put the first pitch well behind Machado, where the whole bullshit belongs now.
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Also, while it’s absolutely inexcusable, is this the first time a visiting player has allegedly been called a name by a drunken “fan”? The media seems to be acting as if it was the first time ever anywhere an epithet was hurled at an opposing player and that it’s the Worst Thing Ever. Again, not defending the louse who supposedly chose that tactic to express disapproval, but the public apologies and showy applause seem a bit much.
Finally, as a Sox fan, Shut Up Dennis Eckersley!
Apologies from everyone in the state of Massachusetts to Adam Jones might have been a little over the top, but better that than to play it off like no big deal.
The Machado stuff should have been over after Barnes threw at him and was subsequently suspended last week. We’re all square, right? The O’s apparently disagreed because game 1 of the series this week they decided to drill Mookie Betts, who had nothing to do with any of it, but hey, he’s Boston’s #3 hitter.
I have little doubt the Betts HBP was intentional, but the O’s were at least inconspicuous about it. Did it in the 6th inning on the 3rd or 4th pitch. Not quite as obvious as Chris Sale firing the first pitch to Machado behind his legs.
Well, there is a history of this sort of behavior in Fenway*–and from what I understand, there’s a history in other sports in Boston as well (hockey anyway). Jones is by no means the first.
Vernon Wells has said that Fenway is one of the only two stadiums where he was called racist names. (I don’t know what the other one is.) CC Sabathia has said that he used to get called racist insults in Boston (and only in Boston) till he joined the Yankees; I guess now security is tighter or something. One of them, or maybe it was somebody else, said that pretty much all African American players are aware of the issue. David Price has said he has heard racial taunts in Fenway–as a member of the home team.
I suppose it’s curious that this didn’t get made much of till Adam Jones this week, and maybe the degree of the apologizing and hand-wringing has been over the top. But in my not so humble opinion it’s long overdue that the Red Sox recognized that some pretty unpleasant things were going on. Glad they seem to be finally taking steps to do something about it. Under these circumstances, it doesn’t seem they’re overreacting.
(I should point out here that I am quite sure the great, great majority of Red Sox fans are no more racist than fans of any other major league team and would never dream of insulting a player because of his race. It’s just that from among the universe of baseball-stadium-attendees-who-feel-free-to-use-racist-taunts, a disproportionate share seem to follow the Red Sox.)
Last season, Gary Sanchez came up in August and hit 20 home runs in his first 50 games. This season, Aaron Judge has hit 12 in the firs 24 games. This Yankee team has some obvious holes, but I can’t remember enjoying watching this much since the late 90’s. The best part is having some more possibly exciting debuts in Gleyber Torres and Clint Frazier, among others, to look forward to. Finally getting younger.
OK, make that 13. This is nuts.
Best broadcaster line of the season was someone remarking how Judge and Torreyes stood next to each other in the opening day introductions and it looked like a father-son game.
Judge certainly has great potential, but eventually I think the pitchers will discover what works best against him and his production goes down. But so far, so good. The team seems like it has good chemistry and doesn’t get bothered by an early deficit. This is as fun a Yankee team as we’ve seen in years.
Has to be Philly. Misbehaving fan stories in any sport are always about either Philadelphia or Boston.
He’s taken over the MLB home run lead from Eric Thames, who has cooled off since he stopped playing against the Reds. J
Current MLB homer leaders:
Judge - 13
Zimmerman - 11
Thames - 11
Freeman - 10
Khris Davis - 10
Bet no one saw that coming. Well, Davis isn’t a surprise.
I had high hopes for Judge, with his power I thought he might even hit 40 homers this year if he could really master his strikeout issues. Now I’m seriously dreaming of the first 50 homer season from a rookie.
RickJay:
I wasn’t aware that South Korean baseball teams played against North Koreans.
They switched jerseysfor a photo shoot recently. Good stuff.
The 20-10 Orioles are partly ruining my enjoyment of the 20-9 Yankees. Go away.
Hopefully the Yanks will be 20-11 in two days…
I don’t feel like the Os have much depth, they are probably not the Yanks biggest worry. Once Price returns, the Red Sox who are not far back will be the much more serious threat.
Just hope our pitching can keep going, we have 2 solid AAA starters that can step up in case of injury or collapse in Green & Cessa and meanwhile Chance Adams in AA has been incredible and probably will be promoted to AAA soon. Meanwhile stealth prospect, Daniel Camarena has 3 starts with 3 wins for a 0.00 ERA and 18.1 innings. He is a 24 yr old “soft throwing” lefty so not on any of the top prospect lists but it appears he can pitch. Also has 17 Ks vs 3 BBs. He pitched well last year but not enough to get much mention.
Ugh that Cubs/Yankees game last night!