I guess I just gotta get on board with the "new way", or get the hell out!

 

Anybody know who the Twins Opening Day primary is next year?

Miley, a lefty, is starting pitcher for Brewers. He pitches to one batter, walks him, and is replaced with a right hander.

 

Presumably to take advantage of the Dodgers lineup that was drawn up to face the lefty.

 

 

 

Dear baseball smart guys,

 

Please just stop with this.

 

That includes you, FalVine.

 

Yours,

 

Hosken.

Wow... What a joke. I really don't like the cheap hacks the Brewers are trying to pull off.

 

Wow... What a joke. I really don't like the cheap hacks the Brewers are trying to pull off.

That's just it--it feels underhanded somehow.

 

Also, coming off a 13 inning game last night where just about everyone pitched. Seems like a waste of a resource.

That's just it--it feels underhanded somehow.

 

Also, coming off a 13 inning game last night where just about everyone pitched. Seems like a waste of a resource.

Can't wait for this to be the new strategy next season. Jose Berrios starts 162 games!! Or does he? Maybe he'll just throw 1 pitch every game and God knows who will take over after that.

Can't wait for this to be the new strategy next season. Jose Berrios starts 162 games!! Or does he? Maybe he'll just throw 1 pitch every game and God knows who will take over after that.

Did you just anoint the new manager?

Miley was actually on short rest today, so it makes sense.

 

He is slated to start the next game (game 6), on full rest.

 

Think of it less like they pulled their starter super-early today, and more like they used their starter for a one-batter match up on his throw day.

And the guy that relieved him, Woodruff, has completed 4 innings and is starting his 5th right now. Batted twice too.

Did you just anoint the new manager?

Good question, has He interviewed yet?

Good question, has He interviewed yet?

My interview lasted just as long as Miley's "start" today.

My interview lasted just as long as Miley's "start" today.

So do you have a second interview two days from now?

So do you have a second interview two days from now?

I walked into Derek's office (we talk and text more than people know) said I was here for the interview, and he called security on me! He enjoys joking around like that....

GO DODGERS!

I walked into Derek's office (we talk and text more than people know) said I was here for the interview, and he called security on me! He enjoys joking around like that....

I love that bit. I was a regular listener a few years ago and heard the day he first accidentally dropped that (could have been longer ago, I could be wrong of course) and made it a regular thing.

Another Dozier sighting! Pinch hit RBI groundout, Dodgers up 5-1 in the 7th.

Thank you baseball gods for not rewarding the Brewers this game.

 

Everybody else is still on Daylight time. I think that makes it 11:24, just like PDT.

 

Still way too late for Chief of course.

 

The confusion points to the issue. I fell asleep on the couch and woke up in time for the final batter, but couldn't remember if it was almost 1:30 or almost 2:30 here in Indiana! I guess it was 2:30, so yeah, that makes it 11:30 in Arizona.

 

Lasting until 11:30 would be okay for the occasional extra-inning game. It's when 11:30 is around the seventh-inning stretch like it was for me last night that it's a problem.

Joe West screws up again. How did MLB let that call stand?

That throw from Mookie was aces.

 

Everybody else is still on Daylight time. I think that makes it 11:24, just like PDT.

 

Still way too late for Chief of course.

Correct.

 

False...way too early for Chief.

 

Joe West screws up again. How did MLB let that call stand?

I thought it was a correct call.  It looked to me like the fans were reaching over the fence. Look at the one fan's hand, resting on top of the fence, and compare it to the hand(s) that contacted Betts' glove...pretty clear to me the interfering hands are farther toward the field than the hand on the fence...which means those hands are on the field side of the fence. 

 

Also, Betts floats through the air toward the fence another half second or so after the hand contacts his glove, meaning he wasn't yet at the fence when the "fan interference" happened. That tells me it's pretty likely the hand(s) are on the field side of the fence.

 

And the rule is pretty clear...a fan who interferes with a player on the field of play commits fan interference.

 

I thought it was a correct call. It looked to me like the fans were reaching over the fence. Look at the one fan's hand, resting on top of the fence, and compare it to the hand(s) that contacted Betts' glove...pretty clear to me the interfering hands are farther toward the field than the hand on the fence...which means those hands are on the field side of the fence.

 

Also, Betts floats through the air toward the fence another half second or so after the hand contacts his glove, meaning he wasn't yet at the fence when the "fan interference" happened. That tells me it's pretty likely the hand(s) are on the field side of the fence.

 

And the rule is pretty clear...a fan who interferes with a player on the field of play commits fan interference.

I'm not sure the fan(s) ever reach over the yellow line. It's very close if they did.

I'm not sure the fan(s) ever reach over the yellow line. It's very close if they did.

In a close decision, I'm in the camp of "the athlete should be allowed to try to complete the play".

 

Joe West gets a lot of crap for how he does his job, but in this instance he spotted something in that play that didn't look right to him. It may be that replay would have not overturned the call, whichever way he made it, and I doubt he could tell in real-time that Betts's glove closed up at the last second, but kudos to him for noticing that there was something fishy about how the play went. The easy call would have been, "it's into the stands, home run".

 

It was a stellar but makable catch. Astros fans would have been better served to let Betts try and maybe fail. Not exactly a Steve Bartman situation, but catching a souvenir has to take a back seat to witnessing a play you'll tell your offspring about forever. (Of course, the way it did unfold, they still will. )

 

I'm not sure the fan(s) ever reach over the yellow line. It's very close if they did.

I'm not sure either.

 

It's very close if they didn't.

 

In the above pic, it's crystal clear Betts' left shoulder is some distance (a foot?) from the fence. While his arm is angled from his shoulder toward the wall, I think it's a reasonable to conclude the hand(s) in question are in the field of play, since reasonable to assume Betts' glove isn't at the wall yet. It's also reasonable to be wary of a single screen shot as evidence, since it's at a poor angle, and leaves out everything that happens before and after that particular moment.  

 

Either way, it's a very close call, and sans clear evidence one way or the other, entirely reasonable to defer to the judgement of the umpire who made the call, IMO. 

 

I'm out on signing Machado. I don't like dirty players that try to hurt opponents.

I thought West made the right call and I really don't like Boston.

By the way, I am still butthurt over the inside-the-park HR Jake Cave gave up in KC this season, so when I saw the catch Benintendi made in LF to close out last night's game, I ask: "Cave would have made that, right?"

Here's another screenshot that shows just how close this play was. The rule itself is also depending on a matter of inches. If the player has his glove over the yellow line into the stands, fans can "interfere" by trying to catch the ball themselves. If the player's glove is still in the field of play, they are not allowed to interfere with the player. If West called it a HR instead, there wasn't conclusive evidence either way. It all boiled down to his initial call.

Alex Cora announced last night that Chris Sale won't be able to make his start tonight for game 5.

 

If Cora was a strategic genius like Craig Counsell he would have kept it quiet, make him dress and pitch to the 1st batter before switching to RH Joe Kelly.

 

Thank you baseball gods for not rewarding the Brewers this game.

 I read somewhere* this strategy** was first used in the 1924 World Series, where a manager used a RH starter for the first two hitters of the game, then brought in a LHer to face the LH hitting #3 hitter. That guy pitched into the 6th.

 

* No, I did NOT read this in real time in the following day's newspaper. 

 

** Proving once again, little is really new in baseball these days.

 

I'm not sure the fan(s) ever reach over the yellow line. It's very close if they did.

I don't like the call, either. Looks like Betts is reaching into the stands moreso than the spectators are reaching into the field.

 

That said, I think Betts catches it if no ones there. 

 

Rule 6.01(e) comment:

 

No interference shall be allowed when a fielder reaches over a
fence, railing, rope or into a stand to catch a ball. He does so at
his own risk. However, should a spectator reach out on the
playing field side of such fence, railing or rope, and plainly
prevent the fielder from catching the ball, then the batsman
should be called out for the spectator’s interference.