joe morgan off to a great start rules wise...
 

not!

in the mets-cardinals game joe morgan made a ridiculous rules comment (what else is new, i know but this one's bad)

here's the situation

the st louis pitcher makes your standard fake to third look to first pick-off move. he clearly steps off the rubber after he fakes to third and then looks toward first but doesn't throw. here is where the infinite wisdom of joe morgan comes in. he says "they" are working on making this move illegal because it is "deceiving to the runner." he says something about not being able to fake to first from the normal postition and how he doesn't think it should be any different with this move. Jon Miller sounds like a rules genius whe nhe points out that the pitcher had clearly stepped off so it is perfectly legal. but joe won't back off his point because even though he stepped off it is "deceiving to the runner" which means in joe's world it should be a balk.

where does he come up with this stuff?

i hope this isn't an omen for how the rules interpretation on tv goes, but it probably is.

I heard that boardcasters are not require to know the rules, nor not subject to random drug tests.

I heard that comment as well. The pitcher really caught Jose Reyes off guard. Great move! Looked legit to me!


GO A's!!!!!!

I think Joe Morgan is the worst there is. When ever he is on the sound goes off.

Ties for worst with Tim McCarver. Whenever either of these gives a rule interpretation, it is almost always 180 degrees from reality.

Reyes looked really lazy last night...jogged on the droppped fly ball...many players would've been standing at 2nd base in that situation...hopefully he steps up his intensity...

Reyes looked really lazy last night...jogged on the droppped fly ball...many players would've been standing at 2nd base in that situation...hopefully he steps up his intensity...

Glad to know I wasn't the only one yelling at the TV last night. It upsets the wife though.

yeah, hopefully some player steps up the intensity.

Talk about Cederstrom's job last night, who cares about some idiot that doesnt run out a fly ball?

You are correct on the first part. I plead the fifth on the second part. :o

But if we don't learn the rules and speak about them, we lose credibility. Those of us not well-placed in the business don't move up if we have no credibility.

I have to know the rules. My boss at the radio station probably doesn't know the difference. But my dad, an NFHS/JUCO umpire/referee (baseball, basketball & football) of about 30 years and former TI at Lackland AFB, will bust my chops if I get a rule wrong on the air.

Aren't all pick off moves and attempt to deceive the runner???

Does this make all pick off moves balks???

Jerry

Back in the early 1990s, Joe Morgan claimed that the scorer had erred by awarding the batter (Baker) a single instead of a double on the following play:

Abel on 2B, Baker lined a hit to right field. F9 took it on two hops and threw home where Abel was safe on a close play. Baker took 2B on the throw.

Joe Morgan claimed that since Baker had not stopped running after rounding 1B, but instead kept going when he saw F9 throw home, he should have been credited with a double.

The other announcer made a diplomatic attempt to indicate that Morgan was wrong, but quickly gave up when Morgan insisted.

What are you guys talking about? Joe is a former umpire (or claims to be), and is, as such, always right.

Yep. Seems like every coach I talk to was a former umpire, also :D

Seems like every coach I talk to was a former umpire, also

The last coach who told me that he was also an umpire used that "fact" as evidence that his following assertion was correct:

"On a close play, runners are required to slide."

Believe it or not, he added the following wisdom:

"Even in the big leagues."

A quick McCarver saying...

"David Eckstein, like most players, has 20 digits. 10 fingers, 10 toes. He used them all on that play". :confused:

My favorite Joe one from recent memory

R1, R2. 1 out. Deep fly ball to center. U1 sprints out to get the ball. U2 lines up the tag, U3 awaits at 3 and PU at home. Both runners end up tagging, but R1 stops and gets thrown behind at first. U2 has to make a close call on R1 from the saddle.

Joe says that he has umpired for years, and that U2 needs to run out in this situation, not U1. Furthermore, if U1 goes out, then PU should come up and get 1st base.

Where does he come up with this stuff?

This was the Sunday night game between the Mets and Yankees last year...I know Larry Poncino was involved, and we had a great debate over how much of a moron Joe is.

I can't speak about his rule knowledge, since I haven't heard him much since starting umpiring, but I always thought Joe Morgan was highly informative about inside baseball strategy and mechanics.

Unfortunately, whatever Morgan and Miller say on the weekend you can bet that some coach will be yelling about it the first week of the season. Oh Joy.

Any runner who gets picked off in the old 3rd to 1st move not only deserves to be out, he deserves to be shot, too.

What's a "boardcaster"? Is he someone who throws wood planks? Or announces the action at a Board of Directors' meeting?

"nor not" Double negative. Are you implying they ARE subject to random drug testing?

Bob

Nice to know that I'm not the only one who does this, and has the same problem in doing so! :D

I too was speaking my mind at the TV after Joe's blunder last night! He's such a moron! And his partner was trying to graciously bail him out of it, but Joe would have none of it. He went face-first into the cow pie, and then ate it all up!

Not every one, just about half of them. The other half still umpire during their
" off " season........:p