Joe Morgan at it again....
 

Yankees Red Sox on Sunday. A wacker at first runner called safe (replays showed at least to me call could have gone either way) Joe, "looks like a tie. Throw has to beat the runner" while true he goes on to say "ties go to the runner". He has to be stopped. Someone please stop him.

I noticed he has been better of late. A ball was very close to hitting a batter's foot, and he said "tough to tell on the replay if it grazed him, and there is no way the umpire would be able to see what we can't even see in slo-mo".

But yes, he still does need to be stopped.

Who does he think he is - Tim McCarver? Well, maybe.

As frustrating as JM is, it's not really an umpire issue. Would you feel more satisfaction posting here: http://www.firejoemorgan.com/?

When ever I have to watch a Red Sox game and Joe Morgan or Tim McCarver are the announcers, I turn down the sound and turn on the radio. I have to deal with a delay (AM radio and satellite TV) but I can deal with that. I cannot stand either commentator! Not because they make stupid, un-informed remarks, it's that they never shut up!

I'm an Orioles fan (gluton for punishment) and watch/DVR every O's game and many Nationals games from MASN. This weekend the O's catch someone stealing, might have been Upton, and Jim Palmer starts talking about how the umpire was out of position... grrrr

Palmer is so ridiculous, he's announcing for the O's and complains about a call that goes their way....

The game before he said something ignorant when Joe West called the O's pitcher for going to his mouth and correctly awarded a ball, Palmer was talking about a balk. Palmer as a pitcher should know this...

They need to send announcers to an umpire boot camp for terminology, basic rules and to bust the myths they perpetuate.

That's precisely why he doesn't know it; he's an idiot. As one catcher once told me when referring to his pitcher after the pitcher kept shaking off signs: "God! Pitchers are the dumbest guys on the field!" :D

As a former catcher, I completely agree with this. ;)

Even baseball movies reflect that F2 and F1 are at opposite ends of the IQ spectrum.

Rule 7.01 A runner acquires the right to an unoccupied base when he touches it before he is out.

The runner has to beat the ball. There are no ties, runner was out.

While I agree that F2 is the defensive battery leader in many cases there are clearly exceptions. Can you imagine Maddux's catcher being more cerebral? That's just an example to illustrate. As for movies, how about "For Love of the Game". Costner was certainly the star of this movie as the opposite end of the battery from Bull Durham

No glory for the catchers.

Glad you agree with me.

Throw has to beat the runner" while true he goes on to say "ties go to the runner".

Nope. Just the opposite. Runner has to beat the throw. Otherwise, "Tie goes to the runner" would be true.

Bob

This same discussion always boils down to these two seemingly conflicting rules, the one you cited, 7.01, and 6.05(j) which states: After a third strike or after he hits a fair ball, he or first base is tagged before he touches first base.

This always lends bit of credence to the absurd notion that a tie goes to the runner, because of its ambiguity.

Lends it credence according to whom? Someone without adequate training in the interpretation and application of the (flawed) rules of baseball?

I hate to say this but these clowns (Morgan, MacArver,etc ) are genius's compared to Hawk Harrelson , the White Sox announcer. I don't think this knucklehead knows one rule of baseball that was written after 1910.

What would give you that idea? His brilliant analysis of the obstruction call against the White Sox last year? ;)

I watched that game/call on MLB.com about 20 times just for the laughs.

He's horrible.

What was the Cliff Notes version of his explanation?

He didn't really have one...his partner pointed out that they might have "obstruction".

He went so ballistic...he literally had to catch himself from swearing AT the umpires on-air. He was irate.

But you got to admit that was HILARIOUS. It was better then a SNL sketch. A comedy writer could not make that stuff up.

Agreed!!! Any umpire worth his salt knew he made a moron of himself.

Joe just did it again. Why hasn't some umpire somewhere walked up to this guy and told him to stop saying "tie goes to the runner?" Well, now some more coaches and little shavers are going to believe it as fact. :(

Exactly...in other words, 99.9% of the baseball world, the only exception being umpires and smart coaches like Sparky Anderson, Rich Ives, or nee JM.;)