So, if you're on a team, which would make you feel worse:

Getting an infield single to lead off the game, and not get a hit the rest of the game (Cubs).

Or, pounding out 13 hits in the game, and still lose 1-0 (Twins). I guess the Twins even had runners at 2nd and 3rd with one out in the 9th, and the KC pitcher throws a wild pitch back to the backstop. But the pitch bounces right back to the catcher, and the catcher then throws out the runner going back to 3rd. The batter than takes strike three to end the game.

And, how 'bout those history-making Cardinals? First, they let some team who hasn't won a World Series in ninty-some years sweep them in the Series. Then, last night they allow only the second player ever, and the first in over a hundred years, to hit a grand-slam in his first major league at bat. How 'bout them Redbirds!

(Oops, is my Cub bitterness showing? Honest, I'm try to keep it suppressed. Really, I am trying. Really.)

What did you all think of the stare down between the base ump and Frank Robinson the other night. Reminded me of this old thread: http://officialforum.com/thread/15579

Chuck,

What are the Sox going to do with their pitching? I think they should put Arroyo in the bullpen and start Papelbon.

...Attic, absurd, amusing, beguiling, biting, bizarre, brilliant, clever, comical, delightful, diverting, droll, eccentric, entertaining, facetious, farcical, fun, funny, hilarious, humorsome, hysterical, incongruous, jesting, jocose, jocular, joking, joky, joshing, keen, keen-witted, laughable, ludicrous, merry, mordant, nimble-witted, playful, pleasant, pointed, priceless, pungent, quaint, quick-witted, quizzical, rapier-like, recreational, rich, ridiculous, risible, salt, salty, scintillating, screaming, sharp, smart, sparkling, sprightly, titillating, titillative, waggish, whimsical, witty.

Upon further review, I still think Dan was right!

You left out "moronic", "idiotic" and "stoopid".

BTW, you're still wrong.

And that mouse? Even though his strategy was to outwait the cat for eternity it didn't quite work out as planned.

He died of dehydration a few hours later & the cat enjoyed his "mouse jerky".

Enjoy the labor day weekend!

Wow.

45 seconds of nothing happened.

And yet, there are all these descriptions of nothing.

Would it had made a difference it Robinson had come out on the field and stared?

:D

Maybe, but right or wrong, it was a good discussion to have. I don't think the staring contest with Robinson was particularly mature, but I was glad to see there was no argument or ejection as a result.

And I think you saw exactly what the Sox will do with their pitching last night. Arroyo will continue to start, Pap will come out of the pen, Timlin will close until Foulke comes back (if he ever does). Seemed to work out ok for this series. Glad the Sox beat up on the Rays. If the Yankees, can't do it, I guess we can pick their slack. :)

No problem, except for last year the Sox have a long history of following behind the Yankees, picking at the left overs.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Dan_ref

Quote:

Originally posted by ChuckElias Glad the Sox beat up on the Rays. If the Yankees, can't do it, I guess we can pick their slack. :)

No problem, except for last year the Sox have a long history of following behind the Yankees, picking at the left overs. [/QUOTE

Trivia question: Name the only team in the long history of baseball to blow a 3-0 series lead?

And I think you saw exactly what the Sox will do with their pitching last night. Arroyo will continue to start, Pap will come out of the pen, Timlin will close until Foulke comes back (if he ever does). Seemed to work out ok for this series. Glad the Sox beat up on the Rays. If the Yankees, can't do it, I guess we can pick their slack. :) [/B][/QUOTE]

Agree with you here Chuck. Had great seats at last night's game; Arroyo looked a little "sluggish", but he'll probably stay in the rotation. Pap threw smoke for a bit, but quickly lost the strike zone. I was surprised to see him start the 9th inning. Foulke was warming in the pen, but Timlin is doing ok as the closer. Gonna be a fun couple of months!

Look for me tomorrow! My daughter's first trip to Fenway! :)

Ok, tomorrow morning, bright an early, I have to catch a plane for Denver for an IAABO meeting. Could this possibly have worse timing? Sox at Yankees this weekend! Patriots open the NFL season Thursday night! How could basketball interefere?

To top it all off, I'm flying home on 9/11. I'm not particularly thrilled with that.

The saving grace is that I'll get to see the Rockies at Coors Field. I'll tell you if it's worth the trip when I get back.

(Fenway was a lot of fun Saturday night, BTW! Molly was tired but loved it!)

Just read that a Seattle Mariners player, Mike Morse, was suspended for steroids today. He was the 9th. major leaguer to be suspended this year. Out of those 9, 3 have been Seattle Mariners. Coincidence? Also, Seattle as of today is just a-humming along at a 60-78 clip, only 17 1/2 games outa first in the AL West. You would think that if they are on 'roids, they should be doing a heckuva better job. :D

Whereinthehell is RockyRoad these days. Hope everything is OK. I miss him.

Yoohoo Rocky?

C'mon out and play.

Are you going as your IAABO Board's rules interpreter, Chuck? Let us know if anything good or interesting comes out of the meetings.

And see if you can get MTD Sr.'s autograph for me and Dan....

My wife and I are visiting with our son and "new" daughter-in-law in Olympia, WA this week and my son and I are going up to Seattle tomorrow night to watch the M's and the Orioles. Will be my first time at the new stadium.

Well, I just saw something that I've never seen before. Ever. With 2 outs in the Red Sox half of the fifth inning tonight and Gabe Kapler on 1st base, Tony Graffanino lifted a deep fly ball to left field. Kapler takes off from 1st and is running hard. The ball goes out for a home run, but as he rounds 2nd base, Kapler turns his ankle and goes down in a heap. He can't continue. The trainers come out to look at him as Graffanino stands on 2nd base, not wanting to pass Kapler.

It's decided that Kapler can't continue and a pinch runner is brought in to finish Kapler's trip around the bases. The pinch runner comes in from the dugout and just jogs to third and home, Graffanino right behind him.

Unbelievable. I've never seen a pinch runner inserted during a play on the field. I love baseball.

FWIW
 

<B><font color = red>OBR 5.10(c) The ball becomes dead when an umpire calls "Time. The umpire-in-chief shall call "Time" (c) When an accident incapacitates a player or an umpire; (1)If an accident to a runner is such as to prevent him from proceeding to a base to which he is entitled, as on a home run hit out of the playing field, or an award of one or more bases, a substitute runner shall be permitted to complete the play.</font></B>

That's pretty cool, Chuck!
I always like Gabe. Liked him right away as a young Tiger cub (with hair). Hope it isn't bad.
mick
Hop

Re: FWIW
 

Just heard. Ruptured Achilles. :(

Hmmm...can you imagine how that would work in basketball? A player is driving down the lane, twists his ankle, and goes down (dribbling the whole time, so there's no traveling). The refs call time, replace the injured player on the floor (literally) with their replacement while everyone else has to hold their spots. Then once the injured player is off the court, and the replacement player is given the ball at the same spot lying on the floor, the ref chops time back in, and away we go...

That's what makes baseball interesting. Just the fact that the runner still has to touch every base in order on a home run, instead of just awarding the team the run(s). Or, on an intentional walk, the pitcher still has to throw 4 balls instead of just pointing to first and telling the batter where to go (so to speak).

I'm thinking about getting a pinch runner for myself for fast breaks in the games I officiate.

So what did Randy Johnson do over the weekend? I heard somebody railing against him about it, but they never said what he did.

Frustration?

http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/teams/report/NYY/8864287

I had heard the "same" pitch was called a ball both times, and he got upset on the second one.

2-2 count, he hit the catcher's glove on a low inside pitch.

Very, very close, from my TV-eyed view I thought it was good. Then you could hear someone yell something, and the HP ump stepped out, took his mask off & started going off on Johnson.

Johnson apologized publicly the next day. He also said he was still PO'ed about a pitch call in the first inning.

Apparently the umpire, Feldin Culbreth, warned Johnson in the first inning to knock it off. Also, according to the stories I read, there were a few F-shots thrown the ump's way by Johnson before he got tossed too. Iow, it was pretty much a righteous dumping. Johnson is kind of a whiner imo.

That last weekend in Boston could be kinda interesting now. :D

Bubba Crosby?

<b>The</b> Bubba Crosby?

We'll take it.

:p

Looks like both sets of Sox -- in Chicago and Boston -- are getting a little worried. . .

Today's test:

What is a <i>hyzdu</i>?:
(a) A member of the elk family found only on the island of Madagascar.
(b) A Chinese dialect spoken only in the province of Kuomintang.
(c) The latest street talk for <b>Wassup</b>.
(d) A right fielder for the BoSox.

Which brings me a way to FINALLY tie this thread to basketball:

How should I handle rubbing it in to a supervisor who is a White Sox fan, (and he knows I'm a Cub fan), and I happen to get my highest level assignments from him? How far do I rub it in? I mean, I have to rub it in. But I certainly don't want to piss him off (too much) that he considers dropping me from the staff. But I have to say something. I mean, after all, there's a chance the '69 Cubs might be overshadowed by the '05 White Sox as the ultimate folders. And I can feel his pain. But I can't let it go unsaid.

Stress...

:D

(Bubba who? If THAT'S who the Yankees are counting on to get them to the post season, then obviously New England is breathing easier this morning.)

http://www.forumspile.com/Obvious-CaptainObvious.gif

Ummmmm.......a Cubs fan rubbing it in to <b>anybody</b>?

<font size = +5>Bwahahahahahaha........</font>

So...errr....what's new...? anything, uhhhmmm, going on...? any news...? I'm kinda hanging out just wonderin' if anything exciting has happened lately...anything worth, uhmmmm,...well, reporting...? anything, you know, "news worthy"...? Anything? Nothing worth "reporting"? Maybe something form you folks in, say...."Boston"...? Boston? Come in Boston...? Nothing...? No?

http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/r/...cam%20copy.jpg

Don't even. :(

That last series might be pretty interesting tho, no?

Our magic number is down to 11.

http://pbskids.org/lions/printables/...uzzychicks.gif

Soooooooo. . . Palmiero's failed steroid test was b/c of a B-12 vitamin that he got from Tejada. That's what you're going with, Raffy? You sure that's your story, huh?

So in rough chronological order:
1) I never took steroids.
2) I never knowingly took steroids.
3) I caught steroids from a B-12 vitamin.
4) It's my teammate's fault.

O's front office says Palmiero's not going to play again this season.

Yeah, yeah. The magic number thing is cute, but unless it gets to 0 before September 30, I'm not too concerned. They still have 3 games to play against each other. And the last time the Sox and Yanks played consecutive games against each other in October, I'm pretty sure the Sox did ok.

Raffy would be wise to disappear into the woodwork- never to be seen again. Iow, something like the Cubbies.

You're just mad because you don't have a magic number and we do.

Of course we do. It's just one game higher than yours.

This is the really cool story of the day, tho. I didn't know about this until I listened to BBall This Morning on XM channel 175. Not only did Dontrelle Willis go 8 complete innings to beat Pedro Martinez and the Mets last night in a one-run pitcher's duel, but Willis batted seventh in the Marlins' batting order! That's pretty cool. He was 1-4 on the night and is currently batting .250 for the season.

According to Elias Sports Bureau :) , the last pitcher to bat seventh or higher was Montreal's Steve Renko, who did it on Aug. 26, 1973, and went 2-for-3 against San Diego.

Aha!!!
You must have been the one to feed <U>USA Today</U> their scoop.
Good job!
mick

Well......for a while, I thought that you mighta been worried today....

But, it turned out that it was just Manny being Manny. Everything's fine in BoSox Nation.

http://www.sportspickle.com/features...921-manny.html

It's true, it's true.....

<font size = +5>GO TRIBE!!!!!!!!!</font>

If they were still in the AL EAST:
1. Cleveland 91 63 .591
2. NY Yankees 90 63 .588
3. Boston 89 64 .582

There may not be a Boston/NYY series in the playoffs this year. :D

Actually JR, they do have a magic number. Every team does. It's a matter of interest in the magic number.

No magic number in Michigan.
 

JugglingReferee,
The Tigers had one a long, long time ago. Now, they have lost it, their ace, and maybe even their coaching staff and light-weight, light-hitting catcher.
mick

All even!

So..., for those of us without a number, did you get your number back? What is it? :cool:
mick

Same as Dan's now. 10, I guess.

This is gonna be an exciting week for baseball fans.

NYY, CLE, BOST, CHW, OAK & LAA all in contention for the 4 playoff spots.

LAA & OAK have a 4 game series during the week. NY, BOS & CHW each have a 4 game series during the week against also-rans, then NY v BOST, CLE vs CHIW to close the season next weekend.

And we might all find out why Quakers have a problem with the national anthem..."...and the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there...."

Somebody sign the guy who writes the schedule to a 5-year extension. :)

And how about those Phillies in the NL? One game behind Houston for the wild card after being pretty much dead a week ago. Three final inning wins in the last 2 series (2 against the Braves, one against Cincy). Pretty fun stuff, even if you hate the wild card.

Playoffs...
 

Heard this on the radio...BOS, CHW, CLE & NYY are all contending for not just their own divisions but the AL wildcard spot. It's possible there's a 3 way tie for a division AND the wildcard...for example imagine CHW wins their division, NY & BOS tie for the east title and CLE has the same record. In that case NY & BOS play 1 game to determine the winner of the east and the loser then plays CLE to determine who gets the wild card. But CLE - having 1 fewer loss - already has a better record than the loser and should be made he wildcard team. But for the purpose of the wildcard race that extra loss is ignored.

BTW, a 4 way tie is possible as well. That would be sumthin...

Still even. But last night's rain changed the Sox rotation, so no Schilling/Johnson showdown on Saturday.

Sox blow a 5-0 lead. Yankees give up a baker's dozen to Baltimore. Indians lose to Tampa Bay. Dead even. 5 games to play. . .

And the Chicago White Sox players are finding it hard trying to play when they've got both hands wrapped around their own necks.

They'll probably never admit it, but I think that team really misses Frank Thomas. Even with all his injuries, etc., you still had to respect him at the plate.

And Carl Everett showing himself to be the consummate teammate, as always. He's complaining about batting 6th instead of his usual 3rd this week. He's such an idiot. I remember when he came up with the Mets and played the Sox in Fenway. He was such a "look at me" guy that the Sox TV announcer said something like "that guy needs a little mustard". One of the few signings that I knew immediately the Sox had made a big mistake.

Anyway, I just heard this story on ESPN Radio, told by Tim Kirkjan (sorry about the spelling). It's about Dan's all-time favorite game. Yanks/Sox one-game playoff in '78. As Yaz steps up for the final out of the game, Nettles says "Just hit it in the air. Just hit it in the air". The ball pops a mile high, of course, and Nettles says, "But not to me!"

It's such a good story, I hope it's true. It would be nice to have a reason to smile about that game.

Give that man a cigar!!

There's a reason that Carl Everett has been with seven different teams so far in his career. Let's just say that he has a very short shelf life. :)

If you ever get a chance to read Graig Nettles' book- "Balls"- do so. It's funny as hell. I've got the paperback edition and I still bring it out every now and then to re-read it. "The Bronx Zoo" by Sparky Lyle is a funny book too from that era. Anybody that actually shagged fly balls during warm-ups in a major league stadium with his nuts hanging out can't be wrapped too tight either.

I think it was Nettles who said that Lyle went "from Cy Young to sayonara". when Goose Gossage came in. Nettles also said "When I was a little boy, I wanted to be a baseball player and join the circus. With the Yankees I have accomplished both"

Don't you know smoking will kill you?

Lenny Dinardo??

I will admit I love the end of regular season baseball races.

Yup, <b>the</b> Lenny Dinardo.

Nominations for end-of-season awards?

AL Cy -- Colon, Angels
AL MVP -- ARod, Yanks; Ortiz, Sox.
AL Comeback -- <s>Steroid Boy</s> Giambi, Yanks.

NL Cy -- Clemens, Astros; Willis, Marlins; Carpenter, Cards.
NL MVP -- Pujols, Cards; A. Jones, Braves.
NL Comeback -- ?

Additions/thoughts? Even as a Boston guy, I think that if Ortiz and ARod have the same or very close numbers, you have to give it to ARod b/c he plays the field every night on top of what he contributes at the plate. If Ortiz goes 9-13 with 4 HR and 10 RBIs in this last series, then maybe I give him the nod. But as it is now, I think I vote for ARod.

[Edited by ChuckElias on Sep 30th, 2005 at 11:09 AM]

Chuck,

Don't you mean A Rod? I am a Boston guy also, but I would still have to give the MVP to A Rod.

Ok, here's an interesting, yet totally obscure stat:

If the Cubs win one more game out of the 3 left in Houston, they will have an over-.500 road record, while having an under-.500 home record. The last full season they did that was 1944. The following year, 1945, they were in the World Series. So, of course it follows that if the Cubs win one more game in Houston, they're in the World Series next year, right?

Isn't that interesting everybody?


Anybody?


Hello?


Sigh....

Yes, very interesting but I can't stay I have tickets to watch the grass grow down at city hall. It's open seating so I need to get there early for a good seat.

I'd stick around too but I gotta go clip my nose hairs. Priorities, you know.

Shut up.

2M:

:D

Yup, obviously. I went back and fixed it. Funny, isn't it? No matter how much talent is around him, no matter how far his skills have dipped, it's still Jeter's team. You think Yankees, you think Jeter.

THIS JUST IN:
 

LouLou goes byebye......

Lou Piniella is gonna be looking for a job next year, as of this morning.

Wonder if there's gonna be a job opening in Bah-ston if the BoSox don't make the playoffs?

Or even the Yankees? Von Steinbrenner ain't the most rational guy around and he does love LouLou.

Miami has been mentioned too. It's almost common knowledge that Lou doesn't want to leave those south Florida dog tracks if he doesn't have to.

Could be a lot of openings coming up shortly (read Monday).

Re: THIS JUST IN:
 

Wait, I thought it was already common knwoledge that Lou was getting out of TB.

Would be cool if Torre retires & Lou takes his place.

Re: Re: THIS JUST IN:
 

I thought it was commin knowledge as well. I knew he was frustrated with management not spending anything.

Didn't Uncle Lou once work for George? I'm not sure I can see him doing it again. Miami seems to make more sense, especially since he said the reason he took the Tampa job in the first place was to be in Florida.

Re: Re: Re: THIS JUST IN:
 

Yes, he did, back in the mid 80's. I didn't say it would be cool for Lou btw, I just said it would be cool. :)

Somehow I feel after spending 3 yrs cleaning out the basement with TB Lou is gonna cast a wider net than just FLA.

Re: Re: THIS JUST IN:
 

It was.

If the Sox sweep the Yanks this weekend (unlikely, even by my standards), Joe might not get the chance to retire.

Big night. I just threw in the DVD of the '04 Sox to generate some good karma. Lotta fun. I hope it's a good series. I'd say good luck to Dan and JR, but I wouldn't really mean it. So I won't. :)

Karma?

You mean that cosmic bank account where we sock away good deeds in the hopes of making the occasional withdrawals on a rainy day?

Good luck with that.

Hey, worked tonight. All even again. :)

Seemed like nobody was too happy with the PU's strikes and balls tonight. What'd you think?

I think he was struggling with big curves.
But what the Hay? If it hit the glove from the eyebrows, it sure sounded like a strike, ... <B>both ways</B>. He was consistent!
mick

Wow. And the Indians lose -- in 13 innings! That would seem to be good for the Sox on two fronts. They now lead the wild card even if they can't overtake the Yankees. And the Cleveland bullpen will be depleted for tomorrow.

Oh, my!
 

Fraud!
A real Red Sox fan would think the loss by Cleveland could help the Yankees make the playoffs.
Shame! Shame!

...But then, I guess pessimism is inherent. You still don't believe it really happened last year, do you?
mick

Re: Oh, my!
 

I sort of thought of the whole night as simply leveling the playing field. Going into the games last night, the Yankees and Indians seemed to have all the advantages. The Sox had to win two of three to manage even a tie for the division and had to win one game more than the Indians to win the wildcard. Neither of those things is true anymore.

The Sox only have to win one more to ensure a tie (two more to clinch) for the division and they only have to keep pace with the Indians now.

Plus we've got Wakefield tonight, and he's been our best starter for weeks now. And tomorrow, Schill will be Schill and Mussina will be Mussina.

And of course I believe they won it last year!! The DVD I watched last night told me they did! :)

I thought the plate guy was shakey too.

btw...during some of the radio coverage on this I've heard that in the event of a tie for the divisional title the tie-breaking procedure compares the team's head-to-head records. I wasn't aware of that, were you? Also these analysts are saying the only way that both NY & BOS do NOT make the playoffs in some way is if NY gets swept AND CLE wins their next 2. I haven't thought it through & it depends on this tie breaking procedure but I'm willing to accept it.

Yeah, but that's true only if both teams are already in the playoffs. In other words, if one of them is guaranteed the wild card spot, then they don't play the one-game playoff. They just go by head-to-head tiebreaker. In that case, they don't need to worry about who makes the playoffs, just the seeding.

But if, for example, the Angels and A's were to finish tied, then they would play a one-game playoff, b/c either Cleveland or NY would have a better record. Winner would be the division champ, loser goes home.

The other stuff about not having any playoff this season gets kind of complicated, but it sounds like you said it right.

If the Indians get swept, then they're out, no matter what happens in Boston, b/c both the Yanks and Sox are a game ahead of them now. So if the Indians don't win another game, they make up no ground regardless of who wins the series in Boston.

If the Yankees get swept, then they'll lose the division by a game and they'll have to hope Cleveland does gets swept too.

The Sox could be knocked out by losing the last two and the Indians winning the last two.

This is fun, isn't it? :)

Know what?

If the Yankees can't win 1 outa 3 in Boston, they don't deserve to be in the playoffs.

And that goober they insist on playing at 1B should be a permanent DH. They should take his iron trapper away from him, get it bronzed, and say "Here, SteroidBoy, put it up on your mantle 'cause you ain't ever gonna need it here again".

http://www.sodamnfunny.com/Animation...guinsdance.gif

Guess it's the wild card again. Oh, well. We'll get you next week.

The Indians lose 6 of their last 7 and fall one game short. How sad. :( Unless you are in B-ah-ston. ;)

I think the yankees got a bad break in the playoff draw. I'd rather be playing the White Sox than the Angels, and the Angels get the home field!

How funny is it that neither NY or Boston has home field in the first round!

It's even worse when you consider that 3 of those 6 losses came to the Royals and Rays, two of the three worst teams in the AL. Ouch.

The other 3 Cleveland losses were against a the White Sox bench.

So, not unexpected, but sad none the less:

http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/story/8922650

So...where are our red sox fans?

Maybe their team isn't playing yet?

I'm out of town for the long weekend. It will be a tough comeback, but I just have to believe that we'll win our home games and then steal Game 5. You only need to win once on the road. Might as well be Game 5. Yanks took care of that early, and I have to admit, that's a better strategy.

Is it just me, or is anyone else fascinated by the totally obscure statistics that they come up with these days?

For example, I believe on Wed., Houston's Morgan Ensberg was the first player all year to do this. That is, get 5 (or more) RBI's in a single game without getting an extra-base hit.

And, last night, when Brian McCann of the Braves hit the home run off Roger Clemens, it was the largest age differential between pitcher and hitter to hit a home run in the post season, ever.

Who figgers this stuff out? (And I thought I didn't have a life.)

It's just you.

Get help before it's too late.