August 14, 2011

G119: Mariners 5, Red Sox 3

Red Sox  - 000 100 020 - 3  6  2
Mariners - 003 011 00x - 5  9  0
Tim Wakefield came up short yet again in trying to get his 200th major league victory. He went the distance (8-9-5-2-4, 94), but a disastrous third inning -- three hits, two walks, two infield errors -- sealed his fate.

Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run dong in the eighth to close the gap, but the next four Boston batters were retired.

The umpiring in the early part of the game was beyond terrible. Alfonso Marquez (1B) called Dustin Pedroia out in the first inning even though first baseman Mike Carp's foot was clearly off the bag; in his defence, Marquez was out of position and could not see Carp's foot. In the third, Ed Hickox (2B) decided not to call the neighbourhood play at second on an attempted Boston double play; the Mariners went on to score two more runs in that inning. Home plate umpire Brian O'Nora made numerous bad calls in both directions, and for both teams. Several batters, including David Ortiz, were shooting daggers at Mark Ripperger (3B) after he ruled they had not checked their swings.

I am extremely sick of watching erratic and incompetent umpiring.
Example
Tim Wakefield / Charlie Furbush

Happy 27th birthday, Clay Buchholz! ... Mark Loretta is 40. Mark Fidrych would have been 57.

August 14:
1919 - The Brooklyn Robins and Chicago Cubs split a doubleheader in only 2:17. The Cubs win the opener 2-0 in 1:10 and the Robins take the second game 1-0 in 1:07.

1942 - The Yankees turn a record seven double plays (in nine innings) and beat the Philadelphia Athletics 11-2.
Amusing headline from last night: "Greinke Pinch-Hits While Wearing Wrong Jersey"

MFY (1.0 GB): Rays/Yankees at 1 PM.

55 comments:

allan said...

Ellsbury, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Gonzalez, 1B
Youkilis, 3B
Ortiz, DH
Lowrie, SS
Crawford, LF
Saltalamacchia, C
McDonald, RF

Suzuki, RF
Gutierrez, CF
Ackley, 2B
Carp, 1B
Pena, DH
Olivo, C
Wells, LF
Wilson, SS
Seager, 3B

Fourth attempt at Win #200 for Wakefield.

Does Furbush have a sister? I'll bet that wasn't a good last name to grow up with.

allan said...

TBR at MFY, rained out

Jere said...

Beavan and Furbush on the same staff?

allan said...

foot off the base
fy should be safe
ump (of course) out of position

Jere said...

Unless that guy's got reeeeally long spikes he was off the bag.

Maxwell Horse said...

It's kind of annoying how the foot was *obviously* off the bag by inches, and Remy makes it sound like it's really hard to tell.

allan said...

many announcers will not change their first impression/call no matter what the video shows. it is quite odd.

allan said...

Wake: OTT

Jere said...

3-2 pitch they show close up of pitcher from behind plate and barely pan back in time to show hitter, who swings, and hits the ball....somewhere, we don't see, and Don doesn't tell us.

allan said...

Wake: FFS

Jere said...

Armando Galarraga: T-F/T-S/WTF

Jere said...

I think this is Kim's friend! She keeps telling me her friend who's now in Seattle always sends flowers to Don and Remy in the booth!

allan said...

3-2 pitch they show close up of pitcher from behind plate and barely pan back in time to show hitter, who swings, and hits the ball....somewhere, we don't see, and Don doesn't tell us.

reminds me of listening to mfy games on the radio and being told the batter "fouls it off to the side" or "hit foul down the line".

i am sure there are many things to juggle during a game, but the producer/director has a finite number of cameras, and a general idea of where action will happen. don't worry about quick cuts to various players and the benches (that happens more in the post-season). show the action.

allan said...

remy: "then i went out looking for some beef"

i hope mrs. remy isn't listening.

allan said...

T-F/T-S/WTF

?

Crito said...

Hi.

Can I ask a question? When the runner is trying to steal second with < 2 out, is a dropped third swinging strike alive, or not? That is, can the batter run? (It just happened when Crawford stole second.)

I think not, but the rule is not very clear.

Jere said...

25, 26, blown call

allan said...

unbelievable. they are showing a pre-taped heidi segment, then they show the SB and the ball sailing into CF -- AND THEY CUT BACK TO THE TAPE -- then come back with the runner at third.

Jere said...

NESN keeps topping themselves today, boy. Another one I'll have to YouTube. Cutting away mid-play to get back to Heidi's train report.

Jere said...

Well no one will care about this, other than the fact that it's yet another mess-up, but I talked to Kim, asked if her Seattle flower friend was "Jean-Louise Cash." She said, that's her, but Cash is her son's name. So Don was supposed to say "Mike, Jean-Louise, and Cash" as the people who gave them the bouquet, and who he "stole" the vase from, but said "Mike and Jean-Louise Cash." Funny how I got inside access to a mistake no one would have a chance of picking up on.

allan said...

every 50 or 100 calls, 2B umps have to froget about decades of the neighbourhood play. ... different rules at different times, don't you know?

Jere said...

Okay, now I should just boycotting this game. Wait a minute...what the fuck is Remy doing here? He sees clear evidence that he was out, says he thought there was no question, then sees replay and starts talking about how the foot never touched the bag, AS IF LOWRIE DID ANYTHING DIFFERENT FROM ANY OTHER SS ON ANY OTHER DP! Remy's just letting this go without even mentioning the phantom tag/neighborhood rule? It's not like he was five feet off the bag.

allan said...

ball 4 was tucked right inside the corner of the strike zone on gdgd.

ALL of these umps are fucking up on a spectacular level today.

allan said...

then sees replay and starts talking about how the foot never touched the bag

Which is extra funny because:

1) he was a 2B who likely did the same thing hundreds and hundreds of times in his career; and

2) he had selective blindness to a foot clearly coming off the bag in the first inning.

allan said...

and now don is slipping!!!

says a "3-0 lead" - not "advantage"

says furnbush had a long wait, but fails to give the exact # of minutes

allan said...

Uggla: No hit today.

Jere said...

And 3) usually sticks to his original opinion

allan said...

will furbush allow a big dong?

tim said...

solid work by NESN on that steal/heidi segment.

jedi salami pls.

allan said...

jere: this reminds me of the seinfeld when jerry is talking about the mets' problems with the naked guy on the train to coney island. "but you gotta like their chances" ... "i love their chances"

"but you want to have nesn do the game" ... "absolutely, no one else"

tim said...

sac off furbush.

Jere said...

And on the crucial pitch, they go with behind-the-plate shot. Apparently they don't want us to see what's going on.

tim said...

useless.

Jere said...

hahaha, too bad they didn't get to sit naked at the World Series that year.

tim said...

this amused me

allan said...

Apparently they don't want us to see what's going on.

They'll make damn sure you see the Eastern Bank logo or the Twisted Ice Tea banner.

tim said...

Well why would they care if we can see what's going on? Its not like we're watching NESN to see the game or anything.

I, for one, want to see what my New England Ford Dealers have going on this week.

allan said...

Crito: Info on uncaught third strikes (not "dropped" apparently):

"On an uncaught third strike, with no runner on first base or with two outs, the batter immediately becomes a runner. The strike is called, but the umpire does not call the batter out. ... The batter may then attempt to reach first base, and must be tagged or thrown out. ... Note that if, at the time of the strike three pitch, first base is occupied with fewer than two outs, the batter is automatically out and cannot become a runner. This is to prevent the defense from deliberately dropping a third strike pitch and getting a double or triple play ..."

allan said...

AND I TOTALLY HEART THE CHILL ZONE!!! 79 CENTS!!!

allan said...

jeez - which of these wakefield innings is not like the other?

Jere said...

I missed Crito's question before...

But if he's specifically asking about when the runner is going, then, still, that doesn't matter. First base was still "occupied." The guy could be all the way around second by the time the pitch crosses the plate, but the batter is still automatically out.

tim said...

Video of the Uggla streak ending. Or at least, one of the ABs from today, probably his best chance at a hit.

Jere said...

oh jee-zus! Again on what turns out to be the pitch where the batter hits the ball, they show a weird SIDE angle of contact being made! What the fuck is going on?? This is how they're attracting the young generation? Do wacky and interesting angles all you want on replays, but not on the actual hit.

allan said...

don: "pena is 0-for-6 in his first game plus as a mariner"

"first game plus" - better known in this case as "two"

allan said...

Bright side: We have more hits than errors.

Crito said...

Allan and Jere: thanks.

Right, my question could have been better put this way: is first base "occupied" when the runner is trying to steal second, or not?

It's more logical that the base is occupied until the runner is out or reaches the next base safely. But, MLB rules are not always logical.

allan said...

shit.

casper is haunting us.

Jere said...

I took a screenshot of that Lowrie phantom play.

So, to clarify, a major league ump saw this on a double play and called it safe.

I'm thinking since Jed came off the bag so fast, the ump thought he left the area early. But Remy for some reason was so focused on whether he was physically making contact with the bag it never even came up.

allan said...

remy informs us that pedroia has extended his hitting streak from 3 games to 4 games. woo-hoo!

Jere said...

The Carbo thing!

allan said...

I go to piss and it's SULTAN TIME!

Jere said...

He didn't foul off the previous pitch, but took a horrible swing. Remy even mentioned it after the dong. Carbo-hydration!

allan said...

i have watched more enjoyable games than that one.

Jere said...

that's dicktacular. we lose a series to a 51-67 team

Kathryn said...

Just got home. Bah, clean.