Vin Scully recently watched the MLB Network replay of Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series. Mel Allen called the first half of the game and Scully, then 28, took over for the second half. Scully shares his thoughts on the broadcast here.
THT's John Beamer looks at ten rules and quirks, including "a triple play without the ball touching a fielder" or "six consecutive strike outs in an inning".
Jim Rice's career road stats: .277/.330/.459.
I just bought two tickets to the March 9 WBC game at Skydome! It's Game 4, featuring the two losing teams from the opening games: Canada/USA and Italy/Venezuela. Our seats are in the 16th row behind the plate, the same general distance from the field we have sat for Red Sox games. Woo hoo!
18 comments:
That "rules and quirks" article was awesome!
Question on the Kapler/Graffanino scenario, specifically where he writes this:
Incidentally, the rules would have also allowed Graffanino to give Kapler direct assistance. In the above instance there is nothing in the rules to prevent Graffanino from pushing or lifting Kapler around the bases himself.
Assuming Graffanino tried to lift Kapler and help him, wouldn't he technically "pass" him on the basepaths by putting his arms around him if his hand advances further than Kapler's body? I can see the slow motion "photo finish" replays and hear the ensuing analysis vividly in my head.
(Of course this is a one in a million scenario, but still fun to pick apart...)
Village Voice:
Today comptroller William Thompson denounced the "incredible mismanagement" by the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) in failing to control city costs from the construction of the new Yankee Stadium. "The original city capital contribution now has ballooned to $325 million, two-and-a-half times the amount we were told in 2006," Thompson said. "The Administration is bending over backwards to subsidize an enormously profitable corporation, one that just signed three players to contracts worth a total of $423 million."
Politics is crazy man. I'm not gonna go more into it but fuck the yankees and new york sports teams and government.
Good reads today...I liked the Vin Scully article, must have been cool for him to look back and see/hear himself 50+ years ago...everyone here raves about how good he is and until this past summer I never understood why - but after watching a couple Dodger games, I definitely do now! Amazing. And his description of the 'evolution' of baseball announcing makes me yearn for the style of the 1950s..."Ball one" ... "Strike one" ... we're headed towards completely ignoring whats going on on the field for shitty commentary like "And John Smoltz said that he couldn't decide between the Maytag or the Kenmore washer-dryer set for his new house in Boston"
*pitch*
"Well thats a tough decision, Don"
*pitch*
"That's ball one, brought to you by Bridgeford Charcoal"
*pitch*
"Smoltz said that the lawnmower was a no-brainer, going with the John Deere riding mower"
*pitch*
"We've got a 2-2 count which means that its time for a pizza delivery from 22 Pizza! Call 222-2222 for all your pizza needs"
/// this has gone on long enough...as you can tell, I'm bored as fuck.
I also enjoyed the rules and quirks article very much...some crazy stuff in there. I remember reading about the Ernie Shore "perfect game" in Allan's book - which btw is awesome, just need to find time to finish it. I powered through a few books in florida and was well on my way to finishing this one but had to come back earlier than expected and as a result, progress stopped.
Jere's book was great too, I have to leave him a comment on his blog.
We also need to go back to a lack of crowd shots.
Sitting at home, we know there is a crowd, we can hear them, we see them in the background, but -- oddly, enough -- we want to be shown the game.
They should show people on their couches on the jumbotron.
Sitting at home, we know there is a crowd, we can hear them, we see them in the background, but -- oddly, enough -- we want to be shown the game.
Indeed. If I want to see white people with too much disposable income, I'll watch HGTV.
I too, enjoyed the rules and quirks. I'm intrigued by balk possibility #14: pitches while facing away from the batter. how do they define "pitches" in this case? What about Okajima's pitching style? According to wikipedia he "turns his head downwards just before he releases the ball".
I'm also curious about the scenarios that lead to these rules. Was it a Harlem Globetrotters-style pitch? facing second base with a side-arm-round-the-body pitch? over the shoulder?
I like the stories of the free-wheeling style of play in early baseball games with scores in the 40s and higher or where a ball is out if caught before the second hop. Rules ruin all our fun.
and, I love the idea of stealing 1st from second. Did they also make stealing 2nd from 3rd against the rules? I can't imagine a scenario where you'd want to do it, but hey...
Oh re: WBC, did you buy your tickets off a third party? I'm looking to get tickets to the first game, since I can't attend any of the weekday games and don't feel like buying a strip for all 6 games.
Tim, single game tickets are on sale now. Look on the MLB site.
I'm also curious about the scenarios that lead to these rules. Was it a Harlem Globetrotters-style pitch? facing second base with a side-arm-round-the-body pitch? over the shoulder?
It could've been something like this:
[Runners on first and second take big leads. Pitcher steps towards first as if to throw to first but actually throws to second.]
Ump: Balk!
Pitcher: No!
Ump: But you threw to second without stepping towards second! That's a balk.
Pitcher: No! It was a pitch!
Ump: But you didn't throw to home.
Pitcher: I was trying to throw it to home! It's not my fault I suck! It was a pitch!
Ump (sotto voce): well crap, I guess we need a new rule.
Or maybe it was just to prevent some jackass from engaging in unsafe and reckless behavior (pitching to home while facing first base, to catch the batter off guard) that wouldn't work very well anyway.
The Administration is bending over backwards to subsidize an enormously profitable corporation
B-b-b-but Michael Kay said the Steinbrenners are paying for the Stadium out of their own pocket! And he wouldn't lie!
In other news, I love Vin Scully.
Youk just signed a 4/40 deal with a fifth option. Sweet.
Now we just need to lock up Papelbon.
Red Sox give Youk a big payday... 4/40 contract... takes him through two arb years and two FA years.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaardsma gets DFA'd.
The rules article was cool, but he did incorrectly state Fenway's ladder was only hit twice. This myth came from--guess who--CHB, who wrote an article talking about two inside-the-park HRs off the ladder. Most online articles use the cut-and-pasted line, "it's been hit at least twice." A quick news search I just did brought up the following instances:
James Shealy ball in 2006 that hit the ladder and went for a triple. Wade Boggs claimed in an article he only hit it once in his career. Ty Wigginton said in his first game playing left at Fenway, a ball hit the ladder. April 28th, 2004, Manny hit a double off the ladder per the Boston Globe. Todd Walker hit it in 2003. Mo Vaughn did in in April '94. If you've ever stood close to the Green Monster you know it's blanketed with dents--the ladder therefore has to be hit fairly often, and it has.
The actual rule is that if it hits the ladder and goes out of play, it's a ground rule double.
I emailed the writer, hopefully he mentions this.
Tim, glad you enjoyed my book! Thanks.
Youk just signed a very reasonable 4 year deal with a (team?) option for the fifth. About 10 million per year. Not bad.
Good for the Yooooooooooker
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