The non-call at second base during Game One of the NLCS was another example of not using replays to make the right call.
Clearly Matt Holliday was past the bag, and he used a barrel roll into Marco Scutaro. Any competent umpire should have called runner interference, and ruled it a double play.
How could Rich Gedman be called for being out of the baseline (in 1988 ALCS) for what he did, when Holliday was past the bag when he started to slide?
He should have been ejected and banned from the next game.
One look at the replay and you could see he broke the rules. It was a dirty play. Umpires need to follow the rules, and then don’t.
If you looked at a replay you can tell in one look if he made the wrong call.
Just give each manager three chances a game to use instant replay.
If you get them all right, you can keep using them all game.
Each time a manager throws the red ball on the field he will be challenging a call. No need to argue, just toss the red ball and we all get to use instant replay.
The umpires will turn and everyone in the park will watch the big screen and in 10 seconds there will be four angles of the questionable play, and at the end of ten seconds the ball, glove, and player will be frozen on the screen.
The umpire will either raise his hand in an out signal or signal safe with both hands.
The Baltimore Orioles are in the post season for the FIRST time since 1997. They won their first playoff game since the 90’s by defeating the Texas Rangers in the inaugural A.L. one game Wildcard game.
So has O’s MANIA taken over Baltimore yet? If not, their anthem “Black & Orange” will get you excited.
The AMAZING thing is Jay-Luv & D-Boi made this video in 2011. They knew BETTER days were in store for Baltimore’s Black & Orange!
Junichi Tazawa deserves a spot in the Red Sox bullpen in 2013.
Today the Red Sox fired manager Bobby Valentine. That was a surprise to no one as the team has it’s worst season since 1966. Valentine may have been brought in as just a flashy name and pose as damage control. Well more drama happened this season than an episode of Jersey Shore. Between the players not liking Valentine, the coaches not acknowledging Valentine, and everything in between. Some of the stories that came out, you just could not make up. Between Gary Tuck not answering the phone in the bullpen to Bob McClure not telling Valentine what he said to the pitchers on the mound. Pedroia saying “that’s not how we do it around here.” Alfredo Aceves slamming the office door after not closing a game, in which the night before he gave up five runs. All of these were problems this season the team has to be happy it is finally over.
The Red Sox need to work faster this off season. Last off season they were in recovery mode after the collapse and took their time. With Valentine already fired they need to start interviewing candidates for the managerial position. All this talk about John Farrell I believe is ludicrous but the team seems to be going after him. First off he was here before. I believe the team needs some new blood in there. Get rid of the whole coaching staff and let the manager and Ben Cherrington decide on a staff instead of having Valentine and Francona leftovers. Second, I understand the AL East is not the easiest division to play in but the Blue Jays have not won under Farrell’s lead. Why will the Red Sox win under his lead? I believe the Red Sox need a culture change and that starts with a manager that may not be too familiar with the players in that clubhouse, but knows how to communicate.
Tim Bogar was passed on by the Houston Astros, there must have been a reason. DeMarlo Hale has to be a little upset he was passed on again but maybe he will come in for an interview as well. Terry Francona is projected to get the job with Cleveland so that may lead to an opening for Sandy Alomar Jr. This manager will be hired by Ben Cherrington this time around and not Larry Lucchino. Cherrington needs a manager in place by November 1st, which leaves him plenty of time. This manager will not be a one year stop gap like Valentine, so Cherrington needs to be allowed to make the right choice by ownership.
Now that the manager is gone from the 2012 team, which players will be back for the 2013 season? I break it down by position:
Starting Pitchers
Jon Lester, Clay Buccholz, Felix Doubront, and John Lackey will almost certainly be back next season. Gone will be Aaron Cook and Daisuke Matsuzaka and it won’t be a sad goodbye. To address the need for pitching the Red Sox will need an innings eater who is a number two starter at worst. Lester did not have a good year and Lackey will be an end of the rotation pitcher the rest of his career.
Infielders
Dustin Pedroia and Will Middlebrooks are the only locks are their positions for next season. Shortstop has been the question since the trade of Nomar Garciaparra and it will be no different this off season. Mike Aviles saw almost no playing time this September, as he watched Jose Iglesias make great defensive plays and have some horrible at bats. Iglesias’ bat can be tolerated if the Red Sox acquire a power hitter in the middle of the lineup. Aviles was disrespected by the team so he may want to play elsewhere and maybe they could get a relief pitcher for him. James Loney was in the Dodgers trade as fill in and maybe will be brought back on a short term deal. He wasn’t hitting all that great with the Dodgers and that continued in Boston. I think the Red Sox should look elsewhere. Pedro Ciriaco is not an everyday player but should be on this team next year as utility player who has plus speed.
Pete Rose knocks over Ray Fosse for the winning run in the 1970 All-Star Game.
With the Major League Baseball All-Star Game one week away, it’s time to take a look back at some great moments from All-Star Games past.
Here now, are the 10 Greatest MLB All-Star Game Moments.
10. 1933
It was only fitting that the first home run in an All-Star game is hit by Babe Ruth.
Ruth’s blast comes off Cardinals pitcher Bill Hallahan in the bottom of the third to give the American League a 4-2 in the inaugural All-Star game.
9. 1983
Fifty years later in the same ballpark, the first grand slam is hit as Angels center fielder Fred Lynn sends Atlee Hammaker’s 2-2 pitch over the wall.
It is still the only time a Grand Slam has been hit in the All-Star Game.
8. 1955
The National League pulls off the greatest comeback in All-Star Game history as they overcome a five-run deficit to pull out a victory in extra innings.
Trailing 5-0 entering the bottom of the 7th inning, the NL scores two runs in the inning, then score three runs in the eighth to tie the game, and then win the game in 12th when Stan Musial hits a solo home run. Read the rest of this entry →
Derek Jeter will be starting in the 2011 All-Star Game despite hitting .260 with 20 RBI.
Despite continual tweaking designed to make the process as fair and consistent as possible, the selections for the 2011 Major League Baseball All-Star Game follow the history of rewarding past accomplishments and dominant teams while overlooking a number of deserving players.
Selecting the players for the All-Star Game has been a challenge for generations.
The most egregious example of exploiting the system occurred in 1957 when ballot stuffing in Cincinnati led to the Reds having the top vote getter at seven of eight field positions. Eventually, two of the players were replaced in the lineup and fans lost the right to vote for the All-Star starters for slightly more than a decade.
Since fan voting was restored in 1970, the biggest problem has not been ballot stuffing, but instead a tendency for fans to vote some of their favorite players into the lineup regardless of whether they were having the best year of a player at that position.
Some all-time greats, including Brooks Robinson, Rod Carew, Wade Boggs, Reggie Jackson, Cal Ripken Jr., Ozzie Smith and Johnny Bench continued to be selected by the fans even in years when they were clearly not the best player at their position.
The unintended consequence of this desire to see certain fan favorites is that other deserving players don’t get the recognition of being All-Star starters in years when they were obviously the best player at their position.
One such example was first base for the American League during the late 1970s and early 1980s. After moving from second base, where he was an eight time starter, Rod Carew was voted by the fans as the starting first baseman every year from 1976 through 1984. Read the rest of this entry →
The addition of Adrian Gonzalez should help lift the Sox back to the top of the AL East in 2011.
The question in the American League is whether the usually dominant East Division will regain the form that saw teams from that division make five of seven World Series between appearances by squads from the West.
While the Boston Red Sox, who failed to make the playoffs in 2010, made serious moves to regain playoff form, the other two powerhouses in the division, the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays, did not make the same player gains.
With the Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers all seemingly positioned to make a run at the playoffs, the wild card team in the AL could come from a division other than the AL East for the first time since 2006 and only the second time since 2002.
AL East
The conventional wisdom is that the AL East is a three-team race, but both the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays are better than many teams that will be contenders in other divisions.
The Tampa Bay Rays won the division a year ago, but lost a number of important components in Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena and Jason Bartlett. To replace the offensive losses, the Rays have brought in former superstars Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez. Though both players are on the down sides of their careers, they should at least provide some production to offset the losses. The strength for the Rays will remain their pitching staff, with David Price and James Shields leading a unit that ranked second in the American League with a 3.78 ERA in 2010.
After reaching the AL Championship Series a year ago, the New York Yankees made relatively few changes to their lineup as catcher Russell Martin will likely be the only new addition to the opening day lineup. While in general the Yankees still have one of the most explosive lineups in the game, the age of veterans Jorge Posada, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez has to be of concern as the Yankees move into 2011. The biggest question for the Yankees is in the pitching staff where ace C.C. Sabathia is the only reliable starter. Phil Hughes and A.J. Burnett must improve their consistency while the Yankees are also relying on unproven Ivan Nova and a trio of former major league aces to fill the void left by the retirement of Andy Pettitte. Read the rest of this entry →
The Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month is a former major league baseball player who came into the game as a teenager and stayed until he was in his 40s. In between, Rusty Staub put up a solid career that was primarily spent on expansion or rebuilding teams.
Originally signed by the Colt .45s at age 17, he made his major league debut as a 19-year old rookie and became only the second player in the modern era to play in more than 150 games as a teenager.
Though he hit only .224 splitting time between first base and rightfield, Staub did start building a foundation that would turn him into an All-Star by 1967 when he finished fifth in the league with a .333 batting average.
