Men in Blue Can Read Minds
You'd think after the umpires walk out a few years ago and the cutting of ties with Stevie Wonder types like
Ken Kaiser, Ritchie Garcia and the late Eric Gregg that the quality of umpiring in the majors would improve. Well it hasn't, and last night in Atlanta, the umpires running the show totally blew it while revealing to all of America one of baseball's hidden secrets: Umpires are telepathic.
Saturday night, Alfanso Soriano was hit with a pitch to lead off the game. Both dugouts were warned. Later in the game, Atlanta reliever Peter Moylan hit Cubs reliever Shawn Gallagher with a pitch and was allowed to stay in the game, no muss, no fuss
So what were umpires thinking when Ted Lilly hit Edgar Renteria with a pitch in the bottom the first with two down and nobody out? They inexplicably tossed Lilly out of the game. Jim Wolf, the home plate umpire, told Cubs manager Lou Piniella that Lilly threw at Renteria and that he, Wolfe was waiting for it to happen. Is Jim Wolf now a psychic? Perhaps managers should ask him what moves to make next since he can read the thoughts of others. Huh?
The teams had not been warned and from what I understand about these pussy rules that baseball has installed the last few years, a warning is only good for a game, not a series. So why did Lilly get tossed? Even Peter Gammons couldn't find out and he knows everything. Okay, he knows more than anyone besides Joe Morgan.
Then, to make it even worse, Renteria, running out a ground ball barreled into Cubs second baseman Mike Fontenot. The men in blue did absolutely nothing. If you assume that Lilly was throwing at Renteria, don't you have to assume that Renteria's intent was to maim Fontenot to exact revenge from being plunked by Lilly? Why Jim Wolf, you're a physic. What was Edgar thinking when he threw his forearm into Fontenot's nose?
One more thought: Major League baseball has, under Bud Selig, eliminated any kind of retaliation. Back in the day, you could bet if you hit a Cardinal, Bob Gibson would find you and plunk you. That was the way of the west. But in pussified MLB 2007, umpires are telepaths and pitchers are tossed out without just cause.
But here's one thing baseball has not done that even hockey has seen fit to remedy: Baseball fights are stupid. Guys come charging out of the dugout and unless you are Pedro Martinez or Nolan Ryan, it's basically a bunch of standing around. GET RID OF IT. If a player leaves the bench or the dugout, he's done for the night and possibly suspended. And before you give me the weak argument that it's nine against one, that's exactly my point. If I knew that there were nine guys on the field, wouldn't I think at least once before I engaged the pitcher in a fight? Ask Jim Wolf. He knows what I'm thinking.
Lightning Round
Ken Kaiser, Ritchie Garcia and the late Eric Gregg that the quality of umpiring in the majors would improve. Well it hasn't, and last night in Atlanta, the umpires running the show totally blew it while revealing to all of America one of baseball's hidden secrets: Umpires are telepathic.Saturday night, Alfanso Soriano was hit with a pitch to lead off the game. Both dugouts were warned. Later in the game, Atlanta reliever Peter Moylan hit Cubs reliever Shawn Gallagher with a pitch and was allowed to stay in the game, no muss, no fuss
So what were umpires thinking when Ted Lilly hit Edgar Renteria with a pitch in the bottom the first with two down and nobody out? They inexplicably tossed Lilly out of the game. Jim Wolf, the home plate umpire, told Cubs manager Lou Piniella that Lilly threw at Renteria and that he, Wolfe was waiting for it to happen. Is Jim Wolf now a psychic? Perhaps managers should ask him what moves to make next since he can read the thoughts of others. Huh?
The teams had not been warned and from what I understand about these pussy rules that baseball has installed the last few years, a warning is only good for a game, not a series. So why did Lilly get tossed? Even Peter Gammons couldn't find out and he knows everything. Okay, he knows more than anyone besides Joe Morgan.
Then, to make it even worse, Renteria, running out a ground ball barreled into Cubs second baseman Mike Fontenot. The men in blue did absolutely nothing. If you assume that Lilly was throwing at Renteria, don't you have to assume that Renteria's intent was to maim Fontenot to exact revenge from being plunked by Lilly? Why Jim Wolf, you're a physic. What was Edgar thinking when he threw his forearm into Fontenot's nose?
One more thought: Major League baseball has, under Bud Selig, eliminated any kind of retaliation. Back in the day, you could bet if you hit a Cardinal, Bob Gibson would find you and plunk you. That was the way of the west. But in pussified MLB 2007, umpires are telepaths and pitchers are tossed out without just cause.
But here's one thing baseball has not done that even hockey has seen fit to remedy: Baseball fights are stupid. Guys come charging out of the dugout and unless you are Pedro Martinez or Nolan Ryan, it's basically a bunch of standing around. GET RID OF IT. If a player leaves the bench or the dugout, he's done for the night and possibly suspended. And before you give me the weak argument that it's nine against one, that's exactly my point. If I knew that there were nine guys on the field, wouldn't I think at least once before I engaged the pitcher in a fight? Ask Jim Wolf. He knows what I'm thinking.
Lightning Round
- A player's only meeting brought the White Sox out of the wilderness for at least one game, a game they almost choked away in the ninth inning. At least Mark Buerhle won his 100th game. The Sox order cheese steak tonight.
- Here's a brilliant suggestion from out friends at Bugs & Cranks to revitalize the Sox bullpen.
- Last night was the final episode of the Soprano's. If Tony Soprano were brought in to clean up Chicago sports, what would he do?
- Jeff Gordon wins the rain shortened Pocono race, not necessarily because he had the best car, but because he had the smartest crew chief.
- Joakim Noah has very little use for bloggers.
- So, you bring in a new manager to re-ignite your franchise. You hire a guy from another organization who wants to do things his way. Do you win a lot of games or really mess things up?
- I agree with the writer: it's time to do what we should have done ten years ago.
- Paris Hilton will not appeal her jail sentence. It turns out her medical issue was anxiety over the
possibility of being photographed on the toilet. You just don't make this stuff up, folks. - BREAKING NEWS FROM BUTKUS D. DOGG: For those of you that have your dog sleep with you in your bed, please, please, please read this article and get help immediately for your safety and for the safety of your dog. I'm very serious here. Thanks, Back to you, Bald Guy.
- John McCain says we can't make English our national language because of promises we made to Native Americans. Yeah, like we've kept any of them.
- Finally, a resort area for men.
- If you smile for the camera in Texas, best be going the speed limit.
- If you haven't seen Robert Kubica's F-1 crash yet, you are in for some spectacular footage. Kubica sustained a broken leg, but he's okay otherwise. The highlights are narrated in German and the translation goes something like this: "There's Kubica. Oh the humanity!"
Comments