Welcoming myself back to this blog. I'd say that I've been 'busy', but who hasn't? Granted that a company merger is leading to LONG hours, and my weekends are spent from soccer fields, to rushed (often unhealthy) lunches, to T-ball games, etc. I have no good excuse - most of us have the same type lives.
However, last night's Detroit Tigers game has to go down as an utter shame. Armando Galarraga's perfect game.... Well, it was still perfect. Kind of. Without rehashing the game (who hasn't read about it or seen the highlights?) - Jim Joyce blew it. He made a call that was maybe, almost close with two outs in the ninth to break up a perfect game. A PERFECT GAME. The irony of it being that Galarraga himself covered first base and caught the ball, beating the runner by about a foot and a half - but the play was called safe. Who didn't say out loud 'Wait, wait?' upon seeing in? Unreal. And the call was so confident and assertive - which I understand is part of the job. But come on - it almost felt like he made up his mind before the play that anything close was safe.
I give Jim Joyce full credit for fessing up right away. But I still question the mentality of an umpire to make a call so assertively.
Putting myself in his shoes (which I did many times last night before falling asleep), I kept coming to the conclusion that anything close has to be called an out. It just seems like human nature. Admittedly that 'conclusion' of mine is flawed. As an official of any sport, your job is to remain neutral and have no emotional attachment to the game. I wonder how possible that is though. I could never umpire a Yankees/Sox game, referee a Lakers/Celtics game, or Pats/Jets game. As much as I would like to think that if it was my job I could remain neutral in that role, any close plays aren't going to be hard calls to make. Am I right?
Regardless... there was a perfect game pitched last night. Everyone involved was graceful in handling an obviously imperfect ending. But the history books will only be marked with a perfect SHAME. And we can only wonder why.
Showing posts with label perfect game. Show all posts
Showing posts with label perfect game. Show all posts
Thursday, June 03, 2010
Friday, June 08, 2007
No "No No"
What a game. What a performance. Man did the Sox need yesterday's win. Driving through Boston after Wednesday night's fourth straight heart-breaker, I could swear I saw a few Red Sox fans teetering on the top of the Pru.
Speaking of heart breaking, I can't believe that Curt got within one out of the "no no" yesterday. I watched the last three innings of the game from the hospital (my third child, Audrey Catherine" was born last night). I joked with my wife as she lay her hospital bed dealing with the pain of contractions every fifteen minutes, "Honey, if Curt gets a no hitter today, we're going to have to go with 'Schilling' or 'Curtwina' for our daughter's middle name." Surprisingly, my wife was not amused by this notion.
Fortunately for my wife -- and daughter -- Shannon Stewart ended Schilling's bid for history with two outs in the ninth. In some ways, this was a blessing in disguise. Can you imagine the guilt Lugo would have felt knowing that he was the reason that Curt missed pitching the 18th perfect game in the history of Major League Baseball? Why has nobody mentioned this by the way? I know it's a moot point but when Lugo made his error in the seventh, all I could think was, "Lugo just blew Schilling's perfect game."
Being a glass half full kind of guy, I'll look at the fact that Schilling came up huge yesterday in spite of missing out on the "no no." He did what a stopper is supposed to do -- he won. That in the face of another anemic offensive performance. Can you imagine the pressure of pitching with a one run lead in a game knowing that a) you had to win and b) you really needed to go at least seven if not eight innings in order to spare your overworked bullpen?
Let's hope things turn around for the Sox bats this weekend. I guess at this point, they can't get much worse. One strategy they might employ is when they have a runner on first is to ALWAYS lay down a sacrifice bunt. Yes, I'm recommending this even if Ortiz or Manny is at the plate. How many double plays have they hit into in the last three games. Seven?
On that note, let's play ball!
Speaking of heart breaking, I can't believe that Curt got within one out of the "no no" yesterday. I watched the last three innings of the game from the hospital (my third child, Audrey Catherine" was born last night). I joked with my wife as she lay her hospital bed dealing with the pain of contractions every fifteen minutes, "Honey, if Curt gets a no hitter today, we're going to have to go with 'Schilling' or 'Curtwina' for our daughter's middle name." Surprisingly, my wife was not amused by this notion.
Fortunately for my wife -- and daughter -- Shannon Stewart ended Schilling's bid for history with two outs in the ninth. In some ways, this was a blessing in disguise. Can you imagine the guilt Lugo would have felt knowing that he was the reason that Curt missed pitching the 18th perfect game in the history of Major League Baseball? Why has nobody mentioned this by the way? I know it's a moot point but when Lugo made his error in the seventh, all I could think was, "Lugo just blew Schilling's perfect game."
Being a glass half full kind of guy, I'll look at the fact that Schilling came up huge yesterday in spite of missing out on the "no no." He did what a stopper is supposed to do -- he won. That in the face of another anemic offensive performance. Can you imagine the pressure of pitching with a one run lead in a game knowing that a) you had to win and b) you really needed to go at least seven if not eight innings in order to spare your overworked bullpen?
Let's hope things turn around for the Sox bats this weekend. I guess at this point, they can't get much worse. One strategy they might employ is when they have a runner on first is to ALWAYS lay down a sacrifice bunt. Yes, I'm recommending this even if Ortiz or Manny is at the plate. How many double plays have they hit into in the last three games. Seven?
On that note, let's play ball!
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