[mike777]

What a wonderful ending to baseball's long season

Yes my Cubbies lost 100 or so and the White Sox fell flat in September.

Can we say triple crown...last 45 yars


I look forward to the next few weeks.


FWIW the A's look tough.....

[jjbrr]

meanwhile, Melky batted 336 this season

and trout deserves the AL mvp

so good job, good effort miggy, but LOL

[y66]

Best baseball year in half a century in this part of the world.

Nationals 98-64

O's competing with Yankees down to the wire in AL East.

Yankees crushing Red Sox 14-2 on last game of the season to eke out AL East championship.

[Thiros]

My pipe-dream matchup: Rangers and Nationals in the World Series.

[mike777]

wow texas and braves out already....

fwiw I hear some like oakland but dont count out cards.

[Cyberyeti]

That was a horrible infield fly call, it was debatable whether it was correct on the "ordinary effort" front, but the call was illegal as it wasn't made immediately, the ball was nearly down by the time the call was made.

[mike777]

Cyberyeti, on 2012-October-06, 15:08, said:

That was a horrible infield fly call, it was debatable whether it was correct on the "ordinary effort" front, but the call was illegal as it wasn't made immediately, the ball was nearly down by the time the call was made.

I understand it was made immediately.


take a look and decide.

http://scores.espn.g...ameId=321005115

[Cyberyeti]

mike777, on 2012-October-06, 15:10, said:

I understand it was made immediately.


take a look and decide.

http://scores.espn.g...ameId=321005115

I was watching it live and saw several replays while the cans rained down, it should be made pretty much as soon as the ball was hit, it had been up in the air a loooong time and was only about 20' above the ground when the call was made. The official waited to see whether the infielder could get under it, which means it's a dubious call at best as it's really intended to only be used when he's obviously camped right under it to prevent him deliberately dropping it and turning a double play.

[mike777]

Cyberyeti, on 2012-October-06, 18:18, said:

I was watching it live and saw several replays while the cans rained down, it should be made pretty much as soon as the ball was hit, it had been up in the air a loooong time and was only about 20' above the ground when the call was made. The official waited to see whether the infielder could get under it, which means it's a dubious call at best as it's really intended to only be used when he's obviously camped right under it to prevent him deliberately dropping it and turning a double play.

so was I, I did not see or notice a say 4 or 5 second delay but if so agree with your main point.

[Cyberyeti]

mike777, on 2012-October-06, 18:39, said:

so was I, I did not see or notice a say 4 or 5 second delay but if so agree with your main point.

It was called by the extra official back beyond third base, then the official at third echoed it, and the extra guy's arm went up pretty late.

[mike777]

Bill James take:

1) The Infield Fly Rule is necessary.



2) It is helpful in general when referees don't blow calls, but I think the outcome was essentially Kosher. The left field umpire made the infield fly call ridiculously late on a ball that probably should not have been called an infield fly to begin with, so obviously the umpire blew it. But my read on the situation was that the shortstop was going to catch the ball until he was distracted by the umpire's signal or pulled off the play because of the umpire's signal. IF that is true, then there's no harm to the mistake.

[Cyberyeti]

mike777, on 2012-October-07, 08:16, said:

Bill James take:

1) The Infield Fly Rule is necessary.



2) It is helpful in general when referees don't blow calls, but I think the outcome was essentially Kosher. The left field umpire made the infield fly call ridiculously late on a ball that probably should not have been called an infield fly to begin with, so obviously the umpire blew it. But my read on the situation was that the shortstop was going to catch the ball until he was distracted by the umpire's signal or pulled off the play because of the umpire's signal. IF that is true, then there's no harm to the mistake.

Agreed, a sensible take, it's just that IF the shortstop was going to drop the ball (and it was a catch he should make but not totally routine), then 2nd and 3rd with an extra out as against bases loaded with an out less is a massive difference, particularly in a 3 run game, with a pinch runner at first, you're potentially a double away from a tie.

[y66]

AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

Quote

ST. LOUIS -- So much went wrong for the Nationals in their first postseason game, it was hard to believe they still had a chance when rookie Tyler Moore strode to the plate with two outs in the eighth inning.

Gio Gonzalez had walked seven batters and was lucky to allow only two runs over five innings. Jayson Werth came up short in two potentially huge moments, leaving the bases loaded twice with a chance to dramatically shift the momentum in Washington's favor. The rest of the Nationals' lineup hadn't fared much better against Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright, striking out 10 times in 5 2/3 innings.

But up came Moore, pinch-hitting against lefty specialist Marc Rzepczynski with runners at second and third. Moore worked a 2-2 count and dropped a two-run single into right field, pushing Washington to a 3-2 win in Game 1 of the National League Division Series at Busch Stadium on Sunday.

[nigel_k]

Can anyone explain why it's important that they call the infield fly early?

Obviously the runners would have to act on the assumption it would not be called - tagging up and running like hell if the fielder doesn't catch it. But it seems to me that even after the ball has been dropped and a runner or two have been thrown out, the umpires could confer if they want to, then just call the batter out and move the runners back.

[Cyberyeti]

nigel_k, on 2012-October-07, 17:30, said:

Can anyone explain why it's important that they call the infield fly early?

Obviously the runners would have to act on the assumption it would not be called - tagging up and running like hell if the fielder doesn't catch it. But it seems to me that even after the ball has been dropped and a runner or two have been thrown out, the umpires could confer if they want to, then just call the batter out and move the runners back.

If the infield fly is called early, the runners have a safe option, to stay near their original bag as there is no forceout even if the fielder drops it.

If the infield fly is called late, they assume the call is not coming so they're basically screwed for a double play either way (stay near the original bag and get doubled off when the ball hits the deck or move on and get doubled off if it's caught) so they might move towards the next base on the grounds that their only chance is if it's dropped, meaning they get needlessly doubled off if it's caught.

In this scenario, it actually helped the batting side to have it called late because it wasn't caught and the runners advanced, but that doesn't make the call right or legal. Given that it was dropped, they'd have still preferred that the call hadn't been made, but the ***** would have hit the fan much harder if it had been caught and a batter had been doubled off because they'd advanced too far before the late call.