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As always, the I/O is the "fact," the Crunch my "opinion" about said fact.

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I/O:  A machine would have just barely called Rodney's last pitch a "ball."  Probably.

CRUNCH:  Rodney is much less reliable ... um, much more white-knuckle ... than his glittery stats indicate.  If Rodney closed the M's way to a World Series, in games like this, it would be moderately surprising to Dr. D.

My own takeaway from that pitch:  I'm fine with the game, but I'm not fine with Rodney as my closer.  Well, I am fine with him if my ambition is to turn a perennial laughingstock into an 85-90 win team.  I'm not fine with him if my ambition is to be the best team in baseball. 

......

That said, Dr. D can't praise Zduriencik enough for his value signing of Rodney.  It set up the whole bullpen.  Might we argue that the bullpen has, in turn, set up the pennant run?

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I/O:  Back in the 1980's, they responded to this pitch by blaming Nick Punto the hitter:  "that's too close to take."

CRUNCH:  what they meant by that, was that it's kind of chickenfeathers (in any sport) to ask the referee to beat the opponent for you.

In our private basketball games, a guy hits the outside shot for the win and then --- > somebody starts arguing that his toe just barely touched the 3-point line?   He's missing the point.  Their 4 beat our 4 on that play.

A pitcher gets you to two strikes, and then throws a pitch maybe ONE or TWO inches "technically a ball" and then you want somebody else to win it for you?  Weak.

........

That said, the game has changed, to where a WALK is understood to be an offensive achievement.  But only if the next sections are stapled into the sheaf.  A walk WOULD be (indisputably) an achievement if a fair computer called a fair strike zone.

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I/O:  The purpose of the strike zone is to provide the batsman a fair opportunity to strike the delivered ball.

CRUNCH:  I don't know when pitch #6 became an "unhittable pitch" and therefore a "ball."  But think back to 1863 (not 1963) for a second.  The idea was to prevent the pitcher from throwing an unfair pitch, say, 7 feet high, or on a bounce, or whatever.

The last pitch was OVER the 17" plate, and 4-6" under the letters.  Was that really the idea of the strike zone, to declare Rodney's last pitch an unfair one?

My point is, for Punto to throw a fit over a pitch MAYBE half a baseball too high .... there's a certain silliness involved, in the cosmic perspective.

........

My real complaint is probably with respect to the STRIKE ZONE.  Most pitchers consider this a "silly" zone.  They'll say about a "ladder" fastball just like Rodney's, but centered:  "He swings, it's an easy home run; he takes it, it's a ball, because it's supposedly not easy enough to hit.  IS THAT FAIR?"

No, it isn't fair.  And you do realize the zone is so low because it's physically comfortable for umpires?  Baseball fights umpires to call higher strikes, but they have to stand awkwardly to level their eyes with the top of a different zone.

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I/O:  People inside baseball hate the idea of an automated strike zone; people outside baseball want it.

CRUNCH:  Compare the NBA, if every time a player took a shot --- > you waited for a referee to tell you whether he liked the shot.  The game is inherently more exciting, more fan-friendly, when the fans instantly know what the reality was.

The fans instantly see the swish of the net.  The ball into a strike zone is the goal.  What the players are accustomed to, I couldn't care less.  Why should the ingrained habits of 50 people override the needs of the 50,000 (just in the stadium) who pay the bills?

.......

Rizzs did have a good point in favor of no replay:  last game of the World Series, play at home ... fans don't get to erupt, because they have to wait for the replay.

My reply:  would you prefer the 1985 World Series, where the entire championship was reversed because of an umpire's error?

My second reply:  was the end of Friday night's game satisfying?  Or was it frustrating?

But still.  It's a good point, and maybe the best one, against all replay.  It's not a good enough point, but it's a good point.

.......

Back on track:  for 5 years, you give the home plate ump a beep in his ear, and 99.98% of the time he'll go with the machine.  Then, after that, have the entire backstop (the place where they put the ads) light up GREEN or RED behind home plate as the machine sees it.  The umpire may overrule (answerable to his supervisor).

Without any question the game would be better -- in the same sense that an NBA with nets is better.  In Dr. D's opinion, 50 years on the strikes will of course be automated -- which means what, as far as those arguing against it now?  What do you think of the people who used to argue that baseball helmets shouldn't have earflaps? 

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I/O:  The world will keep spinning, the M's are the winners of the opener, and the strike call will be no big fat hairy deal on ESPN.

CRUNCH:  If I'm the M's, I do not mind LOSING on that strike, either.  Not unless the called strike was part of a systematic bias against the M's.

Last I checked, there is no systematic bias in favor of the M's.  (Wilhelmsen could certainly have used a strike call or four, on Friday.)   How many times have you and I watched the Mariner hitters walk away silently after strikes like Punto's?

I'm not backing up to take that particular strike.  The M's finally get a call?, waaah, waaaah, Orcs.

 

 

Also, the M's had 5 K's and 5 BB's offensively; the A's had 10 K's and 3 BB's offensively.  Generally speaking, an M's victory was a fair result.

Each of the M's 3 runs was admirable in its own right.  For example, Blowers pointed out that Logan Morrison fought off three "pitcher's pitches" before launching his solo shot.  You had the consecutive doubles -- Cano's was very admirable as Blowers also pointed out.  etc.  The M's got down 2-0, and they fought back in a playoff atmostphere.

The A's ran into the AL All-Star team.  :- )  They lost.  

.........

Is this a "big series"?  Yes, it is, in the sense that ---- > if you're claiming to be a "good team," this is a reasonable litmus test.  Not a final test, but a reasonable one.

Friday, the M's looked like a good team.  

HOO-AH,

 

Dr D