To coin a phrase from Boston’s epic collapse of 1978, was Wednesday the night a first place team was eliminated from the NL East pennant race?
Only a fuckin’ retard the most cynical of viewers would be unimpressed with the manner in which Philly’s relief corps — helmed by Mr. Anger Management, natch, have rendered the Mets’ bats useless. Who’d have thought an offense as potent as New York’s would emerge from three games in the bandbox conditions of CBP with 6 combined runs?
Not to put the entire result on the shoulders of Jose Reyes — currently being outclassed (for a few days, anyway) by that preseason mouth-runner Jimmy Rollins — but the Mets SS running his team out of an inning twice in one night is an occasion as rare as a solar eclipse. Or a thoughtful comment from Brett Myers.
Unless Willie Randolph decides to start pitching El Duque on 2 days’ rest, I’ll resist the Gene Mauch comparisons. But if Shawn Green is so utterly out of the mix, what, pray tell, is the point of pinch-hitting the veteran Tribesman in the 9th inning when Ruben Gotay was an alternative?
As for the play that provoked the photograph above, this is pretty much all you need to know :
Rule 7.09(d) Comment: If the batter or a runner continues to advance after he has been put out, he shall not by that act alone be considered as confusing, hindering or impeding the fielders.
(e) If, in the judgment of the umpire, a base runner willfully and deliberately interferes with a batted ball or a fielder in the act of fielding a batted ball with the obvious intent to break up a double play, the ball is dead. The umpire shall call the runner out for interference and also call out the batter-runner because of the action of his teammate. In no event may bases be run or runs scored because of such action by a runner.
(f) If, in the judgment of the umpire, a batter-runner willfully and deliberately interferes with a batted ball or a fielder in the act of fielding a batted ball, with the obvious intent to break up a double play, the ball is dead; the umpire shall call the batter-runner out for interference and shall also call out the runner who had advanced closest to the home plate regardless where the double play might have been possible. In no event shall bases be run because of such interference.
Randolph was adament that Marlon Anderson’s foot hit 2nd base on his attempted mauling of Tadahito Iguchi, hence, the play was legit (Carlos Ruiz, put your hand down). And the sad thing is, the unspeedy Green might well have beaten the throw without the benefit of Anderson’s manuever.
The stolen line from the first sentence aside, the Willie’s Mets are still clinging to a 3 game lead, which cannot be said of the Detroit. A 5-0 loss to the K.C. law firm of Greinke, Gobble, Braun and Riske — on a night Andrew Miller couldn’t get out of the first inning — relegated the Tigers to a 4 1/2 game deficit in the AL Central. Cleveland gained a game on the back of C.C. Sabathia’s 15th win, as the Indians beat the Twins and Johan Santana, 4-3.
The Ghost Of Gene Mauch was just on the phone. He thinks Ned Yost oughta try giving Ben Sheets the ball every two days the rest of the way.
I’m watching the late highlights right now and it looks like Anderson even pushes Iguchi down with his hand at the end of the slide.
Also, I can’t remember the last time the Inquirer sent their hockey writer as the back-up baseball writer. Must have been Sam Carchidi’s day off.
Steven Wells alert: A massive prolonged brawl broke out in the 400 section (a/k/a the new 700 level).
I think we should still just call it the 700 level. But how often, in Phillies history, is the game so important (and close) that the fight wasn’t even worth being distracted by?