A number of years ago, Nomar Garciaparra caught major heat for allegedly harassing an official scorer over an error charged to the shortstop. Said incident was one of the first hits to Garciaparra’s rep in Boston prior to his unceremonious departure in 2004, so I can’t help but wonder how things might’ve turned out had he been blessed with the support of a drinking buddy awesome manager like Tony La Genius? From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Joe Strauss :
The Cardinals on Friday submitted a formal request to the commissioner’s office requesting an infield single during Thursday’s loss be re-examined as a possible error against Ryan. A change would absolve starting pitcher Kyle Lohse of four earned runs.
“I’ve never done that before,” La Russa said of the formal request. “But that’s four earned runs. You can have a tough time overcoming that as a starting pitcher, especially early in the season when you’re trying to get it going.”
The play occurred on a two-hop grounder that Ryan mangled on a short hop. The play was first scored an error, then changed as part of Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday’s four-for-four game.
“That’s just not right,” La Russa said. “That was just a two-hopper and he got a little tangled up.” Ryan later referenced the play as “my error.”
No date was given for when a ruling will be rendered.
I wholeheartedly support this move, and hope that the coders on espn.com’s fantasy site have anticipated its effects should it prove successful.
You know the only reason La Russa is doing this is because he wants to pitch Lohse more often but can’t if he picks up his slide-rule and notebooks and sees Lohse’s ERA is so high the math won’t justify playing him.