Adventures in Officiating (Revised)

After some contentious conversations with Smuckers and Lloyd Braun, I have decided to revise my entry from last week. Of course this posting is an example of my bitterness towards the Phillies and their deplorable fan base.

I found it very amusing to campare the two sets of Marlins/Phillies announcers that commented on the controversial call by Bob Davidson in the bottom of the 9th on August 5th. It's possible that the Marlins announcers don't understand baseball's simple Rule 2.00 that "a FAIR BALL is a batted ball that settles on fair ground between home and first base, or between home and third base, or that is on or over fair territory when bounding to the outfield past first or third base, or that touches first, second or third base, or that first falls on fair territory on or beyond first base or third base, or that, while on or over fair territory touches the person of an umpire or player, or that, while over fair territory, passes out of the playing field in flight."

In this play's case, the ball hit a foot before 3rd base just inside the line and subsequently landed a six feet or so past 3rd base about 6 inches inside the line. It certainly is possible that a ball can take a funny bounce or bend a bit around the bag because of unusual spin. In this case, the camera angle was inconclusive. Davidson certainly had the best angle, but this was a very tough call given the speed of the ground ball. My best guess, however, is that it was most likely a fair ball given how close to 3rd it initially bounced and that its next bounce was several inches in fair territory.

This discussion is clearly moot at this point, but I had to raise it in the spirit of this glorious blog's name. Besides, the Mets were beneficiaries of a terrible call on July 18th where a SF Giants baserunner was called out at the plate in the bottom of the 9th of a tie game. Replays showed he was safe. Either way, the Mets only have won 6 times since the break. Like I said last week, RIP 2010 Mets.

Philadelphia 1, Houston 1

Just wondering if Bob Cobb would like to update his Happ Oswalt comparison? I'm really not sure why he decided to make this an issue of contention. It's bizarre. Learn how to pick your battles Bob. Must have been a Mets induced hangover or perhaps some lingering resentment over his place in the Hearts hierarchy. Regardless, have no fear, because Smuckers is prepared to follow through on this until the end of the season or until Happ ends up in the bullpen or back on the DL. So how did round two turn out?

Oswalt: 6.1 IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER

Happ: 1 Ip, 6H, 7ER

Any Questions?

This is Embarrasing

Rather than comment on Brett Favre's most recent negotiating ploy, I present you this link instead.

Really Albert? Really? Really? You couldn't pass THIS? THREE TIMES? I mean, when I heard talk of a conditioning test, I naturally assumed it would involve several drills, maybe some sprints and some distance work combinations. But if Mr. Hanesworth can't complete a simple cone drill without his "knee acting up", one that Mike freaking Golic makes it through within the time limit (at a tempo that can best be described as a quick jog) what hope does he have of actually contributing this year? How will he even make it through warmups?
I guess the answers to the first question are a) he's a linemen and they don't actually run, and b) no one expects him to contribute. But still, this is embarrasing. I'm pretty sure Franklin Delano Romanowski just died a little bit inside.

Houston 1, Philadelphia 0

I thought I would live up to the "Shallow and Fairly Obvious" tone of this blog and just highlight the box scores from Friday, July 30th:

Oswalt (L) vs. Washington Nationals - 6.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 4 SO

Happ (W) vs. Milwaukee Brewers - 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 6 SO

RIP 2010 Mets

Nice effort from the squad yesterday against one of the most dismal teams in baseball this season. Those 35,000 paying customers deserved better on the day that the Mets inducted Straw, Doc, Davey, and Frank Cashen into their Hall of Fame. I feel bad for those who stayed around to watch Oliver Perez pitch garbage time relief. It's time to bid farewell to our 2010 Mets. Bonsoir. Buenas noches. Gute nacht.

Only the Pirates and Orioles have fewer wins than Arizona's 39. Arizona has lost 12 of 17 games - their only 5 wins have come against the lowly Mets. Met batters hit .190 against an Arizona staff that has MLB's highest ERA (5.27). Mets batters barely got a hit against Arizona's dismal bullpen and its 6.51 ERA. How does Howard Johnson still have a job? I feel sick.

These Mets had to tease us with the NL's best record in June (18-8). They were as many as 11 games over .500 and finished 48-40 at the break - not bad. Then Met trainers and Jerry Manuel mismanaged yet another Jose Reyes injury. They mismanaged Jason Bay's concussion. They wasted two roster spots with Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo and their $24 million of remaining payroll. Carlos Beltran's return certainly hasn't made a difference with this putrid start to the second half - they have lost 12 of 17. They haven't even won 2 straight games since June 22-23 in Detroit. Pathetic.

Going into the season, I figured this was an 80-win team at best. Then these Mets showed some heart with their impressive run in June. We fans started to believe again after the lows from 2009 - Ryan Church missing 3rd in extra innings in LA, Castillo's drop, DWright beaning, the other 100 injuries, etc. The 2010 Mets didn't find ways to lose like they did last year. They showed some character. We thought they could at least compete for a Wild Card spot. Now that is gone as they hit the road for Atlanta and Philadelphia. My guess is that Minaya and Manuel will be gone by next Monday.

Citi Field Security

This security guard used to play LB for the Giants. When does football season start?

Help!!!

There is a crisis unfolding in the world of Smuckers. The quality of the sliced watermelon that I purchase every morning at Bully's Deli is deteriorating rapidly and I don't know what to do about it. According to a reliable source (chowhound.com), the peak months for watermelon should be in August and September, but each day the color of the fruit offered at Bully's is getting lighter, not darker. The selection today was a collection of white vapid chunks that merely teased my palate with the memory of something sweet.

The situation is bordering on critical. It's untenable. Mark Twain once wrote, "when one has tasted watermelon he knows what the angels eat." Not his most famous or eloquent quotation, but who among us would dare deny its wisdom? There's also a Turkish proverb stating "two watermelons cannot be held under one arm," although I'm not sure how relevant that is to this particular conversation.

What is certainly relevant is that without my daily watermelon fix, how I will be able to maintain the quality of these typically transcendent blog posts? I might descend to the level of a Bob Cobb, or worse I could become the next Puddy Island (who I believe is currently holding out with Revis for better contract terms). Yes, these are dark days indeed. Fortuna is spinning downwards one again. I humbly ask that depending on your religious beliefs and/or alcoholic tendencies, please either say a prayer or pour out a 40 for poor Smuckers.