Astros 10/9, ALDS game 4

[Thunder]

You should keep posting. If for no other reason I will have no Jets fans to make fun of!

 

Yeah something tells me I'll stick around this year. All the Hot Stove talk, and stats speculation bores me to death though.

[a700hitter]

I'll let you know how it goes when I return from my offseason hiatus

One more piece of advice. You shouldn't mention to girls that you debate sports with old dudes on an Internet forum. They wouldn't understand that this is a pretty cool place. LOL! Although you could tell them that you are known as "Thunder" in "baseball circles". They might think that is cool. Edited October 10, 2017 by a700hitter

[Spudboy]

Yeah something tells me I'll stick around this year. All the Hot Stove talk, and stats speculation bores me to death though.

 

Lol. You are not alone.

[Beaneater]

The bases loaded- no outs- no runs was the killer. Bad strikes called--maybe 4 of them to JBJ and Pedey combined.

 

Only two bad strikes, according to Pitch F/X -- one each to JBJ and Pedroia. In fact, JBJ stood and watched four pitches go by in the strike zone, and should have been out without even seeing a fifth pitch. That being said, the strike three call was brutal.

 

Pedroia got jobbed, plain and simple.

 

However, I agree with those posters who talked about protecting the plate. In that situation, you can not strike out. Once you've got the two strikes on you, you've got to be thinking about fouling off the tough ones, dumping one the other way, just plain making something happen. Not hoping that the umpire will magically stop calling strikes on pitches off the plate.

[cp176]

Lol. You are not alone.

 

So true

[cp176]

One more piece of advice. You shouldn't mention to girls that you debate sports with old dudes on an Internet forum. They wouldn't understand that this is a pretty cool place. LOL! Although you could tell them that you are known as "Thunder" in "baseball circles". They might think that is cool.

 

Also a truth

[cp176]

Now it's starting to hit me... Feels weird going to bed knowing the season's over. Every day for 6 months we wake up with the anticipation of game day then all of a sudden it's done

 

I know just how you feel. It is and has been a way of life for us all. You are at a great school and you are close to home.

[S5Dewey]

Only two bad strikes, according to Pitch F/X -- one each to JBJ and Pedroia. In fact, JBJ stood and watched four pitches go by in the strike zone, and should have been out without even seeing a fifth pitch. That being said, the strike three call was brutal.

 

Pedroia got jobbed, plain and simple.

 

However, I agree with those posters who talked about protecting the plate. In that situation, you can not strike out. Once you've got the two strikes on you, you've got to be thinking about fouling off the tough ones, dumping one the other way, just plain making something happen. Not hoping that the umpire will magically stop calling strikes on pitches off the plate.

 

It's a sucky position to be in. Do you swing at a pitch that you know is a ball but might be called a strike because the last one was? Or do you hope the ump will get this one right? And you know that even if you make contact the best you're going to get is a weak dribbler to the infleld.

Those allegedly insignificant bad calls by the ump on balls and strikes can have a huge impact on an AB and a game.

 

I don't want to see robo-umps but I DO want to see the quality of umpiring improve. Unfortunately unless MLB does something to "incentivlse" the umpires things aren't going to change. Ignoring the bad calls isn't the answer

[Thunder]

One more piece of advice. You shouldn't mention to girls that you debate sports with old dudes on an Internet forum. They wouldn't understand that this is a pretty cool place. LOL! Although you could tell them that you are known as "Thunder" in "baseball circles". They might think that is cool.

 

I don't tell anybody about this place.

[illinoisredsox]

It's a sucky position to be in. Do you swing at a pitch that you know is a ball but might be called a strike because the last one was? Or do you hope the ump will get this one right? And you know that even if you make contact the best you're going to get is a weak dribbler to the infleld.

Those allegedly insignificant bad calls by the ump on balls and strikes can have a huge impact on an AB and a game.

 

I don't want to see robo-umps but I DO want to see the quality of umpiring improve. Unfortunately unless MLB does something to "incentivlse" the umpires things aren't going to change. Ignoring the bad calls isn't the answer

 

You need to learn to foul that one off.

 

Game 6 of the 75 World Series. Everyone remembers Fisk's homer. Most remember Carbo's homer to tie it in the 8th (an even bigger hit IMO). But the most significant play of that game was not Carbo's homer. It occurred one pitch before that, when Carbo fouled off a nasty pitch that easily could have struck him out (I still remember Sports Illustrated's description of him fouling off the pitch "with all the power and grace of a suburbanite raking leaves". It was an ugly swing, but as Eck might have put it "It was a beautiful thing".

 

Boggs was great at it. JBJ (and others) will never approach Boggs' ability in that regard, but they could improve at it.

[dannycater]

Most batters today go up there not being afraid of being called out looking. It's becoming fashionable almost amid the power of hitters and the abundance of 100-mph pitchers. Sure you could look for pitches to drive, sit on a pitch so to speak. But if you are last in HRs and you are not generating offense via the basehits and walks, you better start swinging at pitches that are close with 2 strikes. The approach by Pedey and JBJR in their at bats were passive. Astros hitters were drooling to hit with men in scoring position, they are up their free swinging. That's okay too, and it's a better approach than the Sox were taking. The umpires are calling pitches up in the zone, down in the zone, off the corners. Some are calling them differently from pitch to pitch...all the more reason to stop taking 2 strikes unless you know for a fact it's high or way off the plate. Otherwise, protect the plate. Period. Keep your at bat alive, do something. Twice in this series, announcers were saying the Astros are conceding a run, meaning all the Sox had to do was put a ball on the ground, and in both spots the Sox struck out and popped up. Pathetic.

[jad]

It's a sucky position to be in. Do you swing at a pitch that you know is a ball but might be called a strike because the last one was? Or do you hope the ump will get this one right? And you know that even if you make contact the best you're going to get is a weak dribbler to the infleld.

Those allegedly insignificant bad calls by the ump on balls and strikes can have a huge impact on an AB and a game.

 

I don't want to see robo-umps but I DO want to see the quality of umpiring improve. Unfortunately unless MLB does something to "incentivlse" the umpires things aren't going to change. Ignoring the bad calls isn't the answer

 

How could you possibly do that? Fine them for bad calls? i.e., calls that are not what a Robo-call would be? If you want them to resemble robots, shouldn't you just use robots? I don't see how punishment/reward would work with umpires, besides making their jobs even more stressful than they are already. It's not like the reason for bad calls is because umpires are indifferent to getting them right nor 'not trying' hard enough.

[Beaneater]

It's a sucky position to be in. Do you swing at a pitch that you know is a ball but might be called a strike because the last one was? Or do you hope the ump will get this one right? And you know that even if you make contact the best you're going to get is a weak dribbler to the infleld.

Those allegedly insignificant bad calls by the ump on balls and strikes can have a huge impact on an AB and a game.

 

I don't want to see robo-umps but I DO want to see the quality of umpiring improve. Unfortunately unless MLB does something to "incentivlse" the umpires things aren't going to change. Ignoring the bad calls isn't the answer

 

It is a sucky position. There's no right answer as far as as I can tell, or to put it more precisely, there's no one person to blame. The umpire sucked. Also, JBJ watched four strikes go by with the bases loaded. And Pedroia took a third strike which was objectively off the plate, but not by much, and which was nicely framed by the catcher. With the bases loaded. In an elimination game. Aaaaaagh!

[Bellhorn04]

You need to learn to foul that one off.

 

Game 6 of the 75 World Series. Everyone remembers Fisk's homer. Most remember Carbo's homer to tie it in the 8th (an even bigger hit IMO). But the most significant play of that game was not Carbo's homer. It occurred one pitch before that, when Carbo fouled off a nasty pitch that easily could have struck him out (I still remember Sports Illustrated's description of him fouling off the pitch "with all the power and grace of a suburbanite raking leaves". It was an ugly swing, but as Eck might have put it "It was a beautiful thing".

 

Boggs was great at it. JBJ (and others) will never approach Boggs' ability in that regard, but they could improve at it.

 

Damon was another guy who was really good at fouling off a pile of pitches.

[Bellhorn04]

I don't tell anybody about this place.

 

My assessment of your intelligence just took a big leap.

[Spudboy]

Damon was another guy who was really good at fouling off a pile of pitches.

 

Manny too.

 

He used to f*** with pitchers when he was motivated.

[S5Dewey]

How could you possibly do that? Fine them for bad calls? i.e., calls that are not what a Robo-call would be? If you want them to resemble robots, shouldn't you just use robots? I don't see how punishment/reward would work with umpires, besides making their jobs even more stressful than they are already. It's not like the reason for bad calls is because umpires are indifferent to getting them right nor 'not trying' hard enough.

 

Where I worked If a person screwed up too frequently they didn't get fired or have their pay changed. They got "reeducated". In the case of umpires it could mean being sent back to the minors until their job performance improved.

[jad]

Where I worked If a person screwed up too frequently they didn't get fired or have their pay changed. They got "reeducated". In the case of umpires it could mean being sent back to the minors until their job performance improved.

 

OK. But the only way to tell if they screw up is to see how closely their strike zone resembles the robo-zone? Then if that's the goal, it's silly not just to go with the robo-zone. (It would be hard to institute the kind of system the NFL has for judging officials, since, other than the guy at the plate, most umps only get a few calls a game and of those, the vast majority are obvious to anyone).

[mvp 78]

How could you possibly do that? Fine them for bad calls? i.e., calls that are not what a Robo-call would be? If you want them to resemble robots, shouldn't you just use robots? I don't see how punishment/reward would work with umpires, besides making their jobs even more stressful than they are already. It's not like the reason for bad calls is because umpires are indifferent to getting them right nor 'not trying' hard enough.

 

Welcome to the resistance.

[Maxbialystock]

Welcome to the resistance.

 

I hear you, but would argue again two basic points: 1) those rectangles are misleading; the "bad" calls are rarely that bad and even more rarely that influential because good pitchers adjust; 2) umpires are an important part of the game and would be completely marginalized if they were taken out of calling balls and strikes.

[Kimmi]

I hear you, but would argue again two basic points: 1) those rectangles are misleading; the "bad" calls are rarely that bad and even more rarely that influential because good pitchers adjust; 2) umpires are an important part of the game and would be completely marginalized if they were taken out of calling balls and strikes.

 

Umpires have a much larger effect on the outcome of games than managers do.

[SoxHop]

I know this is late, but, fun season y'all.......... strange though huh?????

 

Thanks all for hanging out in the super messed up game thread................ I enjoy the season a lot more being a part of the game thread. I learn a lot from you all and have a bunch of fun hearing your take on what's going on. I tell you, any of you suckers who hang out the whole year on this board are super fans and we all have the Sox sickness and it isn't going away till we are done on this earth. We are passionate, I love that in you all.

 

I'd love to give shout outs to you all, but there are just way too many of you.

 

I'll probably kick it down in the music thread from time to time until spring training. Any of you make it to Austin give me a holler.....

[Thunder]

I know this is late, but, fun season y'all.......... strange though huh?????

 

Thanks all for hanging out in the super messed up game thread................ I enjoy the season a lot more being a part of the game thread. I learn a lot from you all and have a bunch of fun hearing your take on what's going on. I tell you, any of you suckers who hang out the whole year on this board are super fans and we all have the Sox sickness and it isn't going away till we are done on this earth. We are passionate, I love that in you all.

 

I'd love to give shout outs to you all, but there are just way too many of you.

 

I'll probably kick it down in the music thread from time to time until spring training. Any of you make it to Austin give me a holler.....

 

Great post! Love having you around too, my man

[SoxHop]

Great post! Love having you around too, my man

 

Right back at you......... The Places You Will Go................. wishing you happiness when you visit all those places....... keep writing...........

[Slasher9]

Umpires have a much larger effect on the outcome of games than managers do.

 

hence Robot Umps Now!

[TylerD]

I miss games That is all...

[S5Dewey]

I miss games That is all...

 

No kidding!! I have seven (or eight) months every year when my focus is the Boston Red Sox. After that I'm left to deal with my addiction 'cold turkey'.

[Spudboy]

No kidding!! I have seven (or eight) months every year when my focus is the Boston Red Sox. After that I'm left to deal with my addiction 'cold turkey'.

 

Watch the Celts. They are fun to watch now. More so than last year.

[TylerD]

Is it game day yet I'm going through withdrawals.

[Kimmi]

Is it game day yet I'm going through withdrawals.

 

I am with you Tyler. I can't wait for baseball season to start. I'm not much of a football fan, so I don't even have that to keep me occupied.

 

Go Baseball!