Mets (Holmes) vs Red Sox (Buehler): 5/20/25, 6:45pm

[Maxbialystock]

2 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

They're not even ankle deep.

Did you read my massive reverse mojo on the first page?

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

5 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Probably not, but Skenes youth and two very good seasons make him pretty valuable.  And the Sox aren't knee deep in quality starters.  

My bad about this being Skenes' final year of his contract. The Pirates GM made the statement recently that there was a possibility Skenes could be traded because the Pirates couldn't afford to re-sign him.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

3 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Did you read my massive reverse mojo on the first page?

Yup. Reverse mojo sometimes works.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

44 minutes ago, iortiz said:

Not sure how they let these umps call the game man. It’s simply atrocious. Calling a strike not even close the zone and earlier a ball in the zone. Simply annoying. 

Crappy umpiring is the norm. Good umpiring is the exception.

[moonslav59]

Big win.

Maybe the ejections will be the spark...

LOL (I'm reaching- I know.)

[Maxbialystock]

This is like the 5th time I've listened to the radio announcers and I think they are terrific.  They stay focused on the game and have a lot of good comments, stats, etc.

More important is that these 2 wins vs the Mets could be the beginning of the big turnaround if only because both wins were pretty amazing--and the pitching, especially the bullpen, was great in both games.  

The defense, even with Campbell in CF, Hamilton at 2b, and Sogard at 1b, was excellent tonight.  Also neat:  4 double plays in these 2 games.  Hamilton looks way better than Campbell at 2b.  

I have beat up on Breslow a lot, but I do think he is an improvement over CB.  If the Sox play as well as we think they can, Breslow gets a lot of credit for Bregman, Crochet, and Narvaez.  

[Maxbialystock]

8 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Crappy umpiring is the norm. Good umpiring is the exception.

One more time.  While I too was outraged by what happened tonight, I have to remind everyone that baseball is a sport, played and umpired by humans.  Nobody on the field gets to look at the rectangle defining the strike zone.   That doesn't prevent me from getting pissed off at bad calls, but then I remember the rectangle is not real. 

In this case neither the bad strike call nor the two ejections in the 3d inning  prevented the Sox from winning a close game. 

In fact, the radio guys were saying that winning this game after the ejections might be a turning point.  

[Maxbialystock]

13 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Big win.

Maybe the ejections will be the spark...

LOL (I'm reaching- I know.)

Exactly what the NESN radio guys said.  

[Maxbialystock]

1 hour ago, vegasbob said:

Wong will have problems getting back into  even a 50-50 catching duo.  More like 25-75 in favor of Narvaez.

We can only hope.  

[iortiz]

1 hour ago, Maxbialystock said:

This is like the 5th time I've listened to the radio announcers and I think they are terrific.  They stay focused on the game and have a lot of good comments, stats, etc.

More important is that these 2 wins vs the Mets could be the beginning of the big turnaround if only because both wins were pretty amazing--and the pitching, especially the bullpen, was great in both games.  

The defense, even with Campbell in CF, Hamilton at 2b, and Sogard at 1b, was excellent tonight.  Also neat:  4 double plays in these 2 games.  Hamilton looks way better than Campbell at 2b.  

I have beat up on Breslow a lot, but I do think he is an improvement over CB.  If the Sox play as well as we think they can, Breslow gets a lot of credit for Bregman, Crochet, and Narvaez.  

The Mets are in a kind of a slump right now but Twins and Blue Jays were as well when we played them and we know what happened. Yeah, hopefully we sweep them tomo and keep raking up Ws moving forward. 

I’m bit concerned about Campbell, hopefully he turns around again. 
 

 

[Duran Is The Man]

3 hours ago, vegasbob said:

Wong will have problems getting back into  even a 50-50 catching duo.  More like 25-75 in favor of Narvaez.

agreed. and TBH, i just as soon never see Wong again.

[Duran Is The Man]

2 hours ago, vegasbob said:

The BP's performances the 2 wins vs the METS has been spectacular.  Especially after Buehler got wasted by a  really bad umpire

yep...nice to see them do the job instead of blowing it again.

[Hugh2]

The .500 magnet is real

[Bellhorn04]

Buehler was pretty hard on himself about getting tossed.

Personally I kind of love the guy.  He's a serious competitor.  

[mvp 78]

The Buehler ejection was awful. I saw an angle where Buehler is on the mound, the ump yells "get back on the mound (as the umps walking to the mound)." Buehler gets to about a foot from the rubber and the ump is still aggro about Buehler "getting back on the mound" and ump is jogging at Buehler and ready to toss him no matter what. Sure, Buehler isn't allowed to say "it was right down the f'n middle," but don't tell me that's not said here and there throughout every game. Total ump show with the ump being the aggressor. 

[Bellhorn04]

Add it to the pile of evidence that we need robo-calls.

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Add it to the pile of evidence that we need robo-calls.

Would have been a perfect time to use an ABS challenge. Totally deescalates the situation. 

[jad]

Is it really too much for professional pitchers making 20 million/year to understand the rule:  "You cannot argue balls and strikes."   Also, you cannot make physical contact with an ump.  Cora should be fined for that.   The rule does not provide an exception if the call was wrong or you didn't like it.

[Bellhorn04]

7 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Would have been a perfect time to use an ABS challenge. Totally deescalates the situation. 

I think the challenge system would work great.

[Bellhorn04]

1 minute ago, jad said:

Is it really too much for professional pitchers making 20 million/year to understand the rule:  "You cannot argue balls and strikes."   Also, you cannot make physical contact with an ump.  Cora should be fined for that.   The rule does not provide an exception if the call was wrong or you didn't like it.

But it's not even that simple.  Pitchers are allowed to argue but they can't leave the mound when they do it.

Robo-call challenges are an easy fix.

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, jad said:

Is it really too much for professional pitchers making 20 million/year to understand the rule:  "You cannot argue balls and strikes."   Also, you cannot make physical contact with an ump.  Cora should be fined for that.   The rule does not provide an exception if the call was wrong or you didn't like it.

Did you watch the replay or no? https://streamable.com/y2hdmx

Ump was completely out of line. 

[Old Red]

The BP needed some work anyway.🤫

[Bellhorn04]

20 minutes ago, Old Red said:

The BP needed some work anyway.🤫

Good one.  They stepped up in miraculous fashion.

[Old Red]

8 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Good one.  They stepped up in miraculous fashion.

The last two nights.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Umpires are human, so they all miss a call sometimes. But the best ones -- when they realize it -- turn their backs and let a player blow off steam and even utter cuss words.

I've also experienced umps quietly admit to a player or coach they blew a call, after the situation has calmed down.

Guys like Estabrook with a quick fuse have ego issues, and are on power trips. Don't ever underestimate why people in charge chose professions that carry a ball-strike clicker (or gun or ICE vest).

Finally, no viewer should ever consider that fake rectangle on their boob tube to delineate the strike zone -- since it's the exact same dimensions no matter how tall or short the batter, whether he's crouching in his stance or straight up in the box.

[mvp 78]

15 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Guys like Estabrook with a quick fuse have ego issues, and are on power trips.

I mean, this is the problem here. A missed call is just a missed call. If the ump was obscured from seeing the pitch and wasn't 100% about it, maybe let the pitcher yell for a second. Escalating the situation, as some umps do, is bush league and those umps don't belong in MLB. I'd rather have Angel Hernandez on a crew than this guy. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Just now, mvp 78 said:

I mean, this is the problem here. A missed call is just a missed call. If the ump was obscured from seeing the pitch and wasn't 100% about it, maybe let the pitcher yell for a second. Escalating the situation, as some umps do, is bush league and those umps don't belong in MLB. I'd rather have Angel Hernandez on a crew than this guy. 

You know it's a bad scene when Laz Diaz is the mediator, diffusing angst across the infield.

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

You know it's a bad scene when Laz Diaz is the mediator, diffusing angst across the infield.

Diaz is the crew chief! Knucklehead squad with those four…

[drewski6]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

The Buehler ejection was awful. I saw an angle where Buehler is on the mound, the ump yells "get back on the mound (as the umps walking to the mound)." Buehler gets to about a foot from the rubber and the ump is still aggro about Buehler "getting back on the mound" and ump is jogging at Buehler and ready to toss him no matter what. Sure, Buehler isn't allowed to say "it was right down the f'n middle," but don't tell me that's not said here and there throughout every game. Total ump show with the ump being the aggressor. 

My first thought was that it was a step back, as in, I thought we were largely past the 2000s era when umpires were trying to become part of the experience, had massive egos, and felt entitled to personal branding (Joe West country music career comes to mind).

I really dont want to return to umps thinking they are main characters in the movie, mostly because its accompanied by so much whining (on their part)

[Bellhorn04]

4 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

My first thought was that it was a step back, as in, I thought we were largely past the 2000s era when umpires were trying to become part of the experience, had massive egos, and felt entitled to personal branding (Joe West country music career comes to mind).

I really dont want to return to umps thinking they are main characters in the movie, mostly because its accompanied by so much whining (on their part)

Good umps definitely know where the line is between doing their jobs and being part of the show.

I can understand why umps might sometimes get a little hot in the moment.  

Maybe ejections should be reviewable too LOL

"On further review, Buehler should not have been tossed!  My bad."