Maxbialystock

I love pitching to contact--just not real good contact.

Amazing. 250 years ago Americans, including George Washington, were happy to be vaccinated against smallpox.

Doesn't look as though two pitches, a big curve and an 88 mph fast ball, are going to be enough.

Agree.

Apparently, mental telepathy works.

GAME STARTS AT 11:10 AM Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight rid of Paul Revere On the eighteenth of April in Seventy-Five: Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year. Righty Bundy vs. lefty Hill with 3 changes from yesterday's lineup-- Enrique CF Raffie 3B Bogey SS JDM DH Verdugo LF Arroyo 2B Shaw 1B Vazquez C JBJ RF

Except for the Orioles the AL East is a traffic jam--just like last year. Boston, thanks to today, has the biggest run differential, +7. Twins are the bigger deal because the Sox play them tomorrow with Bundy (5 shutout innings 5 days ago vs. Seattle) going against our 42 year old lefty, Hill.

Today was a pretty good pitching duel until the Sox broke it open in the 8th.

mlb.com says tomorrow's games starts at 11:10 am

After Brasier got those bases loaded with the score at 2-1 in the 7th, this is a welcome bottom of the 8th. I thought Cora was nuts to leave Brasier in, but he got the K.

Fifteen pitch K could prove costly. If so, I blame Plawecki and/or Cora.

Dalbec ain't hitting much, but he's gotten pretty good at catching those short throws to 1b. Funny thing, but there's not stat for those grabs. Indeed, if he mishandles one, the error is on the thrower.

Against righty Ober, same Sox lineup today except Plawecki is catching Wacha (whom Vazquez caught last time)-- Enrique Raffie Bogey JDM Verdugo Story Dalbec JBJ Plawecki

Terrific, in fact. Just 10 hits in the game, 8 BB's, and 10 K's--and four glorious DP's, including the K + throw to 2b by Vazquez.

Fear and loathing? I would rather say that a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds. Part of the beauty of sports is the ever present threat and reality of inconsistency. Crash Davis: just one more hit a week is the difference between batting .250 and .300. Yesterday Houck threw strikes just 56% of the time--with 4 K's and 3 BB's--but he still managed to go 5.2 shutout innings.

Actually, baseball did more to attack racism than the Congress, the Senate and House, and the Supreme Court when the Dodgers integrated in 1947, one year before President Truman integrated the armed services. Indeed, one could well argue that one led to the other and that MLB and baseball writ large have done a better job of integrating and mitigating racism then has the government and/or the armed services. Violence and racism were/are endemic to American society. And one could fairly say that arguing with umpires was therapeutic for managers, players, and fans alike. Those arguments were time-consuming, but sixty and more years ago they still played games quickly (compared to today).

Good question. And my answer is still the same. The umpires are not an impediment, a problem to be solved. They have always been part of the game, the humans who do the essential job of helping to determine the outcomes of games by rendering quick decisions on balls, strikes, out, safe, foul, fair, obstruction or not, HBP or not, balk or not, etc, etc. I agree with moonslav that the home plate umpires direct view of the strike zone is imperfect, but I would still rather have an imperfect human call balls and strikes than a computer hooked up to cameras. Computers--and I well aware I am using one right now to type this--have already initiated dramatic change in how the game is played. By determining hitters tendencies, they cause three infielders to routinely be put to the right or left of 2d base. Indeed, those new configurations sometimes prevent infielders from being able to make a double play. Bunts and stolen bases are being computerized away, but swinging for the fences is definitely in. Meanwhile, games still last longer and longer because dawdling by pitcher and batter remains sacrosanct. Why not use the almighty computer to fix that?

GAMES STARTS AT 1:35 Ober vs. Wacha, both righties. Ober started a week ago vs. Seattle, going 5 innings, giving up 4 runs for the win. The Twins scored 10 runs. Last year was Ober's rookie season. Six days ago Wacha went 4.1 innings, giving up 1 run with 3 BB's, 4 K's, and 72 pitches. Sox lost 3-1. Happy Easter Sunday.

Houck does not have a big repertoire although the splitter was an excellent addition. He threw 50 strikes in 89 pitches, 56%, compared to the preferred 67%, and benefitted from 2 GIDP's. I think Cora pulled him at the right time. This was Whitlock's 3d appearance in 8 Sox games--with a total of 107 pitches compared to Eovaldi's 177, Houck's 167, and Pivetta's 135. He has pitched 8.2 innings to Eovaldi's 10, Houck's 9, and Pivetta's 7.2. Whitlock has thrown no more than 39 pitches in an outing.

My points are still valid even though it looks as though robo umps could arrive next year.

That's my point. What the umpire sees and calls is real. He may make close mistakes, but they are based on what he sees on the field of play, which does not include some fabricated rectangle we can only see on our screens. Every call made in a game should be based on what can physically seen on the field of play. Did the runner touch the bag or not? Was the tag made or not? Was the fly caught or not? Did the throw beat the runner or the runner beat the throw? Was the firstbaseman's foot on the bag or not? Did the fielder interfere with the baserunner or not? Did the baserunner interfere with the hit ball or not? Did the batter swing or not?

Regrettably, I would like to insert a spurious comment on, of all things, the bullpen. Today's game suggests another value for Whitlock's long-relieving. It's like a day off for the rest of the bullpen although today Strahm did also go an inning.

Robo-umps are stupid for the simple reason that nobody--and by that I mean nobody on the field of play, not the players, coaches, managers, fans, or umpires--can see that stupid rectangle we see on the screen.

I swear the umps have instructions this year--"when in doubt, call it a ball."

Tough break for Gray and the Twins.