Yankees Prevail As Dempster Takes His Game Into The Dumpster

The New York Yankees - Boston Red Sox game last night could have been simply played like a normal baseball game between the longtime rivals. The fans would have booed Alex Rodriguez unmercifully, which isn't any different than any other time A-Rod played in Boston, and a winner would emerge after the usual four hour contest.

Except that Red Sox starting pitcher Ryan Dempster decided to make the moment and the game his own personal statement against A-Rod. In the end, the Yankees got payback at Dempster's actions and won the game, but home plate umpire Brian O'Nora handled things poorly and Yankees manager Joe Girardi was ejected as a result.

The best result of the night for the Yankees was the final score - Yankees 9 Red Sox 6. It was the third straight series win for the Pinstripes, who have won 7 of 10 since they were swept in a three game series with the Chicago White Sox.

The 2nd inning set the tone for the night when A-Rod stepped to the plate for the first time. Dempster, a onetime player rep who helped decide how PED suspensions and appeals would be handled, threw his first pitch behind A-Rod legs. The next two pitches missed their target - A-Rod, not the plate - and were inside and tight. Finally, Dempster's 3-0 delivery hit A-Rod in the back below his armpit.

That's when O'Nora made a mess of the entire situation. Instead of tossing Dempster for the obvious intent of the entire at-bat, he warned both benches. Girardi shot out of the dugout faster than he's run since he legged out that famous triple in Game 6 of the 1996 World Series.

Every vein in Girardi’s neck and head looked ready to burst as he screamed at O'Nora for his actions, or more precisely, inaction. O'Nora ejected him, but not before Girardi called Dempster another word for a cat.

A-Rod stood quietly alongside first base coach Mick Kelleher as both benches emptied, but no altercations took place. Girardi was still furious after the game ended. He told the YES Network:

"Ryan Dempster has hit six guys in his last 320 innings. He throws the first pitch behind him, intentional. He threw the next one inside, he didn't hit him...intentional. At some point Brian O'Nora has to give him a warning and he should have thrown him out of the game. It's the bottom line.

Everyone knows it was intentional and I don't know understand why he's left in the game, and then to give us a warning...You know Brian and I have a long history together. Back in 'A' ball, Double-A, and I respect him, but that was wrong.

You know the one thing you can't do is start changing the system, because maybe you don't like it. Ryan Dempster has been a player rep and he's been very involved in the union, and he knows this is what they decided to do. So you can't change it and take your potshots, and you'd have to have your head in the sand with the comments coming from the other side not to know that something might be happen.

So, I thought it was handled very poorly and I was upset about yesterday, because calls went against us that changed the complexion of the game. Then you have this...it's just flat wrong."

The complete interview:

Jerry Seinfeld once said the best revenge was "living well." In baseball, it's hitting a home run and knocking the pitcher out of the game. Down 6-3 in the 6th, A-Rod crushed a Dempster delivery into the centerfield stands. As he rounded first, A-Rod loudly clapped his hands and pointed both arms skyward when he reached home plate.

The blast fired up his teammates, who then took control of the game. Eduardo Nunez and Lyle Overbay reached on one-out singles and Dempster was pulled after he walked light hitting Chris Stewart to load the bases. Drake Britton came on and Brett Gardner introduced himself by ripping a ball to the deepest part of right-center field. Pinch-runner Jayson Nix, Overbay, and Stewart all crossed home plate as Gardner raced to third with a triple that gave the Yankees a 7-6 lead.

Mark Reynolds and Stewart added tack on RBI singles and Mariano Rivera got out of a two-out, two-on jam in the 9th when he got Jarrod Saltalamacchia to line out to left.

A-Rod was obviously upset after the game when YES asked him, "Joe said that should have been handled differently. The first pitch behind you should have been a warning and when you got hit he should have been tossed. Do you feel the same way?"

"Yeah I agree. That was..whether you like me or hate me, what's wrong is wrong and that was unprofessional and silly. And kind of a silly way to get someone on your team hurt as well.

YES: "Considering how many players have spoken out about you playing during your suspension, are you concerned about this at all moving forward?"

"I'm not at all. You know we um, that today brought us together. Joe's reaction was amazing. Every one of my teammates said "hit a bomb and walk it off. They were more...as pissed as I was. That's just not right."

There was a light moment when a reporter asked if Dempster should be suspended. A-Rod and the media laughed when he responded, "You're the asking the wrong guy about a suspension. I got an attorney I can recommend."

The complete interview:

And so it will continue to go.

Expanded Instant Replay Coming As Umps Continue to Blow....Calls

Expanded instant replay is coming to a baseball field near you in 2014. It's just unfortunate that it won't be here any sooner than that. Like tomorrow.

Major League umpires are getting worse by the minute, by the game, by the climate... Calls continue to be grossly missed and are impacting the outcome of games.

The Yankees were the victims twice on Saturday in their 6-1 loss to Boston. I'm not saying that the outcome would have been different, and the bad calls are happening to every team. (A blown tag up call that went against. the Angels helped the Yankees rout the Halos a few days ago.)

Alfonso Soriano was called out when he attempted to steal second base when he was clearly safe. Dustin Pedroia made a nice swipe tag, but umpire Fieldin Culbreth called him out despite being right on top of the play.

A more egregious call came with the Red Sox batting in the 4th inning. Already up 1-0 on a Lyle Overbay throwing error, the Red Sox had runners on first and second and pulled off a double steal. With switch hitter Jarrod Saltalamacchia batting from the left side, the Red Sox tried to take advantage of Alex Rodriguez playing off the bag at third.

Catcher Chris Stewart hit A-Rod in stride with his throw and the embattled third baseman brought the tag down on Mike Carp for a clear out. The only problem was third base umpire Bill Welke committed a double mistake. He was out of position and made the call on the run. Actually there were three mistakes; he called Carp safe.

If things played out as they did, Salty struck out, the inning would have been over and the score would have still been 1-0. Instead, Will Middlebrooks and Jacoby Ellsbury singled in runs for a 3-0 lead against Hiroki Kuroda.

As far as the expanded replay goes. Each manager will have one challenge in the first six innings and two more in the final three innings and any extra frames. The manager will not be allowed to argue a call that they plan to challenge. Like the NHL, there will be a command center with officials reviewing the play. MLB expects the process to take a one minute and 15 seconds, which is, at the very least, laughable.¹

Managers will retain any challenge that is successful. Not all calls can be challenged - hit by pitch being one of them.

Finally, perhaps the people of Twitter are right; it's time for robot umpires. They couldn't be worse than Jerry Meals.

(Might want to let catchers throw the ball back to pitchers too  - http://sports.yahoo.com/video/umpires-throw-hits-peacock-174900096.html )


1 - mlb.com

MLB's Poor Umpiring Helps Yankees Blast Halos

The cry for instant replay is going to reach a crescendo sooner rather than later. With a 162 game regular season schedule we've witnessed many mistakes by the men in blue year in and year out. It's affected the biggest stage as well during the post-season.

While it may not cost a team a post-season series, it could help decide who reaches the post-season. The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels are two teams battling to stay above water, so when a call possibly costs them a game, you bet plenty of people stand up and take notice.

Last week in Chicago, home plate umpire Alan Porter erroneously called Brett Gardner out at the plate when he was clearly safe. The "erased" run helped cost the Yankees the game. Tuesday night's contest with the Angels saw the wrong call go in the Yankees favor. Chris Nelson, who spent a few weeks in a Yankees uniform this season, was on third base for Los Angeles with one out in the 6th inning and the Yankees clinging to a 4-3 lead.

Tommy Field lifted a fly ball to left that enabled Nelson to race home ahead of Alfonso Soriano's throw to tie the game at 4-4. Or did it? Catcher Austin Romine threw the ball to Jayson Nix at third and home plate umpire David Rackley called Nelson out. Needless to say Angels manager Mike Scioscia went ballistic. Replays showed that Nelson did not leave third base early - his foot was still on the base when the ball landed in Soriano's glove.

It was Rackley's responsibility to watch Nelson since the third base umpire, Brian Gorman, had to make sure the ball was caught. So standing 90 feet away Rackley determined that Nelson left before the ball was caught which allowed the Yankees to record a double play rather than make an appeal.

Instead of a tie game and lead off hitter J.B. Shuck coming to the plate with runners on first and second and two outs, the inning was over with the Yankees still in the lead. It enabled CC Sabathia to stay in the ball game and pick up his 10th win of the season. The Yankees also had their biggest offensive explosion in what seemed like a decade and held on for a 14-7 win.

Alfonso Soriano had his first big game back in pinstripes with a pair of home runs and a career high six RBI. Alex Rodriguez ripped a 2-run double to the base of the wall in left, Vernon Wells homered for the first time since May, and Eduard Nunez had four ribbies.

It was an odd game to say the least. Sabathia only allowed three hits, but walked six hitters. He also struck out seven so there was plenty of "no contact baseball" when he was in there. The double digit win total made Sabathia just the fifth pitcher since 1900 to win 10 or more games in their first 13 seasons. The others are Tom Seaver, Don Sutton, Eddie Plank, and Carl Hubbell.¹

The game was held up by rain for 26 minutes with two outs in the top of the 8th inning. When play resumed Dellin Betances struck out rookie Grant Green with a 97-mph fastball to end the inning. Unfortunately, Betances didn't have the same good fortune in the 9th inning when he was tagged for four runs after he struck out Chris Iannetta to start the frame. Joba Chamberlain came on to record the final two outs - a seven run lead may be the only time Joba is trusted now.

1 - Elias Sports Bureau

Angel Hernandez Gives MLB a Black Eye and MLB Says "Thank you"

Toss the manager when you blow the call.

The first I heard of the controversial ending in Wednesday night's Oakland A's-Cleveland Indians game was while I listened to Mike and Mike on ESPN radio this morning.

Right off the bat - appropriate baseball phrase in this case - I had a problem with the fact that Angel Hernandez was the crew chief of the umpires in the game. In case you haven't heard about it, the A's trailed by one in the 9th when Adam Rosales hit a Chris Perez pitch high off the wall in left field.

A's manager Bob Melvin immediately came out to question the call. He felt that the ball landed up the yellow line, which would indicate a home run. Any ball hitting the line would be in play and that's how the umpires interpreted it. However, Melvin was right, the ball hit the railing past the wall and bounced back on to the field.

If you look at the three image captures below you can clearly (okay it's from a slow motion replay - you can "blurrily") see the ball is above the wall, descends and then passes the yellow line as it moves towards the field of play. Meaning it had to have hit behind the wall and ricocheted back on the field. It was clear as a bell. Apparently that bell was missing from the replay room.

Ball descends  and is about to hit the stair railing

The ball ricochets off the stair rail and caroms towards the field.

The ball begins to clear the yellow line on  its way to the  outfield grass.

Hernandez and the three other umpires came back out and ruled that there was no substantial proof that the ball was a home run. Melvin immediately got in Hernandez's face and was ejected. Hernandez is one of the most obstinate, the "game is about me" umpires in all of Major League Baseball. I could easily see him deciding that the crew was not going to be overruled by some piece of technology.

Yes, I am questioning the integrity of Hernandez and not just because of this one incident. And for anyone who thinks the integrity of officials should not be brought into question, remember the name Tim Donaghy. I agree with the two Mikes that the league should overrule the umpires and pick up play from the point of it being a 4-4 ball game. (This is not a safe/out call like the one that took away Armando Galarraga's perfect game.) I also agree that commissioner Bud Selig will never do it.

The mantra of "Getting the call right." is clearly just a suggestion and not a mandate. Major League Baseball, especially under Selig, has always been reactive rather than proactive in the way they deal with things that happen between or outside the lines.

Despite having suspicions for years, Selig and company ignored the use of steroids, HGH, and other performance enhancing drugs. Attendance was up and the game was recovering nicely from the work stoppage in 1994. (Yes, this is also the man who canceled the World Series.) Selig has tried to convince everyone that he and other executives in the commissioner's office were in the dark and had no idea how bad things were when it came to PEDs. But as stories unfolded and tests get released, it is obvious PED use was rampant in baseball. There's no way the extent of it could be unknown. Then Selig conducted his ridiculous witch hunt with the Mitchell Report that only concentrated on a small segment of baseball.

One of the new problems arose when it was decided that interleague play would be played all year long. So instead of taking enough time and planning things out, MLB threw together an awful schedule for the 2012 season with a plethora of two and four game series, ridiculous travel schedules, and forced rivalries. "Don't worry it will all be better next year", was the basic statement from Selig's office.

A situation that did not have a major impact was the league's failure to prepare for a tie in the All-Star game. Sure enough, the two leagues played to a tie in the 2002 All-Star game. The reactive commissioner added more players to the roster and pitched the motto, "Now it counts" since the All-Star league winner would get home field in the World Series.

MLB not only did not change the attitude of fans towards the game, but potentially screwed over the team with the best record by taking away home field advantage. Of course this is also the sport that alternated home field advantages in prior World Series and still has pitchers bat in half of the World Series games, which gives the National League representative a clear edge.

Enough with Selig and back to the bigger problem of leaving the decision in the umpires' hands. MLB needs to put into place the same set up that the National Hockey League uses- a media center where plays are instantly reviewed even if there is no call for one from the head coaches or referees.

A call is placed from the command center into Toronto to an official at rinkside. That person than contacts the referee, who will come over and get on a communicator (phone or headset) with the people looking at the replays in real time. While they may ask for input from the referee it is the officials in the situation room that uphold or overrule a call. This is what MLB needs to take the the umpires' egos out of the circumstances.

Alas, MLB won't do this until there's a World Series game decided in the wrong favor because the umpires didn't change or uphold a call. It would be nice to get a look at the replay facilities the umpires use. I get the feeling they're watching on an old Emerson eight-inch black & white TV.

MLB Responds - No surprise here:

President for Baseball Operations Joe Torre issued the following statement, which basically said it was a mistake, but we're not going to do anything about it.

“By rule, the decision to reverse a call by use of instant replay is at the sole discretion of the crew chief. In the opinion of Angel Hernandez, who was last night’s crew chief, there was not clear and convincing evidence to overturn the decision on the field. It was a judgment call, and as such, it stands as final.

“Home and away broadcast feeds are available for all uses of instant replay, and they were available to the crew last night. Given what we saw, we recognize that an improper call was made. Perfection is an impossible standard in any endeavor, but our goal is always to get the calls right. Earlier this morning, we began the process of speaking with the crew to thoroughly review all the circumstances surrounding last night’s decision.”

Case closed...until MLB does the right thing too late.

Swisher and Fans No Longer Best Buds

I've been highly critical of Nick Swisher's play the last few days and obviously I was not the only ones. Swisher's beloved Bleacher Creatures and fans throughout Yankee Stadium serenaded him with boos on Sunday just as they have done with Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, and Curtis Granderson.

And you know there are fans who get out of line, usually fueled by alcohol and start getting personal with their insults. There's never any excuse for that. If you want to boo, do so, but leave ethnicity, race, religion, family, and all other personal items out of it. You only make yourselves sound like idiots.

Marc Carig, now of Newsday, reported that the fans sang "Na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye."¹ as Swisher batted for what may very well be his last at-bat as a member of the Yankees. He's scheduled to be a free agent at the season's conclusion.  Swisher was also annoyed at the inference that his misplay in right field led to Jeter's injury.

Swisher usually warms up near the outfield wall, but stayed away today and barely acknowledged the Bleacher Creatures during roll call. Swisher's 1-3 performance left him 4-26 (.231) in this post-season and 20-126 (.164) in his four playoff years as with the Yankees.

Swisher's hit was just one of four the Yankees had on the day and he did make a good defensive play when he threw behind Omar Infante at second base after an Austin Jackson single. Robinson Cano clearly applied the tag before Infante could get back to the bag, but umpire Jeff Nelson called Infante safe.  Joe Girardi argued and then argued some more when the Tigers got RBI hits off of Boone Logan and Joba Chamberlain for a 3-0 lead,which turned out ot be the final. Nelson gave him the rest of the day, Girardi's 48th birthday, off.

The game overshadowed another magnificent starting performance by a Yankees pitcher. Hiroki Kuroda threw five perfect innings before Jhonnny Peralta started the 6th inning with a single. He struck out 11 and was charged with all three runs in 7.2 innings pitched.

Unlike Saturday's series opener, the Yankees didn't have many chances to score off Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez. Mark Teixeira reached on a 2-out double in the 1st and Raul Ibanez followed with a walk. Sanchez then made a nifty behind the back play to snare Russell Martin's comebacker for the final out of the inning.

Martin left two more on in the 6th when the hit an inning ending ground out after Ichiro Suzuki reached on a Sanchez error and Ibanez drew an intentional walk. Those were the only two innings the Yankees had more than a runner on base.

Jayson Nix got the start in place of Derek Jeter and went 0-3.

1- Newsday

Replacement NFL Refs Ump Wild Card Game

Left field ump Sam Holbrook raises his hand in the air like he just don't care.

Wait, what? They didn't. My bad. I thought for sure that the call that was made in last night's St. Louis-Atlanta "play-in" wild card game had to be done by a NFL replacement ref.

Now I get it. It was just the usual pitiful Major League Baseball umpiring, which year in and year out makes horrendous calls in the post-season. And these guys are supposed to be the best and brightest among MLB umps.

With the Yankees playing the Orioles, we'll all get to see plenty of replays of little Jeffrey Maier interfering with Derek Jeter's 1996 ALCS home run. Richie Garcia was the ump in question on that one; wonder if O's right fielder (and later Yankee) Tony Tarrasco has gotten over that.

There was the Phil Cuzzi, who called Joe Mauer's clear double a foul ball in the 2009 ALDS between the Twins and Yankees. I won't go back to the Don Deckinger fiasco that cost the Cardinals a World Series championship in 1985. That's just a small sampling of the horrible job umpires have done in the playoffs. And as everyone knows the regular season sees more than it share of bad calls and bad strike zones.

This year Jerry Meals possibly cost the Yankees a game agains the Orioles when he called Mark Teixeira out on a game ending play at first base. The tying run would have scored on the play; fortunately for the Yankees the loss didn't cost them the division.  Meals also made a horrible call in extra innings between the Pirates and Braves last year. Jim Joyce cost Armando Galarraga a perfect game back in 2010 when he blew an out call at first base.

But back to last night's Cardinals-Braves game; the call in question may not have changed the outcome of game, but we'll never know.

The Braves were down 6-3 and had two aboard when Andrelton Simmons lifted a pop up to shallow left field. Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma and left fielder Matt Holliday converged on the ball and both gave up (mainly Kozma) on it. The ball dropped to the ground and the Braves had the bases loaded...but then they didn't.

An INFIELD FLY is a fair fly ball (not including a line drive nor an attempted bunt) which can be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort, when first and second, or first, second and third bases are occupied, before two are out. The pitcher, catcher and any outfielder who stations himself in the infield on the play shall be considered infielders for the purpose of this rule.
When it seems apparent that a batted ball will be an Infield Fly, the umpire shall immediately declare “Infield Fly” for the benefit of the runners. If the ball is near the baselines, the umpire shall declare “Infield Fly, if Fair.”
The ball is alive and runners may advance at the risk of the ball being caught, or retouch and advance after the ball is touched, the same as on any fly ball. If the hit becomes a foul ball, it is treated the same as any foul.
If a declared Infield Fly is allowed to fall untouched to the ground, and bounces foul before passing first or third base, it is a foul ball. If a declared Infield Fly falls untouched to the ground outside the baseline, and bounces fair before passing first or third base, it is an Infield Fly.
Rule 2.00 (Infield Fly) Comment: On the infield fly rule the umpire is to rule whether the ball could ordinarily have been handled by an infielder—not by some arbitrary limitation such as the grass, or the base lines. The umpire must rule also that a ball is an infield fly, even if handled by an outfielder, if, in the umpire’s judgment, the ball could have been as easily handled by an infielder. The infield fly is in no sense to be considered an appeal play. The umpire’s judgment must govern, and the decision should be made immediately.
When an infield fly rule is called, runners may advance at their own risk. If on an infield fly rule, the infielder intentionally drops a fair ball, the ball remains in play despite the provisions of Rule 6.05 (L). The infield fly rule takes precedence.

Left field umpire Sam Holbrook had raised his arm for an infield fly and an automatic out. But Holbrook raised his arm too late and the location of the baseball was also "iffy" to even call the infield fly.

Manager Fredi Gonzalez argued vehemently, protested the game, and the Braves' fans littered the field with garbage (which was asinine no matter how bad the call was). The fiasco led to a 19-minute delay and the Braves were, for all intents and purposes, done.  (The protest was, of course, overturned.)

It's a shame that calls like this happen year after year, especially when it's in the post-season. Perhaps instead of finding more revenue streams, Bud Selig could find a method to ensure that today's umpires aren't total screw ups.

Aftermath of Blown Call Gets Blown Up

Where was this tonight?

There were a lot of unfortunates tonight down in Baltimore. Unfortunately, the Yankees lost. Unfortunately, CC Sabathia hit Nick Markakis with a pitch and the Orioles outfielder will be out six weeks with a broken thumb. Unfortunately, the Yankees blew offensive opportunities as they've been doing on a consistent basis.

Unfortunately, umpire Jerry Meals made a  terrible call which could heavily impact the Yankees playoff changes and lastly, and most unfortunately for the Yankees, Joe Girardi is being vilified for his actions immediately after said call.

First to the matter of the umpire, whose call will certainly get the call for expanded instant replay up and running again. Meals call was just plain awful and not the first bad call fans have seen him make. To quickly sum it up, Mark Teixeira, bounced into a game ending 4-6-3 DP with the tying and go ahead runs on base. He was clearly safe, his hands grasping first base before Mark Reynolds had ball in glove.

Meals didn't see it that way...clearly he didn't see shit. What we all did see was Teixeira half-slam his helmet on the ground as he rested on his knees in disgust and first base coach Mick Kelleher protest. And everyone saw Girardi not move out of the dugout until he finally flipped his gum and walked to the clubhouse.

That was mistake number one, Girardi should have been out on the field, backing his player and his team. Mistake number two, which was much more grave, came when Girardi got into heated "discussions" with members of the media.

Reportedly, Girardi had to be separated from the NY Post's Joel Sherman, who asked Girardi if he were lying about the health of CC Sabathia's arm.  Girardi's first year with the Yankees in 2008 did see him make mistakes in how he handled player's injuries with the press, but he learned from it and life went on. It was obnoxious for Sherman to ask the question, but Girardi needs to keep his temper in check.

This will all blow up now, because the metro area papers love a good story, especially the two NYC rags. This won't disappear in a day or even a week. Randy Levine, who for some reason thinks people want to know what he thinks, was to hold an impromptu conference call after the game, but weather issues stopped that from happening (at least for the time being).

Perhaps Girardi will pull an Earl Weaver and get tossed before tomorrow's game even starts, but by then it will be too late. Teixeira will likely miss the game due to his calf and could be fined after he ripped the umpires after the game. Russell Martin said he felt the Yankees were "cheated" out of the game. The game itself will be forgotten rather quickly, especially if the Yankees turn things around, but Girardi will have a difficult time with the media the rest of the way.

Poor Play, Worse Umpiring Cost Yankees

Less than 24 hours after we all reveled in Russell Martin's summer slumber break out, the Yankees slept walk their way to a 5-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.

The Yankees wasted opportunities, starter CC Sabathia couldn't hold a 2-0 lead, Mark Reynolds hit another home run, and then to top things off, first base umpire Jerry Meals blew a call that could eventually cost the Yankees a playoff spot.

Down two in the 9th inning, the Yankees loaded the bases with no one out. Nick Swisher continued his slide (0-24) when he bounced into a  force out, but it did drive in a run to cut the lead to one. With runners on the corners and one down, Mark Teixeira, in the lineup for the first time in 12 days due to a strained a calf, hit a chopper to second base.

Robert Andino quickly threw to shortstop J.J. Hardy, who then turned two with a throw to first baseman Reynolds. Only one problem. Teixeira, who according to mlb.com's Bryan Hoch dove head first because he felt his calf injury act up, clearly beat the throw from Hardy.

Meals (who should be denied some after tonigh)t, however, punched out Teixeira for the game ending twin killing. Teixeira and first base coach Mick Kelleher raged at Meals, but Joe Girardi flipped his gum and headed to the clubhouse.  More on that later.

The Yankees had taken a 2-0 lead against Joe Saunder on a sac fly by Alex Rodriguez in the 1st inning and an RBI double by Ichiro Suzuki in the 2nd. But Sabathia, who has not been his dominant self all year, gave up back-to-back home runs to Reynolds and Lew Ford to tie the game.  Hardy added an RBI double and a solo home run and Ford chipped in with a ribbie single to give the O's a 5-2 lead after six.

A-Rod, who narrowly missed a home run earlier in the game, did connect for one in the 8th inning off of Pedro Strop. The Orioles reliever had been shaky in two previous outings against the Yankees, including a loss in last week's series at Yankee Stadium.  That led to the 9th inning drama and  a call that could haunt the Yankees for the remainder of the season.

Young Homer Puts Season On Arm Of A.J.

First cliche of the day - the Yankees have their backs to the wall. That's because Monday night, the Detroit Tigers' Delmon Young snapped a 4-4 tie in the 7th inning with an opposite field home run to give the Tigers a 5-4 victory. For the second straight night the Yankees rallied against Jose Valverde in the 9th inning, but came up short. So what do we know going into tonight's Game 4.

A. The game rests on the arm of A.J. Burnett. He can a hero or a zero. He came up with a huge game in the 2009 playoffs and he'll need to again tonight to send the series back to New York.

B. CC Sabathia was affected more from Friday's rain out than Justin Verlander. While Verlander wasn't sharp early, he dominated in the middle innings. Sabathia was off from the start. As good as he looked in the first two innings on Friday, that's how bad he was last night. Which plays in the next item...

C. Home plate umpire Jerry Davis was horrendous. His strike zone favored Verlander. Whether this was a case of seeing pitches from a lefty or righty differently or home field umpiring, Davis squeezed Sabathia and stretched the zone for Verlander. The proof is in the pudding via Brooks Baseball. Check out the pitch FX from the game.

D. Rafael Soriano was public enemy number one in New York at the start of the season. But after returning from the DL he pitched lights out baseball. That was until he surrendered Young's home run last night. Back to New York's Not Most Wanted list.

E. The Yankees big guns look more like water pistols. Mark Teixeira (1-11), Alex Rodriguez (0-10), Robinson Cano after Game 1 (1-8), Nick Swisher (2-12)

F. If indeed this is Jorge Posada's last hurrah, he's going out on top as an individual. The much maligned DH has been the most consistent Yankee through the first three games, going 4-8 with four walks (.667 OBP). Yes, he made a bad base running mistake in Game 1, what else is new, but he's shown that he should be moved up in the lineup for the remaining games.

G. Joe Girardi has done a horrible job of managing the series. He seems to be managing to not make a mistake, but he's made a bunch. Some examples - Bring in Luis Ayala in for the second straight day in Game 2. The Yankees were down 4-1 and could not afford to fall any further behind. But instead of bringing in one of his shut down relievers, he brought Ayala, who became less trustworthy as the season went on and had done a terrible job in Game 1. Sure enough the Tigers scored what proved to be a huge insurance run in the 5-3 win.

Girardi also left Sabathia in too long last night; clearly you don't want to go to the pen too early, but the left-hander's goose was cooked in the 5th inning. Yet Girardi sent Sabathia back out for the 6th and didn't pull him until he had given up another run.

Girardi made a smart move by flip flopping Cano and Teixeira in the lineup prior to the start of the series, but he's made no adjustments to the lineup to ride the hot hands.

H. Derek Jeter is overmatched against hard throwers. Though he has four hits in the series, Jeter has looked horrible against the power pitching of Max Scherzer, Jose Valverde, and at times, Verlander.

I. The Yankees are in big trouble.

Blue Makes Yankees See Red

It was only a matter of time today before Major League Baseball admitted the umpires blew it when they didn't overturn a home run hit by the Kansas City Royals Billy Butler last night. The run was significant in the Royals 5-4 win over the New York Yankees, and while the correct call would not necessarily have meant the Yankees would have won the game (the home run put KC up 4-2 at the time), it was another example of just how poor big league umpiring has become.

Bad calls have been made many times over the years, and it's expected, the umpires are human and therefore fallible. It's easy to remember bad calls over the years- the missed call at first base that cost the 1985 Cardinals the World Series, the Jeffrey Maier incident in the '96 ALCS, and Joe Mauer's double that wasn't a double in the '09 ALDS are among the bad calls in crucial situations. But bad calls and poor judgement are becoming more and more prevalent, whether it cost a pitcher (Armando Galarraga) a perfect game or takes away an at-bat with an erratic ball-strike zone.

But when an umpiring crew cannot get a call right with the use of instant replay it's time to go back to the drawing board. Whether it be a point system where umpires are graded to determine if they get to work in the Major Leagues the follow season or are docked pay based on performance, something has to be done.

After the game Joe Girardi regretted not protesting the game, but there's no point since there's nothing more futile than a baseball protest. It was a futile night all told. The real reason the Yankees lost was a poor performance by starter Bartolo Colon and the failure to take care of offensive threats.

Colon was shaky and deliberate all night. He didn't have his usual positive energy on the mound nor the location of his pitches. Curtis Granderson's 34th home run of the season had helped stake the Yankees to a 2-0 lead, but Colon couldn't hold the Royals down in the 3rd inning. Alex Gordon belted his 15th home run of the season with two aboard to put the Royals on top for good, 3-2. One out later, came Butler's drive to left field that bounced off of the padding atop the wall and back into play. Brett Gardner quickly got the ball back in, but the umpires ruled a home run.

During a long replay review, Butler knew what the right call was and prepared to go back on the field with a double,. Television cameras caught Butler's sheepish grin when the umpires upheld the call and also the fury that no one knew Mariano Rivera was capable of. The Yankees closer barked out at the umpires and had to be quieted down by coach Tony Pena and Girardi so he would not get ejected. Rivera was still angry after the game while speaking with reporters.

The Yankees had a chance in the 9th to at least tie things up against Royals closer Joakim Soria, who has pitched far below his normal excellence this season. The Yankees loaded the bases on a Derek Jeter single and walks to Granderson and Mark Teixeira. That set the stage for a big battle with Robinson Cano, who had delivered a key three run home run the night before. But Soria made a big pitch and got Cano to fly out to left. Though Jeter scored to cut the lead to 5-4, the Yankees were down to their final out.

After a passed ball moved the tying and go ahead runs into scoring position, Soria issued another free pass to Nick Swisher to reload the bases. That brought up the birthday boy Jorge Posada, who turned 40 on Wednesday. This past Saturday Posada delivered twice the bases loaded, putting up six RBI in the process. It wasn't meant to be this time as Posada never got the bat off his shoulder. A 1-0 pitch missed the zone, but was called a strike by home plate ump Chad Fairchild, changing the tenor of the at-bat. Posada eventually looked at a called third strike on a pitch that was border line, but too close to take.

Notes

Prospect Dellin Betances was promoted to Triple-A Scranton.

Jeterian Strikes Again

Written for Baseball Digest(Umps Failed, Not Jeter)

Once Derek Jeter got away with a faux hit by pitch Wednesday night, you knew that the radio talk shows, online and paper media would be having a field day with it. If you didn’t see it, Jeter took an inside pitch from Tampa Bay Rays reliever Chad Qualls squarely on the…handle of his bat. The sound and ensuing distance of the ricochet was obvious. Jeter flailed away from home and grabbed at his left elbow while keeping one eye on home plate umpire Lance Barksdale. Jeter only relaxed when Barksdale signaled to take first base.

Here’s a little bit of what I heard and read today: Wally Matthews who covers the Yankees beat for ESPN New York was on 1050 ESPNradio with Michael Kay. The first thing Matthews did was to remind/point out that he does not create the headlines. In this case it was “Derek Jeter a Cheater?” (the headline was later changed to “Derek Jeter is flawed after all”.

Matthews felt Jeter was completely in the wrong; that maybe he (Matthews) was “old school”, but the move was a blemish on Jeter’s resume. He pointed out, as just about every fan has, that A-Rod would have been vilified for the move. Of course he would have been, but that’s irrelevant.

WFAN’s Mike Francesa took the tack that Jeter did absolutely nothing wrong and the play was part of gamesmanship. That it was no different than a wide receiver working the referee for a pass interference call or an NBA player flopping to draw a charge. Not all of his callers agreed. One, whom I would have to believe was a Mets fan, ripped into the Yankees shortstop. And of course, Alex Rodriguez’s name was invoked in the discussion.

Someone else brought up the old argument of “What should you tell your little leaguers?” Francesa was spot on (You will rarely ever read or hear me say that) in saying you cannot compare little league baseball with professional sports. They’re both baseball and that’s where the comparison ends.

Other than the usual sensational cover photos on the NY Post and NY Daily News, there wasn’t much discussion of Jeter’s Academy Award performance.

Instant replay was discussed as well. You expect it to be brought up any time a play like this one occurs. I’m still against it for these situations and most of the pundits and callers/readers seemed to express the same view.

The bottom line is that Derek Jeter did indeed do nothing wrong. He did what any athlete would do in that situation. You’re trying to get on any base any way you can. The mistake/bad play was made by Barksdale and his fellow men in blue – Ed Rapuano, Tom Hallion, and Ron Kulpa. Just as they have on a number of other occasions, the umpires should have gotten together and discussed whether or not anyone had a clear view of whether the ball hit Jeter or not. Barksdale never considered it despite the rightful protestations of Rays manager Joe Maddon.

Had a ball hitting body made the sound that was heard, bones would have broken. And no ball hitting an elbow pad would have made that sound. Just as with a check swing, there is no way a home plate umpire can keep his eyes on both the ball/strike call and the swing of the bat. Barksdale knows it and his fellow umpires do as well.

Just another bad night for the Major League’s bad umpiring.

Bautista Belts Bombers Again

Jose Bautista channeled his inner Reggie Jackson last night. Mr. October was famous for getting brushed back, dusting himself off, and then hitting a "take that" home run.

While Bautista didn't get decked, he took exception to a head high pitch from Yankees starter Ivan Nova, and got into a shouting match with the rookie. Both benches emptied, but nothing more came of it. That was until the 8th inning when Bautista, who had earlier hit his 39th home run off Nova, drilled his 40th off of David Robertson for a 3-2 Toronto Blue Jays win.

Bautista's season is one of mystery. This is a guy that never hit more than 16 home runs in a season. Now he's reached 40 faster (124 games) than other player in Blue Jays history and is 7 home runs short of George Bell's team record of 47.

Because of players like Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Jose Canseco, and yes, Alex Rodriguez, every batter is under suspicion, especially those with a sudden spike in home run power. I would never accuse of player of taking PEDs and I don't believe that Bautista is; not with today's strict testing.

Bautista, who has six bombs against the Yankees this season, is not happy with the speculation and who can blame him.

“I haven’t heard it once,” Bautista responded evenly when asked for his reaction to the unfounded allegations. “Nobody’s said anything to me, and I don’t see why they should. Baseball has a strict policy against those performance-enhancing whatever you want to call them.”

“It’s not a secret and I didn’t reinvent the wheel,” Bautista said. “I keep saying it because it’s the truth. It’s as simple as getting [his swing] started earlier, and I’ve got Cito and [hitting coach] Dwayne Murphy to thank for that.

“They kind of brought it to my attention and they worked with me extensively and it’s sort of the renaissance of my hitting. I owe it to them because without them it wouldn’t have been possible.”

Bautista said he doesn’t consider himself a power hitter – “I don’t aim over the fence” – but he sees no reason why he can’t continue to hit with the same authority in years to come.

“If I can remain consistent, I don’t see why not,” he said. “I think I’m still pretty young. I keep myself in shape and don’t abuse my body.”

Whether you believe him or not, Bautista does deserve the benefit of the doubt.


As for the Yankees, there weren't too many positives coming out of last night's game. One exception was the performance of Nova, whom Joe Girardi pulled after just 5.1 innings pitched and 73 pitches. He allowed the 2-run home run by Bautista that put the Jays up 2-1, but that came with some controversy.

Yuniel Escobar could/should/would have been the third out of the 3rd inning, but 1st base umpire Mark Wegner ruled Mark Teixeira had not kept his foot on the 1st base bag on shortstop Eduardo Nunez's throw. Bautista then made the Yankees pay.

Robinson Cano was right in the middle of the action as usual, doubling in the Yankees 1st run and then tying the game at two apiece when he walked and came home on Nick Swisher's single.

The Yankees struck out 15 times, 12 by starter Brandon Morrow, but none was more upsetting than a horrible called third strike on Curtis Granderson in the 9th inning.

Cano had led off the inning with a walk against closer Kevin Gregg and Jorge Posada followed with a deep fly that just missed leaving the park. That brought up Granderson who got punched out by home plate ump Jerry Meals, who finished a bad night with one more bad call. The strike three pitch was clearly out of the strike zone, in fact it was nearly in the right-handed hitter's batters box.

Meals, shouldn't have earned a post-game one, after also ejecting Escobar and Jays' manager Cito Gaston in the 5th inning.

The series continues tonight with Dustin Moseley facing Marc Rzepczynski (and no, I didn't spell that right the first time.)

The People Want Instant Replay!

The people have spoken. Not this people, but you people.

In the light of the Armando Galarraga umpire impaired perfecto, I threw this poll up there. And you want instant replay by more than a 2:1 margin.

Some of you still can't make up your minds.

No to Replay

With all of the bad awful horrendous mind blowing wrong calls in this year's post-season, there was no question that expanded use of instant replay would be discussed in the November general managers' meetings. Well apparently not everyone felt that way.

“I know there are some who have talked off line about the expansion of instant replay,” said Jimmie Lee Solomon, executive vice president of baseball operations in the commissioner’s office. “Right now, the commissioner doesn’t see any reason to consider it.”

The commissioner must not have been paying attention this post-season when the supposedly best umpires in baseball got one call wrong after another. And they weren't always simple safe/out calls either.

Phil Cuzzi's foul ball call on Joe Mauer's clear double was a game changer in the Yankees-Twins series. And Tim McLelland made not one, but two bad calls at third base during the Yankees-Angels series. They were clear cut calls that were blatantly wrong. All the umpire conferences in the world aren't going to make those problems go away. Instead you have people questioning the integrity of the game, especially in light of the Tim Donaghy NBA scandal.

All that being said, I don't really like the idea of games constantly being interrupted for replays/reviews. But at least it should be discussed, not summarily dismissed.

ALDS Game 2 Afterthoughts

photo courtesy of nj.com

Umpire Phil Cuzzi, is unfortunately, the most wanted man in Minnesota. And unfortunately for him, he's still working the Yankees-Twins series. Cuzzi knows he blew the call in Game 2 and there's nothing that can be done about it.

It's amazing how dumb some reporters can be. During the Game 2 press conference, a reporter asked Twins manager Ron Gardenhire if the correct call would have changed the complexion of the game. Gardenhire did his best to keep from exploding before finally saying, "The next guy got a single. You tell me."

Twins closer Joe Nathan seems to have forgotten that it was he who blew the Twins lead in the 9th.

"...hopefully the umpire realizes he has to do something to get better,” as if Cuzzi needed more on-the-job training."

Alex Rodriguez' hip surgeon Dr. Marc Phillepon watched his start client take batting practice before the game and also examined his hip. Phillepon came away impressed with what he saw and feels there's a 90% chance A-Rod won't need further surgery.

A-Rod's 3-RBI singles have knocked in Derek Jeter each time.

The Game 2 crowd was the new Stadium's first in excess of 50,000 fans.

Guess it's over, call it a day

Guess it's over, call it a day
Sorry that it had to end this way
No reason to pretend
We knew it had to end some day, this way.


We never got the chance to comment about Monday night's debacle as we were in the the city that never sleeps all day yesterday. The only comments we'll make regarding Monday's loss are: 1) Why the hell did Joe Girardi leave Damaso Marte in after he loaded the bases with walks, and 2) If the ball really hit Ian Kinsler, then it hit him out of the box, not in, and he should have been out. Crappy umpiring is, unfortunately, something we've become accustomed to.

As for last night, Andy Pettitte let his teammates down for the second straight start. He got tagged for a 2-run home run by Josh Hamilton in the first inning and a 3-run double by Chris Davis in the 7th.

The Yankees offense was lifeless against rookie left-hander Matt Harrison, before finally coming up with a Richie Sexson grand slam in the 8th that made for an interesting finish. But after Derek Jeter lead off the 9th with a walk against Eddie Guardado, Bobby Abreu went down on strikes and Alex Rodriguez hit into a game-ending double play.

The bullpen imploded again as well. Dave Robertson, who started out so well, had his third straight bad game, and Brian Bruney showed that he doesn't look ready to pitch at the major league level yet.

The Yankees also dropped another game back in the East (6.5) and the Wild Card (3.0).

On the injury front, Joba Chamberlain is headed to see Dr. James Andrews to see what's wrong with his shoulder. This can't be good. Ian Kennedy will reportedly take his next start.

Guess it's over, call it a day

Guess it's over, call it a day
Sorry that it had to end this way
No reason to pretend
We knew it had to end some day, this way.


We never got the chance to comment about Monday night's debacle as we were in the the city that never sleeps all day yesterday. The only comments we'll make regarding Monday's loss are: 1) Why the hell did Joe Girardi leave Damaso Marte in after he loaded the bases with walks, and 2) If the ball really hit Ian Kinsler, then it hit him out of the box, not in, and he should have been out. Crappy umpiring is, unfortunately, something we've become accustomed to.

As for last night, Andy Pettitte let his teammates down for the second straight start. He got tagged for a 2-run home run by Josh Hamilton in the first inning and a 3-run double by Chris Davis in the 7th.

The Yankees offense was lifeless against rookie left-hander Matt Harrison, before finally coming up with a Richie Sexson grand slam in the 8th that made for an interesting finish. But after Derek Jeter lead off the 9th with a walk against Eddie Guardado, Bobby Abreu went down on strikes and Alex Rodriguez hit into a game-ending double play.

The bullpen imploded again as well. Dave Robertson, who started out so well, had his third straight bad game, and Brian Bruney showed that he doesn't look ready to pitch at the major league level yet.

The Yankees also dropped another game back in the East (6.5) and the Wild Card (3.0).

On the injury front, Joba Chamberlain is headed to see Dr. James Andrews to see what's wrong with his shoulder. This can't be good. Ian Kennedy will reportedly take his next start.

The Bruce Froemming Love Society

An aside for a moment. What's with the sudden love affair with Bruce Froemming? Or as I like to call him, "that fat little pig". Is this all because he's retiring?

A few weeks back Joe Buck was kissing his ass on FOX and Froemming did so in return, talking about Buck's father Jack. The Yankee's broadcasters have been talking about him glowingly as well. This is the Froemming I remember.

Former pitcher/manager Larry Dierker:

"Bruce Froemming was an absolute terror at first - a cross between Napoleon and Hitler," Larry Dierker said. "(Especially if) it's a day game after a midsummer's night contest and he has to umpire behind the plate."

When Froemming was a rookie ump he cost the Cubs' Milt Pappas a perfect game. How? By refusing to call a strike. Pappas had a perfect game going against the Padres. He'd retired the 1st 26 hitters, when Larry Stahl came up. Pappas threw 4 sliders, all of which were in or around the strike zone. It turned into a 4 pitch walk and Pappas cursed out Froemming, who responded with an arrogant sneer. Then the little shit had the nerve the next day to ask Pappas for an autograph.

The latter part of that story is interesting, because it is taboo for the umps to get autographs. In 1996 Froemming went into the Dodger's locker room before a game seeking autographs, particularly Mike Piazza's. Piazza's teammate Tom Candiotti says it was even worse than that, stating that Froemming threatened to do to Piazza what he did to Johnny Bench when he refused to sign baseballs.

"I remember an incident with Froemming when I was with the Dodgers in 1996. Froemming came into our clubhouse about a half hour before a game I was pitching. He had some baseballs and asked Mike Piazza to autograph them. Piazza was on the table and the trainers were helping him stretch.

I'm getting ready to pitch -- I was about to go out and warm up -- and my catcher is trying to prepare for the game. And Froemming is telling Piazza this story about how one time Johnny Bench wouldn't sign baseballs for him, and Bench went 0-for-4 that day with three called strikeouts (or something like that). So Piazza stopped stretching and signed the baseballs. "

He stabbed his own brethren in the back. Froemming was one of the guys calling the shots when the umpires staged a mass resignation in 1999. Froemming criticized the umpires who didn't go along with the resignation, but later rescinded his and was re-hired by major league baseball. The majority of the umpires that resigned were never reinstated. (That piece of garbage Joe West was rehired too).

Froemming was to work an MLB series in Japan in 2003. The league was taking care of the flight arrangements. But Froemming decided to take care of his own itinerary. When Froemming was reprimanded he called umpiring administrator Cathy Davis, "a stupid Jew bitch.". That earned him a 10 day suspension and cost him the trip to Japan.

I for one will be glad when this piece of garbage is gone. He's never figured it out in his 36 years of service. No one comes to the game to see him.

The Bruce Froemming Love Society

An aside for a moment. What's with the sudden love affair with Bruce Froemming? Or as I like to call him, "that fat little pig". Is this all because he's retiring?

A few weeks back Joe Buck was kissing his ass on FOX and Froemming did so in return, talking about Buck's father Jack. The Yankee's broadcasters have been talking about him glowingly as well. This is the Froemming I remember.

Former pitcher/manager Larry Dierker:

"Bruce Froemming was an absolute terror at first - a cross between Napoleon and Hitler," Larry Dierker said. "(Especially if) it's a day game after a midsummer's night contest and he has to umpire behind the plate."

When Froemming was a rookie ump he cost the Cubs' Milt Pappas a perfect game. How? By refusing to call a strike. Pappas had a perfect game going against the Padres. He'd retired the 1st 26 hitters, when Larry Stahl came up. Pappas threw 4 sliders, all of which were in or around the strike zone. It turned into a 4 pitch walk and Pappas cursed out Froemming, who responded with an arrogant sneer. Then the little shit had the nerve the next day to ask Pappas for an autograph.

The latter part of that story is interesting, because it is taboo for the umps to get autographs. In 1996 Froemming went into the Dodger's locker room before a game seeking autographs, particularly Mike Piazza's. Piazza's teammate Tom Candiotti says it was even worse than that, stating that Froemming threatened to do to Piazza what he did to Johnny Bench when he refused to sign baseballs.

"I remember an incident with Froemming when I was with the Dodgers in 1996. Froemming came into our clubhouse about a half hour before a game I was pitching. He had some baseballs and asked Mike Piazza to autograph them. Piazza was on the table and the trainers were helping him stretch.

I'm getting ready to pitch -- I was about to go out and warm up -- and my catcher is trying to prepare for the game. And Froemming is telling Piazza this story about how one time Johnny Bench wouldn't sign baseballs for him, and Bench went 0-for-4 that day with three called strikeouts (or something like that). So Piazza stopped stretching and signed the baseballs. "

He stabbed his own brethren in the back. Froemming was one of the guys calling the shots when the umpires staged a mass resignation in 1999. Froemming criticized the umpires who didn't go along with the resignation, but later rescinded his and was re-hired by major league baseball. The majority of the umpires that resigned were never reinstated. (That piece of garbage Joe West was rehired too).

Froemming was to work an MLB series in Japan in 2003. The league was taking care of the flight arrangements. But Froemming decided to take care of his own itinerary. When Froemming was reprimanded he called umpiring administrator Cathy Davis, "a stupid Jew bitch.". That earned him a 10 day suspension and cost him the trip to Japan.

I for one will be glad when this piece of garbage is gone. He's never figured it out in his 36 years of service. No one comes to the game to see him.