Dodgers/Padres is turning just a wee bit chippy. It's been getting progressively worse and worse each game for two years now. Mookie Betts said last night's game was the greatest game that he's ever played in. The seventh inning alone was a classic and a rivalry is underway. The game ended with the bases loaded, thanks to another Kenley face plant, and these games look more like the Dodger/Giant games than the funny little Pods... Manny Machado ran at our pitcher (Bazooka Graterol) screaming "F--- you!" again and again, with Little Tatis in tow. Their bench went ballistic like Cape Canaveral after the Dodgers celebrated Bellinger's great catch. Machado's rudeness caused Muncy to leave the dugout and go out there to threaten him personally. Where was Pantywaiste Machado's fire when he played for us? Is he supposed to be a leader? He'd better count the number of former Texas football players and Puerto Rican brawlers on our roster, then think again. It's nice that our little baseball brothers have finally ditched their "Wannabe Dodger" blue uniforms in favor of their original Taco Bell suits. When MLB moves their franchise to San Bernardino they'll have a leg up in the unemployment line. Instead of throwing their bats after hitting HRs, maybe they'll learn to respect their superiors. Hopefully we'll finish the sweep tonight and put these miserable bastards out of their misery with just a smile and a question on our lips: would you like fries with that?
Braves sweep the Marlins and are the first team to make it to the Divisional Series. Dodgers likely to follow tonight with the Padres. Astros/A's and Yankee's/Ray's might go 5...or might also end today.
I didn't realize that the ALCS/NLCS will be 7 games in 7 days. I wonder why they don't build in an off day even though they aren't traveling? Going to make it interesting on pitching staffs. Oh and one of the best things about taking out the A's...Mike Fiers gets to go home a loser!
Now Whitey Ford is gone. One of my favorite headlines in my newspaper collection is a preview of the 1963 World Series: Southpaw Classic: Ford vs. Koufax. Those two guys, along with Warren Spahn, were the greatest lefthanders of all-time.
As a Dodger fan of course I had a strong dislike for any Yankee, but especially their big stars. But you have to give Whitey his due, he was a great pitcher. I looked up his bio, and found this. Doesn't change that he was an All-time great. After retiring, Ford admitted in interviews to having occasionally doctored baseballs. Examples were the "mudball", used at home in Yankee Stadium. Yankee groundskeepers would wet down an area near the catcher's box where the Yankee catcher Elston Howard was positioned; pretending to lose balance, Howard would put down his hand with the ball and coat one side of the ball with mud and throw it to Ford. Ford sometimes used the diamond in his wedding ring to gouge the ball, but he was eventually caught by an umpire and warned to stop. Howard sharpened a buckle on his shinguard and used it to scuff the ball.[16]
re: Whitey Ford In his books, former Yankee pitcher Jim Bouton related how Whitey was pitching in the annual Old Timers Game. Their opponents had the winning run at 3rd base, with a full count on the batter. Whitey fired what looked like a fastball until the last moment, when it dove straight down to the ground, striking the batter out. As he came back to the dugout, the entire team was standing there in silence, staring at him. He looked at them and said simply, "I'm tired of losing Old Timers Games."
The Padres returned to form last night; rolling over and playing dead like good little puppies who wanted a belly rub. The person most responsible for their bat-tossing insolence is their new manager Jayce Tingler. I'm sure his goal was to fire up his kiddy-core to have courage against the neighborhood bullies who have beaten them like a red-headed stepchild since they were born. He failed. One play which highlighted his failure was a double by Cody Bellinger, who pulled up at 2nd base loudly saying things about their "team leader" Mr. Machado, who wouldn't look at him. Tatis Jr. was laughing so hard he could barely control himself. He kept his glove in front of his face, but it was no use. As the son of a major leaguer, like Bellinger, he knew that Manny and his manager were trying to create a hatred that doesn't exist. Final score: Dodgers 12......Padres 3.
If I have this right, by starting Cole tonight, the Yankees lose him for game 1 of the ALCS, assuming they beat the Ray's tonight. So I think that would make him at best the game 3 starter on 3 day's rest, then game 7 again on 3 days rest. I like it!
Ok, I'm not a big baseball fan so just a question. Everyone seems to wink, wink at this but there is widespread, bigtime hate and dangerous retaliation for a team that steals signals??? Just wondering where is the line between ok cheating and not ok cheating?
It's mostly by tradition and culture. The spitball was outlawed in 1920, but those pitchers who threw it were allowed to use it until the end of their careers. A smart pitcher can make the ball do funny things if he finds (or creates) a rough spot on the ball. Before 1920, the same ball was used the entire game no matter how grass-stained and worn it became; giving pitchers another advantage. This all changed on August 17, 1920, when Cleveland Indians player Ray Chapman was killed in New York when he was hit in the head by the Yankees Carl "Submarine" Mays. It was believed that Chapman, who leaned over the plate in his batting stance, never saw the pitch that killed him. Dirty baseballs and spitballs were dangerous. It became a safety issue and that's where the line is dawn. ANY umpire can toss a ball out of the game without even giving a reason for the rejection. Managers, coaches, hitters and pitchers may request that a different ball be put into use at any time and those requests are almost never denied. It's a safety issue at the discretion of the umpire. Spitballs are still used; as are cut-balls, shine-balls, Vaseline balls, K-Y Jelly balls, and it's not a secret. When a pitcher has a name like Oil Can Boyd, or Fidgety Lew Burdette, we can assume that they're using every trick the umpires allow them to get away with. This will continue as long as it doesn't become a safety issue again.
I understand all that but the Astros were vilified for stealing signals. Whitey Ford is a hero for doctoring baseballs. Just wondering
The spitball has been part of the game since 1893 when the mound was moved back to 60' 6". Players, including Whitey Ford, may be kicked out of the game, suspended or even banned for doctoring the baseball. One of our Dodger pitchers got himself kicked out of a game and suspended during the NLCS against the Mets in 1988. It's serious if they get caught, but what is at stake is one pitch or one at bat. When a batter KNOWS that a pitch is going to be a fastball or KNOWS that it's going to be a breaking pitch, the entire game is at stake. Think of Bobby Thompson's "Miracle of Coogan's Bluff" in 1951. As Orel Hershiser sarcastically noted the last time we played Houston, "Guessing is harder than knowing."