Baseball Journal MLB Rewind 11-12-12

5-28-12

[Cubs vs. Padres. This page got misplaced in my written notes. This was supposed to go with that day's entry.]

Best moment in the game, Yonder Alonso tossed his batting gloves into the stands just behind the dugout after a bad at bat. One kid caught them and offered one to his two pals with him. The kids immediately did rock-paper-scissors to determine ownership. They certainly made out better than a guy in back of the bleachers, who just missed catching a home run ball ultimately destined for the ball hawks on Waveland. Still, he had a great shirt on for Memorial Day, an American flag with the words, "Undefeated in two World Wars," on it.

[A good TV baseball broadcast makes sure that the fans in attendance are part of the coverage. These little, whimsical moments are often some of the most entertaining.]


7-7-12

10 innings of increasing agony between the Rangers and the Twins. Things started off fairly loose, but as the game continued, it started taking on the characteristics of a playoff game. It was a packed house and the Rangers had lost five in a row, their longest losing streak of the season. The Twins were trying to maintain their respect in last place.

The Rangers didn't help themselves early on, Derek Holland pitched well, but he and the team were clearly gripping too hard. They had to work at it to tie the score twice. In spite of numerous opportunities, they couldn't get the go-ahead score. The Twins had their chances too, but could not cash in as Joe Nathan came in with the score tied and worked two grueling innings.

Finally, Beltre worked a walk and Cruz batted him in. At the play at the plate, Beltre slapped the plate as he slid past the tag. The stadium and team erupted. Well, got to see Hammy hit another home run during the game. Also got to see a Rangers fan run across the hill to grab a Twin's home run ball and immediately throw it back to the cheering approval of the crowd.  A great game.


7-8-12

"Don't overexert yourself with the fans Southpaw. They may need you to pitch later," I shouted at the White Sox mascot. Both teams and the umps had apparently started the All-Star Break early and didn't show up to play. This one got ugly quick with two walks and two two-run home runs. Omar Vizquel made an error. That's all you really need to know about how sharp the players were today. The umps were blowing calls; the strike zone was. . . creative. Seemingly every at-bat went 3-2.

Hawk and Stone were convinced the home plate calls were going consistently against them. Robin Ventura was also convinced, and in the ninth, he rushed the plate to argue balls and strikes, resulting in an immediate ejection. More embarrassingly, the ump took off his mask and was revealed to be Nolan Ryan, who promptly put Ventura in a headlock and punched him out.

If the ump had been trying to hurry up the game with a wide strike zone, that strategy resulted in a three-hour 45-minute game with 20 combined runs scored. Well, the Sox lost, but after winning five of the last six games, I'm sure they didn't feel too bad going into the break.


7-9-12

The Rangers won again last night. . . the hard way. It is heartening to see them win such a close, tight game. They were down 0 to 3 in the bottom of the ninth, down to their last strike twice, and managed to come back and tie the score. [Wait, this had to have been a Cardinals game.] In the 13th inning, Ian Kinsler, 4 or 4 on the night, drove in the winning run. [By the way, I love the way this guy plays second. His throws to first on groundouts are so smooth, they're stylish.]

On the other hand, it's not a great sign that the Rangers had to work this hard to beat a last place team (though the Twins have had a resurgence since their terrible start). A more worrisome gauge was their being swept by the first place White Sox last week. [Getting swept out by the A's and losing the division on the last day of the season was a lot more worrisome, but I'm not bitter.] Ian was asked if the team could carry their two-game winning streak through the All-Star Break. "No," he said matter-of-factly.