6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

Bill Plunkett informs us that the Angels play a doubleheader on Saturday, July 16, the first such to be scheduled since 2001. Originally scheduled for the Thursday after the All-Star Game break, that date was turned into another day off by the league, and the Angels and A's had to move their game accordingly.

Labels: angels, athletics, weird

Via Weird Asia News, Japanese robots throw strikes and hit home runs:

Best of all, no PED's!

Labels: weird

Ex-Dodger prospect Joel Hanrahan was traded to Pittsburgh on June 30 but that didn't prevent him from acquiring a win in relief in a suspended game for his old team, the Nationals. (The game was started on May 5.) Nyger Morgan (who was the return on that same trade) scored from third in the bottom of the 11th on a throwing error by Houston shortstop Miguel Tejada.

Thanks to Jay Jaffe (via Facebook) for the heads-up.

ESPN box

Labels: astros, nationals, recaps, weird

Labels: dodgers, weird

Apparently, there was a 52-minute delay in today's Padres game while the team called a beekeeper to tranquilize a swarm that had infested left field and chased Padre Kyle Blanks in the top of the ninth.

Imagine you're Kyle Blanks for a moment, a 22-year-old rookie not even a month in the Major Leagues. You're a first baseman by trade, but you're in left field, learning a brand new position and trying to just slide under the radar.

The plan is working just fine. It's a sun-splashed day at PETCO Park in the ninth inning in what has become an otherwise forgettable game with most of the crowd of 23,284 long gone as the Padres are trailing the Houston Astros by six runs.

Suddenly, standing there in left field, Blanks notices a bee milling around his head. And then another. He's not allergic to bees, or at least he doesn't think so, but Blanks and bees don't mix, he would say after the game.

"I saw one or two floating around my head, and then I turned around and there was just a wall [of bees]," Blanks said. "There was just a ton of them. I started walking in and tried to get out of there. It's not something I want to tempt."

Who could blame him?

It was probably a smart, as what the Padres estimated were 2,000 bees had flown in from center field, passed high over the left-field seats and then settled down near Blanks in left field.

The bees (not the Salt Lake variety) left peaceably, and so did the Padres. Of course, as they pointed out in the Angels broadcast tonight, Manny Ramirez is scheduled tomorrow in left at Petco. Huh.

Yahoo box

Labels: astros, padres, recaps, weird

... except when it does:

I have no idea what game this came from; the timestamp on the YouTube page is an unhelpful November 23, 2007. The current #1 with the Braves is catcher Gregor Blanco, but he's only been a major leaguer for the last two years.

Via HH.

Labels: braves, mets, weird

The Angels Rally Monkey is nowhere to be found on the MLB.com shop page, at least for the Angels, yet the Mets, Indians, Marlins, Tigers, Royals, and Reds all have their own team-themed Rally Monkeys. In point of fact, a Google search fails to yield a red Rally Monkey of any kind (go ahead and try!). Odd!

Labels: angels, weird

Follow this link (originally appearing here) and you will find... nothing. Dusty Baker's clogged bases fell into a memory hole.

Labels: cubs, weird

Obliteration: Rangers 12, Angels 1

John Lackey got shattered in this one, the worst outing of his professional career, but it's hardly surprising; among teams he has pitched 50 or more innings in his career, he sports a 10-10 and a 5.73 ERA against the Rangers. The second-worst team is of course the Boston Red Sox (3-6, 5.54 ERA), and now that the AL East was decided with the Yankees' 19-8 pounding of Boston, the Angels will face the Red Sox on Wednesday. As the the Rays lost 6-4 to Detroit, the Angels clinched home field advantage throughout the postseason — assuming they make it out of the first round — but they will have to wait for win number 100.

The game had a couple good moments, though. After it became obvious the Angels weren't going to win this one, Mike Scioscia replaced all the starters, among whom Reggie Willits got the call to center field. He made a spectacular catch at the angle in dead center to rob Nelson Cruz of a home run. And Shane Loux and Jason Bulger actually pitched well against a potent offense, allowing only two runs the rest of the way.

But other than that and the regularly scheduled fireworks, there was little to cheer for. The crowd was in a surly mood, booing Lackey off the mound when Scioscia finally yanked him in the third. The Angels' recent history of getting knocked out in the first round by Boston weighed heavy on everyone's mind, and to see Lackey whipped badly was a dreadful omen. Looking at his 2008 game log, Lackey has thrown 120 pitches or more twice this year, and one of those times it took him three games to recover his form to at least a quality start (June 29 against the Dodgers, followed by two rough starts and a quality start, finally, on July 18 against the Red Sox). Let's hope three time's the charm this time, too.

Yahoo box • Angels recap

Dodgers Collapse Late: Giants 6, Dodgers 5 (10 Innings)

I was at the Angels game so I didn't pay much attention to this one, especially with all the crazy position switches, which had me furiously scribbling on my scorecard. Thanks to the late start, by the time we got out the Dodgers were leading 5-4 going into the bottom of the ninth, but between another defensive miscue by Russell Martin (a sailed throw on Eugenio Velez's stolen base) and Juan Pierre's noodle arm (Steve Holm's sac fly would not have gotten a run home on any competent outfielder, something I saw on the subsequent replay), Broxton just couldn't quite recover. Those watching the game also claim that Scott McLean's one-out walk should have been a strikeout thanks to an inconsistent strike zone from home plate umpire Bill Welke; I would argue that giving up a walk to a quadruple-A hitter like McLean in a 13-pitch at-bat is cause enough for doubt.

For those watching all the way through, the story apparently was about the use of instant replay that ended up with Benjie Molina getting a home run where before there was none. That brought up an odd scenario where Bochy had assumed the initial call was correct, and pinch-ran for Molina:

In the sixth, Molina lined the first pitch from Scott Proctor to the roof in right and the ball ricocheted onto the grass below. Molina stayed at first and Emmanuel Burriss rushed out to pinch run before anybody could stop him, while Bochy hustled out to argue. After a brief discussion, the umpiring crew headed to the replay booth in the hidden umpire room behind home plate.

After about two minutes, they returned and crew chief Tim Welke signaled the home run—the second time since baseball began using instant replay that an on-field call was overturned. Dodgers manager Joe Torre came out for an explanation.

...

“We conferred and decided to use the replay. We took a look and the ball clearly hit the green part of the wall, which is part of the ground rules that a ball hitting any part of the green thing it’s a home run,” Welke said. “Bochy wanted to reinsert Molina into the game but he doesn’t get another bite at that. We know the rules. Once a pinch-runner touches a base he’s in the game whether he’s put in or not. Bochy wanted to protest the game. You can’t go back and revisit history.

“We informed the official scorer that the game was being protested. In retrospect, he should have come out and discussed it before the pinch-runner. There is a rule that covers pinch-runners and that’s the one we went by. … The system worked and we got it right.”

So oddly enough, Molina didn't score on his own home run. Had it stood, Russell Martin's pinch-hit, two-run ninth inning homer would have served only to tie the game. Update: As pointed out in the comments, the run scored was given to the pinch runner, Burriss.

Yahoo box • Dodgers recap

Other Races

• AL East, Wild Card: As mentioned above, the Rays are the East division winners and the Red Sox are the Wild Card.
• AL Central: Cleveland beat the Chisox 11-8, and even though Kansas City whipped Minnesota 8-1, the Twins' magic number goes down to three in what is liable to be a photo finish. Chicago has played 159 games, and have a possible makeup game on September 29 against Detroit at home.
• NL East: Philadelphia beat Washington 8-4 while the Mets lost 6-2 to the Marlins with Chris Volstad on the mound. The Phils' magic number is one.
• NL Wild Card: The Brewers beat the Iowa Cubs 6-1, with the Cubs trotting out a mostly AAA lineup to rest the regulars. The victory combined with the Mets' loss put the Brewers in the lead for the Wild Card for the first time since September 15.

How To Behave When You Clinch But Don't Win?

Something else that Manny can teach the Dodger kids: how to handle a clinch that happens because of your pursuer's loss.

"Do we pop the bottles before or after the game?" Ethier asked with a grin. "I guess we'll wait until after the game, because nobody wants to see a bunch of drunk guys out there."

It was understandable if many of the Dodgers did not know how to act. They have rarely been down this road. It is their first playoff appearance since 2004, and they have won one playoff game since winning the World Series 20 years ago.

Or perhaps the Dodgers were simply taking a cue from their newest leader, the what-me-worry Ramírez.

Ramírez found out he would be back in the playoffs as he was riding the elevator at Dodger Stadium with his teammate Pablo Ozuna. Asked what he had said at the time, Ramírez - wearing shorts and flip-flops and pulling a rolling suitcase - shrugged and replied, "Nothing."

Man Accused Of Posing As Dodger

Maybe he should have learned how to fire a throw into center field, too.

Labels: angels, dodgers, giants, rangers, recaps, rules, weird

The Giants have a lot of problems, and they certainly didn't help themselves last night in a crucial game situation. With James Loney at first, Casey Blake hit a smash down the left field line; San Francisco LF Fred Lewis bobbled his pick of the ball, bouncing it up on the top of the low wall, and on, or at least near, the hand of a fan who wasn't paying attention. Lewist noticed Loney attempting to score all the way from first, and threw a bullet back to the infield, where third baseman Rich Aurilia threw a dart back to the plate to end the inning.

Or did he? With the ball on the wall, Lewis had knocked the ball out of play, and after a huddle, the umpires announced that Loney was free to score, akin to a two-base error when the pitcher muffs a pickoff toss and the ball ends in the stands. The appropriate rule is 7.05(f):

Each runner including the batter-runner may, without liability to be put out, advance—

...

Two bases, if a fair ball bounces or is deflected into the stands outside the first or third base foul lines; or if it goes through or under a field fence, or through or under a scoreboard, or through or under shrubbery or vines on the fence; or if it sticks in such fence, scoreboard, shrubbery or vines;

Lewis, who apparently was uneducated to the realities of this rule, wasn't impressed:

“There’s not that much foul ground over there, so it’s one of those plays where you just try to get over there and not let the ball get past you,” he said. “It came up and bounced out of my glove, then went on top of the wall and I picked it up. That’s how far it went, and nobody touched it.

“I mean, the ball’s still in play. We told the umpire that, but it was his discretion. He said it was just on top and that it was out of play. But it’s still in play in my eyes. I didn’t understand the rule. It was very disappointing. It makes you want replay in baseball more and more.”

Vizquel, who has played more big league games at shortstop than anyone in history, said he had never seen a play like that.

“That was weird,” he said. “When the ball jumped into the stands, I thought the ball was going to be dead.”

Thus the Gold Glove shortstop proves his knowledge of baseball's sometimes arcane rules. But all this obscured a fine outing by journeyman Jason Johnson, whose last victory came a couple years ago with the Indians, a 9-0 win for the Tribe over the Tigers on May 28, 2006. Good for him, but you do wonder how well he'll likely stick; Johnson was 3-12 for three different teams that year.

Yahoo box • MLB.com recap

Labels: dodgers, giants, recaps, weird

Thursday morning I dreamed I had, by some clerical accident, become the Dodgers' manager. I arrived at Dodger Stadium late for my first game, and started putting on the uniform just as the away team had started batting practice — late! And then the press corps wanted to talk to me and I didn't have anything good to say.

I even woke up before I got to fill in a lineup card. That was annoying.

Labels: dodgers, weird

Seattle is batting first in today's home game against the Indians, a makeup game for the earlier snowouts (!). Not too often you see that.

Update: The M's got clobbered by Cleveland, who apparently brought their bats to a 12-4 wipeout. It's amuzing to see how many sites got this wrong, as ESPN claimed it was "Seattle @ Cleveland"; Yahoo Sports got it right, finally, but didn't have the box score updating intra-game.

Seattle won the second game of the doubleheader 3-2 for a split.

Labels: indians, mariners, weird

Via the Times' LA Land Blog, New Century Financial found another use for baseball bats:

Maggie Hardiman cringed as she heard the salesmen knocking the sides of desks with a baseball bat as they walked through her office. Bang! Bang!

"'You cut my [expletive] deal!'" she recalls one man yelling at her. "'You can't do that.'" Bang! The bat whacked the top of her desk. As an appraiser for a company called New Century Financial, Hardiman was supposed to weed out bad mortgage applications. Most of the mortgage applications Hardiman reviewed had problems, she said.

But "you didn't want to turn away a loan because all hell would break loose," she recounted in interviews. When she did, her bosses often overruled her and found another appraiser to sign off on it.

It's vitally important that a man have his enthusiasms, as you know.

Labels: weird