2013 'Extreme' Playoffs - Is This Baseball or Blowout Ball?

10-14  Sorry Commissioner, but  it seems ever more apparent with the baseball playoffs, in our opinion - to be rather blunt - that certain  'cultures'  are alive and strong among a number of major league baseball's teams.  Playoffs are when teams are especially under pressure to win  in   short ,  season-ending series. We've seen signs of secondary evidence of PED (performance enhancing drug) use  with unusually improved on field performance, especially in pitching this year and number of strikeouts and high velocity. How is it that these players, after long seasons can not only continue to throw baseball's in the mid to high 90's -  but even ramp up their performances to the tune of three no-hitters through five innings  for three games in a row!   Unheard of! 

It's the last gasp, at least this season, for players  several games away from season's end - most will NOT win the coveted ring - and  not only do they want to do well, themselves, but are concerned about their contracts for next year. So, they are especially inclined to take extreme measures that they might not during the season. Another reason for this is that there is no apparent drug testing during  the playoffs . ( in fact the latest bargaining requires only a minimum of one drug test during the season !).  Add to that the drug tests that ARE given may not have kept up with the latest designer PEDs, undetectable only hours after taken, which are,  purportedly the current drug of choice.  There a  number of other aspects that make us have these politically incorrect thoughts of our baseball players which we have outlined before and won't repeat here and now.

So, if you're wondering why the grand old game has taken on an unusally dark, less competitive air with one team blowing out the other with fastballs , perhaps this may be the answer - or at least part of it. Sure, we only see the the top pitchers in the playoffs but the same can be said of the hitters. Teams pull out all stops  but its not only pitching but hitting, too. Sure, the weather is a little colder, perhaps , and balls don't fly out of the park quite as well in Northern cities but hitters still hit and pitchers pitch.

We first noticed the trend to unusual dominance with the unlikely San Francisco Giants in 2010 and then again in 2012. This team of mostly journeyman players dominated  the teams expected to win. Many players on the Giants with average numbers during the season became superstars the last months of the season and in the playoffs, e.g. the starting staff, except perhaps Cain and Bumgartner, seemed to raise their performances - and velocity (which is generally a pretty set number). Even Barry Zito reenacted his old Cy Young-like performance for a rare moment in time.  Pablo Sandoval, who had only hit 10 homers all season hit three in one game and seven in the playoffs against top pitching.

Marco Scutaro, who had only hit .262 through mid-season before being traded to the Giants, suddenly began hitting close to .400 and cutting his strikeouts in half living up to his 'Giants' name - and only got better  through the playoffs, this for a 37-year-old journeyman who had never hit better than .299 in a single season with a lifetime average in the .260s.  In 2010  it  was the same pattern for the Giants but, even more surprisingly, with a largely different cast of characters. No-names like Ross, Uribe, and Renteria  performed sudden damage on their openents with other-worldly numbers (Ross hit eight homers his last month, about half his year's total) .  Over-the-hill guys named Burl and Huff suddenly performed like it peak career players only to fall flat the next year. Just the two INDICTED Giants, Jose Guillen in 2010 and Melky Cabrera in 2012 were enough by themselves to make the difference in the Giants getting into the playoffs... We could go on.

Perhaps Detroit , a very similar team in makeup to the Giants, caught wind of the Giants' propensities when THEY got blown out by the Giants in last year's playoff because, this year, Detroit looks like a carbon copy of the Giants in the 2013 playoffs.  It's pretty odd, to say the least,  to see a playoff team (Detroit) throw three no-hitters in a row through  the first five innings  of the playoffs; in fact,  it's never been done. Also,  it was the first time that a grand slam decided a game that late into a contest. The St. Louis Cardinal pitchers have performed a similar act against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League playoffs; there may not be the no-hitters, but Los Angeles has fared even worse, scoring all of one run in the first two games.  If this trend continues either ALL the teams will have to do whatever Detroit and Saint Louis are  doing or we'll have to put those teams in a separate league, perhaps with the 2010 and 2012 Giants -  and maybe even the 1919 Black Sox. At least if the Cardinals and Tigers play each other in the World Series they should be evenly matched; perhaps it will be the first World Series that no runs are scored thorgh nine - or, the fewest runs scored, anyway. A final note on this topic... it's interesting to note that guys coming up with the big hits in playoff games have been  indicted drug users Johnny Peralta (beating the A's) and Big Papi, bringing Boston back in the second game against Detroit.



The above is our opinion. We would love to be wrong as what we have seen - save the end of the second game with Boston and Detroit-  is not good baseball or good FOR baseball, perhaps not even true  baseball. At this rate, so much for the many prognosticators who expected the truly best teams, Boston and Los Angeles,  to meet in the World Series. Let's see how the rest of the playoffs play out before we make any further judgement. So far NOT so good.

HOMERUN OPINION 3 - BLOWUP PHOTO SHOWS BALL HEADED FOR REDDICK'S GLOVE

click to view video

Slow Motion video of controversial Victor Martinez homerun in Oakland A's -Detroit Tigers playoff game, October 8 -  Only sure takeaway is that was definite fan interference @LBSports http://larrybrownsports.com/baseball   We believe fan interference should have been called @  http://wheredidyougojoedimaggio.blogspot.com

 

By blowing up the previous CBS photo, we get a good perspective on the flight of the ball. And, with the ball in motion, we are given the added advantage of seeing its trajectory, which is downward more than on a line. If the ball were not interfered with it appears that it would have right to Reddick's glove, which is just below and back of the fans' interfering hands. This shot is probably presents a clearer perspective than the video - too bad the umpires didn't see this photo rather than the video.

As per previous blog, 
1)fan interference within the sphere of the field is grounds for calling the batter out, according to the baseball rule book (per Keith Oberman, MLB, and other similar sports coverage following the game incident). Then, we have the added possibilities that
 2) the ball would have likely been caught without the fan interference and
 3) the ball might not have even gone over the yellow line to be called a homerun at all - interference or not. But we'll never know. With these several questions  , the  right thing to do would have been to call 'fan interference,' it is our belief , born out by these pictures.

BLOWUP PHOTO SHOWS BALL HEADED FOR REDDICK'S GLOVE

OPINION 2: HOMERUN CALL WAS WRONG IN THREE WAYS, NOT TO MENTION MENTAL AFFECT ON GAME

 Note the blurry image of the baseball in downward motion perhaps a couple feet from Reddick's glove as fans are about to deter the flight of the ball. Ball may not have even gone over yellow line.

We'll never know but the bottom line, according to CBS Sports/replay , was the only thing conclusive from the video replay was that  the ball was interfered with.

OPINION :
In the playoff game between the Oakland A's and Detroit Tigers October 8, the umpires call of a ball  interfered with by fans on its way down 'a HOMERUN' was wrong on two, er, make it 3 counts:

1) As mentioned in previous blog, the ball's trajectory was almost straight down and into Josh Reddick's glove; certainly Reddick was '100% sure' he would have caught it. Looking a the replay itself one cannot accurately judge where the ball would have come down since it was interfered with by fans before it had a chance to drop; however, it was a high fly ball well on its way down rather than a line drive shot with little time to drop.

2) The ball MAY NOT HAVE EVEN BEEN A HOMERUN if fans let it fall. Umpires assumed the ball would stay over the yellow line but with its trajectory it could have dropped below the line. In that case , it would have not been a home run - and A's Reddick would have probably caught it.

But wait, there is yet a THIRD REASON the homerun should not have counted:

3)In addition, The baseball rule book states that fan interference can result in the batter being called out. Clearly, fans interred with the ball as it came down still within the perimeter of the playing field . So, this is yet a third reason the homerun should not have counted.


CBS Sports give us a little more help with a good still shot of the interference (admitted to by the fans who touched the ball). We quote:

Replays showed a fan (two fans, really) reached over the railing in right field and interfered with the ball. It not only looked like the ball might not have cleared the wall, but it looked like Josh Reddick may have even been able to catch it. Here's a still photo of the ball in flight:
Click the photo for an even larger view.
As for the fans in question, CBS Detroit has the details:

A local chef and a long-time season ticket holder, John Bendzinski, 49, of Macomb almost changed the course of Game 4 for the Tigers.
“It was coming to me and I didn't know if it had enough – I didn't really want to reach over,” he told WWJ's Russ McNamara. “Next thing you know, I'm switching hands with my beer and it hits me right in the hands.”
Bendzinski didn't catch the ball but he did hold on to his beer.
Bendzinski's friend Mark Beauchamp was right next to the action: “The ball was coming out and we had to like ‘go for it' we were above the yellow,” he said.”That's all we knew.”

In any event, the only thing the replays showed conclusively was that the ball was interfered with. That's it. Without enough evidence to overturn it, the homer stood and the game was tied at four. A few batters later, the Tigers took a 5-4 lead on an Austin Jackson single. (CBS Sports)


OPINION 2: HOMERUN CALL WAS WRONG IN THREE WAYS, NOT TO MENTION MENTAL AFFECT ON GAME

A’s Fall Short in First Playoff Game vs. Detroit Despite Fans’ ’10th Man Effort

 

 

Video of As 1st playoff vs Detroit shows strong fan contribution

 A’s Fall Short in First Playoff Game vs. Detroit Despite Fans’ ’10th Man Effort

The Scrappy Oakland A’s were the underdogs in the first American League playoff Game against Detroit  and   Cy Young  Pitcher Max Sherzer.  Their own ace, 40 year old wonder Bartolo Colon was, perhaps affected more by the five day  layoff  after the end of the season and gave up three runs in the first inning. But, after that, the A’s were the winners, scoring the only other runs of the game in the sixth inning  on Yeonis Cespedes’ two run homerun that  put them only one run down. With 48,000 screaming fan exhorting the A’s on almost every pitch one almost expected A’s Magic to happen again as it has so many times during the season. But the top pitcher in the American League and Detroit’s bullpen was just a little more than the A’s could handle; perhaps the layoff and first game jitters could account for part of their weak hitting performance ( only 3 hits on the night for a team with a .295 average against Sherzer; of course, the other side had to contend with the same layoff and jitters though it might have been harder for a 40 year old pitcher and an A’s team of younger players.  The second game on Saturday will truly show what the A’s have in them, if they can bounce back – but it won’t be easy with another top pitcher, Verlander , going against them.  


But, this game has to go down as one of the more exciting games for the home fans, despite the loss. As a   fan next to me said, the enthusiastic A’s fan base may have gotten Cespedes’ juices going to hit the big home run that brought the A’s back to within one run.  But one player’s performance a game does not make – Cepedes had two of the three hits – and the A’s needed fewer strikeouts and better performances from some other players this night. Our guess is that the A’s will show definite improvement in Game 2 with the first one under their belt.