PLAYOFFS POST-MORTEM , WORLD SERIES and PEDs

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PLAYOFFS POST-MORTEM , WORLD SERIES and PEDs


Oakland A's maverick GM, Billy Beane- the so-called 'Money Ball' guy -  says that getting  into the World Series is a 'crap shoot.'  He also said, a few years back, that managers don't make a difference in winning and losing baseball games, this after hiring one Bob Geren, who 'led' Oakland to four lost, sub .500 seasons before fans revolted and Beane finally fired Geren and hired Bob Melvin, who has had two remmarkable, winning seasons.



And, after Detroit and Los Angeles started off like they were going to go all the way to the World Series, the truly better teams seemed to win out in their 6 game series. There may be other factors involved, too, such as PEDs - we still believe any number of players were using during the playoffs, as reasoned in previous posts. Then there were factors like injuries to Miguel Cabrera and Dodger's Matt Kemp that had their teams scuffling a bit.  Nonetheless, seeing a team like Detroit go out and throw four no-hitters in a row through 5 innings, we would have expected more out of them. PEDs or not, Boston was too smart for Detroit, playing intelligent, scrappy 'old school' ball, making pitchers work and getting Detroit's best  (Scherzer, Verlander, Sanchez) out of the game and taking advantage of Detroit's weaker relief corp.  Hard to say that Boston doesn't dabble in PEDs itself; when you've got one suspect like Big Poppy - popping them out  when a player of his ilk would normally be on  the way out - there are usually others (the 'cockroach theory') like him nearby. The truly best teams won their series this time, and the far majority of the time, especially in the longer seven game series.  The San Francisco Gaints were an anomoly in 2010 and 2012 due to unfortunate (in our opinion) mitigating (non baseball) circumstances.




As for St. Louis, one wonders how they came up with all those 95+ mph pitchers , but , again, PEDs or not, they managed to combine smart ball with power ball which Detroit did  not.  Glad to see no immenent signs of PEDs on the Dodgers but they certainly lack in the smart ball department, leaving way too many on base  and making poor managerial moves; don't be surprised to see Dodger manager Mattingly finally gone by next year. Here's where managing could have made a big difference. The Dodgers have the talent - they've spent enough for it - but bonehead moves denied them when they had many opportunities to score and beat the weaker hitting St. Louis team. St. Louis, on the other hand, is run more like Boston, with a smart   manager in Methaney and staff. St. Louis has a winning tradition.




WORLD SERIES

While PEDs are still a scourge to baseball - there will be, no doubt , any number of players taking advantage of baseball's NO DRUG POLICY  for the   series (drug tests are not given in the playoffs and World series and this is one reason you sometimes see unlikely numbers put up as we saw with the normally weak-hitting San Francisco Giants in the 2010 and 2012 playoffs and Series), we're at least glad to see the better two teams in there in the Red Sox and Cardinals.  It should be a good , close series, likely to go six  or seven games, unless Boston can't handle St. Louis pitching; they were able to adjust to Detroit's so we think they will do similary with St. Louis

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

DiMaggio's Ghost is Back in Oakland - A's Play It Old School, Hard Nosed Baseball

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.
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            OAKLAND A'S Official On-field Caps and Tshirts and Playoff Souvenirs  ON SALE NOW

Joe DiMaggio once worked with the Oakland A's and Charlie Finley in the 1970s/80s and would be proud of the current team,  which plays much in the style of the old Yankee Clipper....good old, hard-nosed, no nonsense , smart baseball. There are no big name stars, just a lot of eager, aggressive, intelligent fun-loving 'lower paid' players who are playing for the love of the game as much as anything. There is also a manager, Bob Melvin, who has upset GM Billy Beane's old theory that the manager doesn't make a difference, who took over a team that revolted against it's previous manager - and the coaching staff is second to none. They've gotten the most out of their young team.  No help from modern technology, ie PEDs, like the cross Bay team.  This is good old, real  Golden Era Baseball like when DiMaggio played.

FORGET MONEYBALL - WHAT MONEY? 'Low  Paid'  2013 A's The Real Hollywood Story
by Mark Purdy, San Jose Mercury News

OAKLAND -- The Hollywood producers blew it. Completely.

Perhaps you saw "Moneyball" a few years ago, the movie about the 2002 Oakland Athletics team supposedly composed of inferior players that shocked the baseball world with the killer combination of creative strategic thinking and Brad Pitt's extremely evocative close-ups.
Mundane stuff, compared with 2013.
The current A's team is the one that really deserves to have a film made about it. Maybe that will happen if the month of October becomes a rousing final reel. We'll see if that happens, beginning here Friday when the A's face the Detroit Tigers in Game 1 of the American League Division Series.
To be sure, the A's of 2002 were intriguing.

Oakland Athletics players and fans exult as the last out of the game is made against the Minnesota Twins, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013, at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, Calif. (D. ROSS CAMERON)

They had a 20-game win streak and did break ground when general manager Billy Beane (portrayed by Pitt in the film) started using statistical data to make personnel and lineup decisions.But come on. Those A's did not feature a stadium that leaked raw sewage; or an uncertain future in their home city; or a relief pitcher from Australia who screams a lot and grew up playing rugby; or a right fielder nicknamed "Hillbilly Jesus"; or a powerfully exotic slugger from Cuba who obliterated the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game. The A's of 2013 have given us all of the above. And then some.
"We do have some interesting guys," A's manager Bob Melvin conceded this week.
Not that many casual sports fans in the Bay Area would know.  MORE


                         OAKLAND A'S PLAYOFFS CENTRAL