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

NEW MONEYBALL MOVIE IN THE MAKING plus AMAZING A'S STORE

Joe D would have loved the 2013 Oakland A's. You may or may not remember the native Martinez boy who came back to Oakland where he began his famous career with the Oakland Oaks   and worked for Charlie Finley and the Oakland A's in the 1970s/80s.  So, Joe  is still around out there somewhere cheering on these boys of summer who remind him NOT of the common modern day 'money' player and even PED users like those who got into the World Series across the Bay two of the last four years more for extraneous reasons than real talent and hard work,  but a lot of the  Field of Dreams  boys  of  yesteryear who played hard and won for the love of the game...

Amazing Oakland A's with walk off win in Second Game of American League Playoffs Oct 5   NEW MONEYBALL MOVIE  IN THE WORKS  courtesy ESPN Baseball Tonight breaks down Sonny Gray's stellar performance in Game 2 of the American League Division Series.Tags: Stephen Vogt, Justin Verlander, Sonny Gray OAKLAND -- This is the big question as the Athletics and Tigers fly to Detroit with their division series tied 1-1: Who will play Stephen Vogt in the "Moneyball" sequel? I mean, Vogt is the natural candidate for a major role in the movie. Few players epitomize the entire Athletics economic approach to building a team better than the soon-to-be 29-year-old catcher. Vogt played six seasons in the minors before reaching the big leagues with the Tampa Bay Rays last summer -- and then went hitless in 25 at-bats spread out over four months. [+] Enlarge AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez To the victor -- Stephen Vogt, in this case -- goes the shaving cream pie. With a lifetime average of .000 (his WAR was not very good, either), he was designated for assignment by the Rays at the start of the year. While other players were beginning the season, Vogt was walking through a shopping mall in -- where else? -- Durham, N.C., wondering if, like Crash Davis, his baseball career was over. Then his cell phone rang and he learned that the Oakland Athletics had just purchased his contract for $150,000. Jump ahead six months - MORE  AMAZING A'S STORE Go Oakland A's ! All the Way to the World Series Coupon Country CoupLetter SPECIAL Edition  - Celebrate Your OAKLAND A's In the Playoffs!  OCTOBER 2013 Get Your A's Caps, Tshirts and Playoff Souvenirs, here!

OCTOBER 2013 Celebrate the OAKLAND A'S WEST DIVISION CHAMPIONS While Cheering the Boys on toward the World Series FORGET MONEYBALL - THESE 2013 A'S ARE REAL WINNERS - A's PLAYOFF HATS, TSHIRTS, SOUVENIRS   BUY NOW - Support the Team - Authentic Oakland A's Onfield Caps and Tshirts OAKLAND A'S 2013 MORE THAN MONEYBALL... GET READY FOR THE POSTSEASON HEROICS - TSHIRTS , HATS, SOURVENIRS 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. MORE  OAKLAND A'S PLAYOFF CENTRAL STORE FORGET MONEYBALL - THESE 2013 A'S ARE REAL WINNERS - A's PLAYOFF HATS, TSHIRTS, SOUVENIRS - See more at: http://bayareacouponseastbaycoupons.blogspot.com/#sthash.cuMIEakJ.dpuf FORGET MONEYBALL - THESE 2013 A'S ARE REAL WINNERS - A's PLAYOFF HATS, TSHIRTS, SOUVENIRS   BUY NOW - Support the Team - Authentic Oakland A's Onfield Caps and Tshirts OAKLAND A'S 2013 MORE THAN MONEYBALL... GET READY FOR THE POSTSEASON HEROICS - TSHIRTS , HATS, SOURVENIRS 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. MORE  OAKLAND A'S PLAYOFF CENTRAL STORE FORGET MONEYBALL - THESE 2013 A'S ARE REAL WINNERS - A's PLAYOFF HATS, TSHIRTS, SOUVENIRS - See more at: http://bayareacouponseastbaycoupons.blogspot.com/#sthash.cuMIEakJ.dpuf FORGET MONEYBALL - THESE 2013 A'S ARE REAL WINNERS - A's PLAYOFF HATS, TSHIRTS, SOUVENIRS   BUY NOW - Support the Team - Authentic Oakland A's Onfield Caps and Tshirts OAKLAND A'S 2013 MORE THAN MONEYBALL... GET READY FOR THE POSTSEASON HEROICS - TSHIRTS , HATS, SOURVENIRS 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. MORE  OAKLAND A'S PLAYOFF CENTRAL STORE FORGET MONEYBALL - THESE 2013 A'S ARE REAL WINNERS - A's PLAYOFF HATS, TSHIRTS, SOUVENIRS - See more at: http://bayareacouponseastbaycoupons.blogspot.com/#sthash.cuMIEakJ.dpuf THE Oakland A's again this year surprised the baseball world finishing off the Western Division  in first place, again supplanting the vaunted Texas Rangers  with 90 wins, no big name stars and one of the lowest payrolls in baseball.  Meanwhile,   cross Bay rival San Francisco Giants  just escaped being the first team to go from the World Series to last place in years,  despite having the fourth highest payroll , several stars , a lot of high priced players and a history of PED players and suspected performance enhancing drug users, in our opinion. Do the A's have enough to go all the Way to the World Series?  Purchase Tshirt - Classic 'A's' over Oak Tree in Circle Forget Moneyball - 2013 Oakland A's The REAL Story                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 How The (2013 American League) West Was Won   There were a lot of great months in the A's 2013 playoff run, but none better than the month of September, that saw the A's overcome a 2-game deficit to eventually win the Division and finish the season five games ahead of the Rangers, who were knocked out in the play-in Wild Card game. The A's played strong when it counted, and as Texas faded, they took complete advantage; even Texas' end-of-the-season winning streak was too little too late to dethrone the 2-time defending American League West Champions, and that's why the Oakland Athletics will be playing tomorrow. The A's started September by finishing a sweep of the Rays, obviously catching them, too, at their weakest point of the season. A lot of the A's success--winning the Division with a full week to spare--came by playing Texas and Tampa Bay at exactly the right time. Had the AL West and Wild Card gone down to the wire with the A's still in the mix, they would have had to win out to keep pace with the other teams, who won the remainder of their last games to get into the playoffs, even briefly. Before the penultimate showdown between the A's and the Rangers, the A's first took out the Rays, in game #136. Nico has the call: Joe Maddon thought he would try as many different pitchers as possible, so the A's decided to score in as many creative ways as they could and the end result was a 5-1 victory, a sweep of Tampa Bay, and just 1 game between Oakland and Texas in the standings as the Rangers come to town. This left the A's just one game back, as they geared up to face the Rangers. Unlike previous experiences with the Rangers, the A's did not waste this opportunity, fighting hard to take two out of three, and climbing back on top of the AL West. Game one was recapped by Lev Facher, who coaxed the A's to a tie: A solid five innings from Dan Straily, home runs from Coco Crisp and Yoenis Cespedes, and scoreless relief work from Dan Otero, Brett Anderson, Ryan Cook, and Grant Balfour have the A's back in a tie for first place. In front of 23,495 frenzied fans on a sun-splashed day at the Oakland Coliseum, a few costly mistakes on Texas' part and a nerve-wracking yet effective four innings from the bullpen gave the A's a 4-2 win, and seemingly all of the momentum in the AL West race. There really wasn't anything "seemingly" about it. Aside from losing the following night, the game also handled by Lev Facher: Well, the A's are back in second place. An all-around uninspiring evening from the green and gold has the A's a game behind the Rangers, making the rubber match tomorrow afternoon almost a must-win with three games in Arlington looming on the horizon. Bartolo Colon was both mediocre and unlucky tonight, while the A's offense stalled repeatedly with runners in scoring position. The bullpen wasn't great, either. Heard this one before?, the A's would strap on their playoff underoos and decimate the rest of the month, winning series after series. They finished the Rangers' series with a win, as baseballgirl tells us, the game also marking the return of Daric. Barton. The plucky A's, winners of eight of their last ten games, shook off yesterday's loss like it didn't even matter, and continued their trend of stomping all over ace pitchers as they dismantled Rangers' starter Yu Darvish and gutted the rest of the Texas bullpen to the tune of 11-4. The big blows of the game were home runs off the bats of Moss, Donaldson, and Coco. Oh, and also: Daric. Barton. This tied the A's and Rangers for first place, with barely 20 games to go in the season.. MORE

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Gritty Oaktober A's Walk Off In Game 2 with New Hero

Every team needs a Cinderella type player to come out of nowhere to spark them when the chips are down. Perhaps the Oakland A's have  found that player in catcher stephen vogt. while he gave detroit starter Justin Verlander an 11 pitch battle before finally striking out and ending another As threat in the seventh inning, Vogt proved to be perhaps the clutch hitter they have been missing of late when he singled to left with no outs in the ninth inning with the bases loaded to give Oakland a 1-0 walk off win.Vogt, formerly a detroit tiger himself , came to Oakland midseason to help shore up a catching deficiency, has hit over .300 in the clutch.

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