Congratulations to the White Sox for winning the American League pennant and thus finally killing their Lack Of Good Marketing Curse. I'm glad that nobody really cares about the agonies of being a White Sox fan - 88 years since their last World Series victory, 46 years since the previous AL flag. I just don't think I could stand two consecutive "Fever Pitch" championships. God help us all if the Cubs ever get this far.
The possibility that the Chisox might be playing the never-won-a-pennant Astros should make for a good story line if it comes to that. It's a little hard after last night's game not to think that the Stros might have Destiny on their side, though as Joe Sheehan reminds us, if they lose tonight they'll be in the same position they were last year, up 3-2 and heading back to Saint Louis. Go ahead and chill the champagne, but don't loiter around the fridge just yet.
As for the disputed strike call against Jim Edmonds last night, I confess that as I saw it in real time, I thought "Ball four". On replay, I didn't think it was the worst call I'd ever seen - top 25 maybe, just not Worst Ever. Edmonds clearly had a beef about it, and he's far from the only player in any series to have cause for complaint about the randomly-generated "strike zone". That said, he has no excuse for getting himself tossed. He'd already seen Tony LaRussa get the heave-ho for arguing ball and strike calls; there was no percentage in bitching about it. Shut up and step back into the box, it's a full count now. And maybe, just maybe, Beelzebud Selig might give some thought to a better way of picking which umpires get to call playoff games next year.
Posted by Charles Kuffner on October 17, 2005 to Baseball | TrackBackSince you linked me, thus insuring I will have legions of smug Astros fans visiting my site, I'd like to point out I was making no excuses for Edmonds. Bad call? Yes, but every team gets them. If the Cards had been playing to their potential, it shouldn't have mattered.
Posted by: Pete on October 17, 2005 3:03 PMNot sure what game Phil Cuzzi was calling, but he certainly wasn't calling that game.
Posted by: Laurence Simon on October 17, 2005 3:13 PMPete - Agreed. I wasn't trying to imply anything there.
Posted by: Charles Kuffner on October 17, 2005 3:34 PMDid anyone else notice on the one replay they showed of the check swing, that he went past halfway with the bat head?
Posted by: Kurt on October 17, 2005 3:49 PMI seem to remember that the umps are graded during the season, and there's an attempt to select the ones with the best grades for postseason assignments. I'm too lazy to go look in the umpires basic agreement even if it's online.
Posted by: Linkmeister on October 17, 2005 4:00 PMDid anyone else notice on the one replay they showed of the check swing, that he went past halfway with the bat head?
You'd be the first.
Posted by: Pete on October 17, 2005 8:10 PMYeah, I noticed the check swing, too, and thought that it could easily have been called a swing, given the vaguness of the whole check swing thing. Still, Tim and I talked about this last night and kept coming back to how Edmonds should have known better than to let himself get tossed. I'd say the same thing if it was Biggio or any other veteran player.
Posted by: Sue on October 17, 2005 8:40 PM