Monday the Cubs committed several errors in the Braves victory. The official scorer has a tough job determining what is and isn’t an error, even with the dictate in the rule book that an error should be ruled if a player should’ve made the play with normal effort. Ender’s foul fly ball came down in a no man’s land, in foul territory in short left field near where the ball boy sits. A long run for any of three players; the shortstop, third-baseman, and leftfielder. This time the leftfielder came barreling in, running to his right. He arrived just in time to run just past where the ball plopped to the ground.
Could he have made the play? Yes. Should he have made the play? Maybe. Would it have been a tough, above-average, spectacular play? Yes. Therefore in my book it shouldn’t be ruled an error. The leftfielder had run 30-40 yards in an effort to make the catch. Of course it wasn’t immediately ruled an error. Only when Ender slugged the next pitch into the bleachers in right-center did the foul ball become and error.
Another error came on a one-hop “ground ball” smashed at first right at the Cubs’ third-baseman Kris Bryant, playing at the edge of the infield grass. Then then ball sliced to Bryant’s right, so he had to move his glove with no time to switch to a backhand. Tough play, like so many hard grounders to the hot corner. Would’ve been a nice play had he been able to track it down. Tough to call it an error. And for every error, that’s a hit taken away from the batter. A hitter doesn’t want to be awarded cheap hits, but there has to be a happy medium. Same with a pitcher’s earned run average.
Scorekeeping has always been subjective, like judging gymnastics or figure skating. Millions of dollars of player’s salaries hang in the balance of these judgements. It’s just a game – but when the Braves lose the first game of the 162 game season and fans are complaining about not over-spending hundreds of millions on a closer who’s on the downward part of his career, or a good but not great starting pitcher. All the jawboning and complaining about sports and politics has become a multi-billion dollar industry that I’d rather steer clear of. Just give me the facts.
Refereeing and umpiring have surely gone downhill as (a) the athletes have gotten bigger, better, stronger, and faster, and (b) since the advent of slow-motion instant replay from multiple angles.
Great Grizz Gaming team photo. Hilarious that they’re all looking real serious, with Lang in all black with the all white sneakers.
I watched basketball on Friday Saturday Sunday. Wanted Duke and UNC to advance because I like watching teams I’m familiar with. But Duke could never pull away in any of their games, giving every opponent a chance. They got real lucky Friday night when the Hokie missed that layup at the buzzer. The kid had more time than he thought. He was drifting left so his shot missed left. But good to see schools make it with four year players, who have more invested in their college careers than the one and done players at Duke and Kentucky. Of course all the Auburn fans are obnoxious. Texas Tech has ugly uniforms, so I’ll root for Michigan State and Tom Izzo. He was getting heat for his in your face coaching style, but it got him to the Final Four.
Things calmed down a little Tuesday but Wednesday was busy with little things. Conference call at ten I had to get ready for. Tuesday I finished two big projects, then spent the afternoon on a plant tour with our customer. Could’ve gone to Papadeaux with the group but didn’t. Probably should have. Left work at 5:30. Grabbed a snack at Taco Bell. Didn’t eat until three hours later. M and C cooked wings (BBQ chicken tenders for me), homemade mashed potatoes, and steamed broccoli. Helped clean up. Not much on TV.
The Bojangles that I pass on Jimmy Carter has a two for $4 bacon egg & cheese biscuit special. I hadn’t stopped for breakfast biscuits all year (though I’ve eaten a few at work). Wednesday morning I fell victim. Saved the second one for lunch. Bojangles biscuits are good, better than McDonalds and probably even Chickfila’s, but they’re never as good as you think they’re going to be.
Fledgling internet website writers are making a cottage industry out of making random comparisons, like of fast food restaurants. Some are interesting to read, but the conclusions are debatable.
Saw where the Christley Knows Best daughter got engaged to an athlete. I’d never heard of the guy, so I checked out who he was – a hockey player. Those “Predators” seem to be easy pickins for the young single female celebrities in Nashville. Carrie Underwood also married a hockey player.
Life ain’t fair. Sometimes things just don’t turn out the way you want them to. I’d been on the lookout for a toy “Pearl,” the Sponge Bob character. You know, Mr. Crabb’s daughter. Couldn’t find one at the Dollar Tree. Looked on eBay. There was just about every character except Pearl. Even looked on the Chinese knockoff website. No Pearl. Life is tough.
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